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Latitudes

Get a rundown of the top stories in international ed and Karin Fischer’s expert analysis. Delivered on Wednesdays. To read this newsletter as soon as it sends, sign up to receive it in your email inbox.

February 15, 2023
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From: Karin Fischer

Subject: Latitudes: These Colleges Produce a Lot of Fulbright Scholars. Here’s How.

How to be ‘Fulbright friendly’

The list of colleges that had the most recipients of the prestigious Fulbright scholarship, the U.S. government’s flagship international-exchange program, has been released. Eighteen colleges were new to the list for the 2022-23 academic year. And nine doctoral institutions, three master’s, five baccalaureate, and one four-year special-focus institution were the top producers of both U.S. scholars and U.S. students.

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How to be “Fulbright friendly”

The list of colleges that had the most recipients of the prestigious Fulbright scholarship, the U.S. government’s flagship international-exchange program, has been released. Eighteen colleges were new to the list for the 2022-23 academic year. And nine doctoral institutions, three master’s, five baccalaureate, and one four-year special-focus institution were the top producers of both U.S. scholars and U.S. students.

What does it take to have high participation in the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program, which offers teaching and research grants for college faculty and administrators? A common thread among top-producing colleges is that they have “Fulbright friendly” policies that help faculty and staff members apply for the program and that support them while they are abroad, said Julie E. Taylor, director of academic relations for Fulbright at the Institute of International Education, the not-for-profit organization that carries out the U.S. Student and U.S. Scholar Programs, which are administered by the U.S. Department of State.

It’s also important that institutions make sure those policies are clear and easily accessible so that applicants have comprehensive information, including guidance about how time away could affect tenure and promotion, Taylor said.

I spoke with people at three colleges that are either top producers of Fulbright scholars, or that have made more faculty participation an institutional priority, about what it takes to be Fulbright friendly. Here’s what they told me:

Appalachian State University, in western North Carolina, includes global engagement in its campus mission, so perhaps it is no surprise that it’s a top producer among master’s institutions of both Fulbright scholars and students.

The college provides significant assistance to faculty and staff members applying for Fulbrights. During Fulbright Week, it offers a slate of workshops for prospective applicants, developing new programming based on feedback from the previous year. This year’s line-up, for example, includes a talk by a Fulbright alumnus who went to Austria with his wife and four children because many professors had asked about the feasibility of going abroad with a family, said Chrissie Faupel, executive director for international education and development.

Applicants can get feedback on early drafts of their application. For those who want it, three former Fulbright recipients act as volunteer reviewers, giving advice to strengthen proposals. More than half of applicants who go through the review process have successfully won awards, Faupel said.

Former scholars are important ambassadors for the program, sharing the impact of their time abroad on their scholarship and teaching in both formal and informal settings, Faupel said. “For many of them, it really is a labor of love.”

Her office also provides faculty travel grants that allow professors thinking of trying for a Fulbright to spend time on the ground in the country where they have interest in teaching or doing research. Faculty members often use the grants, of up to $1,500, to attend conferences or lead short study-abroad programs to a particular destination, helping them build experience and contacts locally. “It gets their feet wet,” Faupel said.

Next on her agenda: to develop more programming to encourage college administrators to apply for Fulbright awards.

Sending a signal and making everyone whole

Administrators at Purdue University wanted to send a message about the value they place on the Fulbright scholars award. So they created the role of provost’s fellow for Fulbright faculty awards in 2017.

“The position sends a strong signal to the entire campus about the importance of the award to Purdue,” said Christopher J. Lukasik, an associate professor of English and American studies who is the first, and so far only, provost’s fellow.

Lukasik, a Fulbright alumnus, acts as a dedicated resource for faculty members interested in applying for the program. He helps recruit prospective participants, assists individual professors with their applications, and troubleshoots issues that arise.

In his role, he has also identified systemic hurdles that kept faculty members from applying for the grants. For example, for some professors, the award amount was less than their regular salary, so winning a Fulbright effectively meant taking a pay cut while abroad. Purdue instituted a “salary top-off” policy, making up the difference between the award amount and a professor’s full salary.

Lukasik works on a strategic level in other ways, consulting with administrators across campus about how increasing Fulbright participation can fit into their broader goals. Fulbrights are often the first step toward larger international partnerships such as study-abroad programs, faculty exchanges, and research collaborations, Lukasik said. And departments that send faculty members on Fulbrights typically see an increase in graduate applications from the host country.

Having an institutional commitment to the Fulbright program makes sense because it’s the only prestigious grant program open to almost every faculty member on campus, bringing international visibility and recognition to their research or teaching. “Fulbright awards can enhance the professional and personal development of our faculty,” Lukasik said, “whether you are an engineering or an English professor.”

Recent graduates and graduate students at the University of Florida frequently earn Fulbright student awards, but the institution wasn’t as successful on the scholars side.

When David L. Reed and his colleagues dug into the data, they found real variation between academic departments. Some departments had higher rates of participation, said Reed, Florida’s associate provost for strategic initiatives. But others discouraged professors from applying, seeing it as a burden for the department to have to cover recipients’ teaching assignments.

“They saw it as harmful for the department,” Reed said, “rather than incredible professional development for faculty.”

Florida leaders realized they needed a consistent institutional policy, so Reed convened a yearlong series of universitywide conversations to identify roadblocks to participation and find solutions. One problem identified in the discussions, during the 2018-19 academic year, was that because the Fulbright award goes to individual faculty members, the university and academic departments would sometimes not know that a professor had applied until they won the grant.

That left department chairs scrambling at the last minute to cover the recipient’s courseload and other duties. Florida began requiring professors to submit their applications through the university’s international center, giving “lots of heads up” for planning, Reed said.

Departments, through their academic college, can also apply to the provost’s office for additional funds to help offset replacement teaching costs.

The process identified disincentives on the faculty side, too. Covering expenses while abroad could be difficult, especially for those with families. A policy developed by Florida ensures that faculty members receive their full salary while overseas, in addition to the Fulbright award, and that they keep their benefits. Recipients can then use their Fulbright funds for research and other activities, Reed said.

Applications for the 2024-25 Fulbright U.S. Scholar program open this month, and there is an online informational session this afternoon, Wednesday, February 15, at 2 p.m. ET. You can register here, or check out the schedule of future webinars. More details about the awards are also on the Fulbright scholar website.

Connect with “Latitudes” in D.C.

I’m looking forward to seeing many of you at the Association of International Education Administrators annual conference next week at the JW Marriott in Washington, D.C. I’ll be speaking as part of several panels, and I hope you’ll check them out:

  • On Monday, February 20, at 11:30 a.m. I’ll be joining a group of China experts to discuss a timely topic, Critical Challenges Facing U.S.-China Education Cooperation and Exchanges, in Salon D.
  • Also on Monday, at 2 p.m. in Longworth, I’ll be part of a session, Translating Student Mobility Trend Data Into Action, that will dive into international-student data and how it can be used in recruitment efforts.
  • On Tuesday, February 21, at 4 p.m. I’ll be hosting a roundtable of international students and students who have studied abroad on issues of diversity and inclusion. Our panel, International Education and JEDI: A Student Perspective, will be in Salon D.

Plus, a special plenary session organized by AIEA and the American Council on Education, How Are We Doing — Really? New Findings and the Future of International Education, is prompted by questions first raised in Latitudes. It will be on Tuesday at 8 a.m. in the Grand Ballroom, and organizers tell me there will be time for discussion.

Also meeting in Washington next week is the Comparative & International Education Society. I’ll be joining a group of higher-education scholars there to discuss their research on Foreign Interference in Higher Education, on Wednesday, February 22, at 1:30 p.m.

That’s when I’ll be talking — but I also hope to get in a lot of listening. Are you participating in a panel you think I should attend, or did you spot a session on a subject you think might be worth more coverage? Let’s get it on my schedule! Drop me a note at karin.fischer@chronicle.com.

Around the globe

The number of international scholars in the United States climbed 6 percent in the 2021-22 academic year, but the gains did little to make up for the steep decline, 33 percent, in visiting academics during the pandemic.

A bipartisan pair of senators have once again introduced legislation that would give legal permanent residence to undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children. This is the fourth time the lawmakers have proposed the bill, known as the Dream Act.

NAFSA: Association of International Educators announced the winners of its annual Senator Paul Simon Award for Campus Internationalization.

A group opposed to the Chinese Communist Party, and with ties to the Republican operative Steve Bannon, has been barred from some political activities at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County after being accused of publishing a student’s personal information.

Universities across Turkey were closed in the wake of devastating earthquakes, with many of their dormitories given over to emergency housing.

An Afghan professor who ripped up his academic degrees to protest the Taliban’s ban on women attending college was arrested.

Colleges are making strides toward meeting the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, but progress has been hampered by lack of funding and training, according to a new report from the International Association of Universities.

And finally …

Happy anniversary to me us! This week’s newsletter marks the 200th issue of Latitudes. Thanks for reading along and for your contributions. Your feedback and ideas make Latitudes better.

Meanwhile, if you’ve got any thoughts about how to celebrate a newsletter anniversary, drop me a line at karin.fischer@chronicle.com. You can also connect with me on Twitter or LinkedIn. If you like what you read, please spread the news about Latitudes and share it with colleagues and friends. They can sign up here.

Karin Fischer
Karin Fischer writes about international education, colleges and the economy, and other issues. She’s on Twitter @karinfischer, and her email address is karin.fischer@chronicle.com.
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