The Journal

Issue date: 2/23/06 Section: News

Media Credit: Martin Ribaudo Eric Howard of The Fulbright Academy discusses student and teacher options for getting Fulbright grants to do research in foreign countries.

Since its inception five decades ago, the Fulbright Exchange Program has given thousands of students and teachers the opportunity to study abroad. Nearly a century after it was founded, Webster University has developed into an international network of its own. So it only made sense to unite the best of both worlds.

In an effort to help educate students, faculty and staff on the Fulbright Exchange Program, the center for international education at Webster sponsored a presentation by Eric Howard at Emerson Library Conference Room Feb. 16. Howard is the executive director of science and technology for Fulbright Academy as well as a Fulbright alumnus. Howard talked about the possibilities and advantages of joining the Fulbright Exchange Program.

"Webster has such as large international program," Howard said. "It makes sense for the university to be actively involved in promoting and using this exchange program."

According to the Fulbright Academy's official Web site, the Fulbright Program was established in 1946 by Arkansas Sen. J. William Fulbright. Now in its 50th year, the program awards nearly 6000 grants each year to students and teachers, giving them the opportunity to do extensive research or teach abroad in fields ranging from science and technology to arts and humanities. The federal government provides the funding for this program. Among the 140 countries Fulbright hopefuls can choose from are: Germany, Italy, China, Japan and France.

One of the topics Howard covered in the presentation was how to go about applying for a Fulbright grant. The process is slightly different for students and teachers.

For students to be awarded a Fulbright grant, they have to be an American citizen and in good health. Individuals have to be thinking of conducting, teaching or studying research overseas and most importantly, they have to be a graduating senior holding a bachelor's degree and be considered a candidate for a master's or doctoral degree. However, according to Howard, students can start applying for a Fulbright grant once they complete their junior year of college.

"Essentially, for students, they can go to a foreign country for nine months to do research for a topic they are interested in," Howard said.

The application process for students is administered by the Institute of International Education. The IIE evaluates all submissions and award grants based on the applications. The application process begins in May and continues through October yearly. For Webster students, the deadline to apply is Oct. 1. Currently, the IIE is in the selection process for students applying for a Fulbright to travel this fall.

Because the application process is long, students are advised to get an early start. In fact, any eligible Webster student that wishes to travel abroad in fall of 2007 should begin the process now.

"It's just like applying for college," Howard said. "You need to start the application the fall before."

Interested students can start by seeing Webster's Interim Center for International Education Director Thomas Finan, who provides students with the materials needed to submit an application. A good application includes a couple letters of recommendation and two essays. One essay is a biography and the other is a synopsis of what country you wish to go to and what you want to do once you get there. Finan encourages students to not veer off track when proposing their plan.

"We generally recommend students create a project germane to the country they want to go to and that could get done within a year," Finan said. "A project that takes 5 to 10 years (to complete) won't generally be accepted."

Similar to students, teachers and staff looking to apply for Fulbright grants must also have American citizenship and be in good health. They must also have teaching experience at a university and a doctoral degree or a professional degree of equivalence. Faculty can go abroad anywhere from two weeks to nine months and have the option of teaching, lecturing or doing a combination of both. The Council for International Exchange of Scholars handles the application for faculty members.

According to Howard one of the benefits of the Fulbright program is the opportunity to find new research in your chosen topic and the chance to learn cultural awareness. Another benefit is the ability to learn from and interact with different people that have similar interests as you. Howard referred to this as "personal growth."

"You get a better understanding of how you are by living somewhere else, because you get a better assumption of how other people's opinions differ from yours," Howard said.

Before his presentation, Howard said he wanted to "tell students and faculty about the international opportunities for research that are available through the Fulbright Exchange
Program."

Howard said he hopes Webster's reputation with international studies would entice students to apply for a Fulbright grant.

"Ideally, I'd love to have a couple people from Webster University apply for scholarships this summer so they can go overseas in 2007," Howard said.

While only two people attended the lecture, Howard's speech wasn't all for naught. One Webster student, Claudia Carter, a sophomore social science major, said she was impressed by Howard's presentation on the Fulbright Exchange Program. Carter, who was already interested in the Fulbright program before the presentation, left the lecture more impressed.

"I think it's imperative to become connected towards people who truly appreciate scientific research and the other genres Fulbright sponsors," said Carter.

Students who wish to apply for a Fulbright grant can get more information at the IIE's official Web site at http://www.iie.org. Interested faculty members can go to CIE's official Web site at http://www.cies.org.

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