Faculty to study abroad
The Fulbright Program has helped to improve the quality of the faculty at Utah State University and has brought diversity into the classroom.
Chris Fawson, vice provost of Academic and International Affairs, said, “The Fulbright Program benefits the student body at USU by giving the university prestige, which increases the value of education at USU. The program also adds to the quality of the faculty at USU.”
The Fulbright Program was designed to promote mutual understanding between people of the United States and those of other countries around the world by giving faculty members the opportunity to travel abroad.
Today, the program stands as a link – academic, professional and personal – between the United States and more than 140 countries.
During their period in the host country, scholars teach, collaborate in research with colleagues and students, organize workshops, provide media interviews, socialize with neighbors, and interact in many other ways.
USU has had 32 professors receive the Fulbright award in about the past 50 years.
To be eligible, an applicant must be a U.S. citizen (without a green card) and have a doctorate, master’s, or equivalent professional/terminal degree, as well as higher education teaching experience and foreign language proficiency (if required).
Bill Furlong, a professor in political science, received three Fulbright awards, allowing him to travel to Costa Rica twice and Panama once.
His personal experiences allowed him to build good relationships in the host countries, he said.
Fawson said, “Anything that benefits faculty will also benefit students.”
Faculty from a university where Furlong taught and did research have come to work at USU since he first received the Fulbright award in 1984.
Kathy McConkie, assistant to the vice provost of Academic and International Affairs, has been involved with the Fulbright Program since the spring of 2002. Last year, there were 12 applicants from all the colleges and universities around Utah, she said.
Forty-two percent of the Utah scholars were from USU, McConkie said.
“It’s amazing what the program does for the students,” she said.
The media today portray some countries as something they are not, McConkie said. Professors really help out with this problem because they come back from their host countries and give students a whole new perspective, she said.
The students can come to their own conclusions about certain countries or people with the help of faculty who have received the Fulbright award, rather than having the media make up their minds for them, McConkie said.
“Students become more aware of the global economy,” she said. “And students become more discerning.”
SRI Institutions, a leading independent research institute, conducted a survey on the Fulbright Program and found the experiences lead Americans to an increase in knowledge of an engagement with the world.
Another finding of the survey was the power of personal relationships will increase mutual understandings.
McConkie said these findings are forceful in view of the events of Sept. 11, 2001.
Furlong said faculty at USU should “turn over every stone to make it possible to receive the Fulbright award.”
Graduate students can also participate in the Fulbright Program through the International Education Institute (www.IIE.org).
For information about the Fulbright Program, call 797-1842.
-lindseyp@cc.usu.edu