For the second year in a row, Ohio University has 13 finalists for the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, a government-sponsored grant for students to research, teach, perform or create in foreign countries.
Nine students received Fulbright awards last year and two were named alternates but did not receive the grants, said Elizabeth Clodfelter, assistant director for the Center for International Studies. Twenty-two OU students applied this year. There is building momentum for Fulbrights at OU because many students succeeded in obtaining the grants.
Success breeds success
Clodfelter said.
Photographers, due in part to the strength of the graduate program in visual communications, have found success with the Fulbright program, she said. Four VisCom students have received Fulbrights in the past 4 years.
VisCom graduate student Carolyn Drake, a Fulbright finalist who applied to Ukraine this year to document women there and how they are dealing with the shift from the Soviet system to democracy, said she decided to apply in part because other students in her program had received Fulbright grants.
Clodfelter coordinates the Fulbrights for U.S. students and faculty. She provides advice and serves as a liaison for faculty. She also aids students by helping them shape ideas encouraging them to work with faculty members and coordinating information and advising sessions.
Applicants must be U.S. citizens, hold a bachelor's degree or have four years of training. Creative and performing arts students must be proficient in the host country's language and be in good health. Further guidelines are available at the Fulbright section of the Institute for International Education Web site, www.iie.org. The application form and guidelines are available on the Web site as well.
The Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs within the U.S. State Department sponsors the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, which began in 1946. The Institute of International Education administers the program, Clodfelter said. The three categories for the U.S. student Fulbright awards are research, teaching assistantship and creative or performing arts. Students in each category can take graduate-level classes at universities in the countries where they are studying.
The amount of money awarded generally allows students to live in a foreign country for an academic year and pays for many travel expenses, but varies from country to country. The finalists have 50 percent odds and will find out if they received the awards when the countries' committees choose applicants sometime between March and June, she said.
It's very challenging (to get a Fulbright) she said. The more popular the country is, such as the United Kingdom, the more difficult it is to receive a Fulbright there.
The level of expectation is always very
very high
no matter the number of applicants and available awards, she said.
Clodfelter recommends freshmen and sophomores study and speak a foreign language and study abroad in a country where that language is spoken before applying for a Fulbright.
Adrienne Porter, a senior Spanish education major, applied for a teaching assistantship Fulbright in Chile. She said she gained foreign experience by studying abroad in both Mexico and Ecuador while at OU, and noted the importance of having first-hand experience in Spanish-speaking countries.
Attending OU-sponsored speakers is also important to make contacts from other countries, Clodfelter said. Students in research and creative and performing arts categories are asked to establish contacts before they enter the country, she said, and contacts allow students to have a more positive experience.
The Fulbright Program prefers doctoral students use the program to do their dissertational research, and such students should apply after they complete their comprehensive exams. Juniors, as well as first-year master's students, should contact Clodfelter and start working on applications, she said.
While the national deadline for the Fulbright program is Oct. 21, 2005, the OU deadline for Fulbright applications is Sept. 28. Faculty committees at OU help make the applications stronger and give them ratings before they are sent to New York.
The Fulbright Program allows students to plan what they want to do with a year of their lives. It's not often you get asked that question
Clodfelter said, adding that students need to have a good answer to be given the opportunity.
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Megan Chew
