After three years as the top producer of Fulbright Award winners in the state, Ohio University has set a new record, with 15 OU students being named recommended applicants for the Fulbright Program.
The previous record was 13
said Elizabeth Clodfelter, assistant director for the Center for International Studies, adding that there were 29 applicants for the 2006-07 scholarship.
The government-sponsored Fulbright Program provides scholarships for students to explore and study in other cultures around the world, according to the Web site www.exchanges.state.gov/education/fulbright/.
The 15 students who have received this honor already have passed through evaluations at OU and the national Fulbright Program, Clodfelter said. Information from these applicants has been sent to the countries where the students applied to study, and the grantees, winners of the actual Fulbright award, will be announced sometime between March and June, she said.
At this point in the process, recommended applicants have about a 50 percent chance of winning the scholarship, Clodfelter said. The past two years, nine students among the recommended applicants have become Fulbright scholars.
Everything counts at that level of competition she said.
Recommended applicant Julie DePaulo, a world religions major, credited Clodfelter and OU's Center for International Studies with her success.
Her help is absolutely amazing she said. (The application process) can be confusing
and it can be overwhelming
she said.
DePaulo has applied to travel to Japan to study spirituality in a modern Japanese community, looking at the differences in the way the Japanese practice religion.
I want to see how people my age develop spirituality in a society that's often seen as having no spirituality
she said. DePaulo said she also wants to learn basic Japanese speaking skills and is considering pursuing a master's degree in the language, she said.
Troy Johnson, a master's student in international development studies, applied to travel to Indonesia to study Islamic participation in voter education programs.
I want to show Americans how Muslims are creating their own efforts toward community development of democracy
he said.
Johnson said he was confident before being chosen because of the time and work he put into his application, but was relieved that he was recommended.
I was pretty happy to find out (that I was a candidate)
Johnson said.
Tod Imperato, a master's student in Latin American studies, applied for an English teaching assistantship in Chile but was originally told he had not been selected as a candidate because of a clerical error. He then got a letter from the Fulbright Program notifying him that he had been selected.
That was kind of an up-and-down thing
he said.
The amounts of the grants students will receive vary depending on where they study and are not advertised, Clodfelter said.
They basically pay for a year of your life
she said.
Clodfelter named the academic talents of students and assistance from more than 130 faculty as reasons for the increase in OU's candidates.
More really outstanding Ohio University students are becoming aware of the program and apply
she said. (The Fulbright Program) is building momentum on campus. The remaining 12 recommended Fulbright applicants are: Phillip Allman, Warner Asch, Layne Hanson, Mary Katherine Johnson, Eileen Kelbach, Clarissa Kornell, Alyssa Malchi, David Porter, Melanie Schori, Meghan Schuck, Genevieve Waller and Carly Witmer.
