There are two organizations that are incredibly generous with their funding – and they will be offering webinars that you MUST put on your calendar.

1) NSEP Boren Awards

Boren Scholarships and Fellowships provide unique funding opportunities for U.S. undergraduate and graduate students to add an important international and language component to their educations. We focus on geographic areas, languages, and fields of study that are critical to U.S. national security (broadly defined), and underrepresented in study abroad.  Note that students must be US citizens at the time of application. Click here for the list of their free webinars through January 2011.  These scholarships and fellowships are administered by the Institute of International Education (IIE) in New York City.

2) DAAD:  German Academic Exchange Service

I have written about DAAD several times on Melibee Global;  I was funded by them to visit Germany in 2009 and it was a wonderful opportunity.  This is a unique organization in that it also funds faculty and administrative staff travel also.  Their 2010 webinar dates are not listed on their own website yet – but here is the information:

DAAD Funding Opportunities for Study and Research in Germany
Covering funding for summer, semester, year-long and short-term study,
research and internships in Germany. All academic disciplines are eligible.
(General overview of DAAD funding)
Wednesday, September 22
12:00 – 1:15 pm EST
Register at https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/299585570

DAAD Funding Opportunities for Graduate Students, Post-Docs and Faculty
Covering funding for graduate students, post-docs and faculty to conduct
short and long-term study, research and internships in Germany. All academic
disciplines are eligible.
Tuesday, September 28
2:00 – 3:15 pm EST
Register at https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/793616370

DAAD Application Walk-Through
Addressing common questions about the application process, from the study
proposal to letters of invitation and everything in between.
Monday, October 4
2:00–3:00 pm EST
Register at https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/687205523

DAAD Funding Opportunities for Study and Research in Germany
Covering funding for summer, semester, year-long and short-term study,
research and internships in Germany. All academic disciplines are eligible.
[General overview of DAAD funding]
Wednesday, October 13
2:00 – 3:15 pm EST
Register at https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/678872035

DAAD recently announced this exciting opportunity for educators and scientists to visit Germany in December 2010. Having traveled with DAAD before, I cannot recommend the experience enough! They are well organized, very connected and extremely generous with their funding.  Did I mention they’re also a great group of people?  Please read the following information from DAAD and note that the FIRM application deadline is October 6, 2010. 

“In December 2010, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) will sponsor an informational visit on current developments in chemistry research and higher education in Germany. The tour is for North American faculty, scientists and administrators and will take place from December 5th to December 11th, 2010. The main focal points are environmentally-friendly synthesis, production and recycling processes with a special focus on catalysis, new polymers and nanomaterials. Participants will visit various institutions to learn about cutting-edge research and its application. There will be visits to renowned universities and research institutions, including Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, RWTH Aachen, Heidelberg University, Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology, and Max-Planck Institute for Polymer Chemistry) as well as BASF, the world’s leading chemical company. With this tour DAAD offers scientists and administrators an opportunity to learn about the present situation in chemistry research and higher education in Germany. We hope to enable them to identify common interests and starting points for cooperation in these areas as well as possible funding opportunities. The program will be in English. All program-related costs in Germany (accommodations, travel, most meals) will be borne by the DAAD. Intercontinental travel is at the participants’ expense. Applicants must be US or Canadian citizens or residents, have a special interest in Germany and transatlantic cooperation, and a relevant professional position. They should not have recently participated in another information trip to Germany. APPLICATIONS MUST BE RECEIVED BY October 6, 2010. For further information, please go to: www.daad.org/page/sciencetour/ or contact Uta Gaedeke in New York at 212-758-3223 x:209 or via e-mail at gaedeke@daad.org.”

Patricia Chow presented on the IIE Open Doors report review:

262, 416 US Students studied abroad in 2007/08 (8.5% increase over the previous year.) Women outnumber men two to one in study abroad.

Bernhard Steitwieser (Northwestern University):  Discussed new theoretical model to create a diagnostic inventory for their students (student learning in International Education.)  It is in a very early phase. It should be useful for program design and assessment.  Using something called “Phenomenology Methodology” which researches different ways that students learn during a particular shared phenomenon (international experience.)  Methodology looks at concrete experience, then drilling down to specific experiences. 

So far, found 4 different areas of conception of an international experience:
1) Observing  2) Interacting  3) Participating and  4) Adopting.  These are hierarchical.

Dr. Deirdre Sato (Purchase College):  Dissertation research was on the impact of short term study at a liberal arts college in the Northeastern United States.  Programs were 5 week summer programs in China, France, Italy and Spain that took place between 2003-07.  Research was done once student were alumni. Gender was 71% female.  Largest reply from Italy – which was the largest program. Findings included a wider choice sof academic studies  – they were open to other subject areas upon return. Didn’t see a strong influence of short term programs on career development series of questions. Some students were in internationally related careers, but the numbers were small. Some referenced skills they gained abroad including interviewing skills.  Were more open to study or living abroad in the future.  Host country attitudes – how they viewed the host country values.  They had little knowledge of the host culture prior to going abroad; they did not worry about people being unfriendly toward  them. They felt that they knew the country well upon return. Tended to focus on points of similarity. Students were able to make the connection that they could negotiate their host country and could transfer that skill to other countries.  She also looked at global perspectives.  One of the strongest average agreement was “I do not judge or discount the interests of others that I don’t know, even if they’re not compatible with my own.” Students did express that they had issues upon re-entry, more so than arrival culture shock.  Appx 48% changed their opinions about the US upon re-entry.  Students were reflective of their home country upon their return. Re-entry stress did impact personal and social development – such as maturity, self confidence and appreciation of the arts. Alumni indicated the difficulty of being an American post 9/11 to a large extent. Students were compelled to review how they view themselves, especially after the start of the Iraq War. They often felt compelled to be a role model for the United States and talking about U.S. politics more than ever before.  They felt ill equipped to explain U.S. foreign policy. They could see the negative views of the U.S.  more easily while abroad. They were more reflective about what is means to be an American in a contemporary world. Recommendations for program planning include stressing the personal and social transformatoin when promoting short term programs as well as the connections with faculty can foster persistence in higher education.

Antonia Lortis/Ryan Gonzalez  (University of Minnesota):  Researched why there is a difference in the numbers who attend the “first step” (inital advising) meeting and who actually go abroad.  Looked at this as a purchase process.  If too many details are given up front, consumers will disengage. Perhaps we’re not celebrating  and nuturing the decision to come to the office for information enough. They are not statisticians, but did predecision making meeting survey (1)  and post decision meeting  survey (2).  Data shows students want application and financial questions when they arrive in the office. Fear of finances are strong barriers.

Q&A: 

One audience member commented regarding the impact of Short Term Study Abroad – seems like institutions are researching internally.  Seems that world view is changing in those cases also and appears to support Dr. Sato’s data.  Wonders if this type of study can be applied to older populations next.

Comment on a survey by IIE – research on internships for Science students.  Data on impact on the student and on the mentor.  (RISE program through DAAD).

This conference is officially over – I hope to write reflective comments once I get some sleep!

This year’s program will focus on The Bologna Reforms. Applications are due by March 5, 2010.  See details below:

Bologna Turns Ten:  Transatlantic Student Mobility in the German and European Higher Education Context
Bonn – Brussels – Berlin
June 12 – 19, 2010

Since 1979, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) has sponsored an annual information visit on current developments in Germany and Europe for high-level North American policy experts and decision makers. This year’s program will focus on the latest efforts and developments in internationalizing higher education in Germany and Europe, and on how your students can benefit from it.

North American participants in this program are typically senior administrators at leading universities in the U.S. and Canada (such as vice-presidents for international affairs or heads of international offices), policy makers in federal and state/provincial governments or associations, and other experts in the higher education field.

The program will be in English. All program-related costs in Europe (accommodation, domestic travel, most meals) will be covered by DAAD. (The program will end on Friday, June 18, in Berlin but accommodation through Saturday morning will be covered by DAAD, as well). Intercontinental travel is at the participant’s expense.

Please visit www.daad.org/?p=germanytoday for further information.

I was able to bring DAAD to my campus at WCSU this past October for the International Education Conference.  Jane Fu, from DAAD (based in NYC), gave an excellent presentation about the wide range of funding opportunities for undergraduates, graduates, PhD candidates and Post Docs, and Faculty/Researchers. DAAD is an incredibly well organized and generous organization.  Funding is available for German language study, internships, research, short term lectureship, and even group study.

As I prepare for my pre-conference workshop presentation, “Fundamentals of Short Term Education Abroad Programming”, I am reminded of the importance of program start-up funding. Short term programs, while increasingly popular, often run at a financial loss in year one.  In my opinion, this is something that should be anticipated and is perhaps necessary in the first year in to develop an audience for a sustainable program.  Once a successful cohort returns from a short course abroad, they inadvertently serve as your course’s marketing team.  Their positive experiences move like wildfire across social media outlets (Facebook, Twitter, etc) and the chances of recruiting in year two are significantly heightened.

Through my recent trip to Germany I was quickly able to discern that it is a particularly viable destination for short courses in business, sciences and social sciences/humanities.  DAAD offers financial support for academic information visits to Germany that are organized by faculty members for groups of students.  The group should consist  of 10 – 15 students plus one faculty and the trip abroad should last between 7 and 12 days.   DAAD offers approximately 6,720 Euros to subsidize room and board.  For institutions that struggle with a lack of seed money for program development, this particular funding represents an excellent opportunity to decrease direct costs to students.

For more information and application deadlines, visit www.daad.org/?p=groupvisits. Based on my experience in Germany this past summer with the DAAD, you will not be disappointed.