ASHWILL

Mark A. Ashwill is director of the World Languages Institute and Fulbright Program adviser.

The Fulbright Program is the U.S. government's premier scholarship program. What is its specific purpose and who administers the program?
Congress created the Fulbright Program in 1946, immediately after World War II, to foster mutual understanding among nations through educational and cultural exchange. Sen. J. William Fulbright, sponsor of the legislation, saw it as a step toward building an alternative to armed conflict. The U.S. Student Program awards approximately 900 grants annually and currently operates in more than 140 countries worldwide. The Institute of International Education (IIE), a non-profit organization that sponsors 240 programs through which almost 18,000 men and women from 170 nations benefit annually, administers the program on behalf of the Department of State. The U.S. Student Program, which is my primary responsibility at UB, is designed to give recent B.S./B.A. graduates, master's and doctoral candidates, young professionals and artists opportunities for personal development and international experience.

What types of grants are available and for whom?
The most popular grant is the Fulbright Full Grant, which provides round-trip transportation; language or orientation courses, where appropriate; tuition, in some cases; book and research allowances; maintenance for the academic year, based on living costs in the host country, and supplemental health and accident insurance. Another grant category is the teaching assistantship for Belgium/Luxembourg, France, Germany, Hungary, Korea and Turkey. In the past two years, two UB students have served as Fulbright teaching assistants in Germany. There also are travel grants to Germany, Hungary or Italy to supplement an award from a non-IIE source. One Fulbright/John R. Oishei Foundation Scholarship is earmarked for students from the Buffalo metropolitan area in business or economics, or, possibly, another field. Although the Fulbright Program's policy is to award grants to the best-qualified students, preference is given to candidates who recently have received the baccalaureate degree.

Is it difficult to apply for a grant? What percentage of applicants is selected?
A current UB Fulbrighter, Micah Allen (Denmark, mechanical engineering) wrote in the graduate student newspaper last year: "Ultimately, tragically, they only award fellowships to a select group. If you aren't a member of that group, regardless of how much you may deserve it, you don't stand a chance. The only people that ever get Fulbright fellowships are Those Who Apply." As I tell prospective applicants, the entire application process is fairly painless—from completing the online application to attending a campus committee meeting. The most challenging part is writing quality personal and project statements, which form the crux of the application. In 2000-01, 23 percent of all applicants from around the U.S. received grants. Last year, that figure was 38 percent for UB applicants.

How successful have UB faculty and students been in receiving these awards?
Thanks to the help of my colleagues, the popularity of the Fulbright Program among UB students is on the rise. Last year, we submitted 13 applications and five UB students were awarded Fulbright grants to Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Lithuania and Sweden. A growing number of applicants are graduating seniors, which is a good sign. One of my goals is to encourage more faculty to apply for a scholar award and other programs for which they are eligible, such as the Fulbright Senior Specialist Program. Another way of becoming involved is to serve on regional screening committees that review student program applications.

The Fulbright Program also brings foreign scholars to the United States. How is UB involved in that part of the program? Tell me about the foreign scholars that are at UB this year.
This year, UB has 36 international students who are here under the auspices of the Fulbright Student Program. We also are hosting two visiting Fulbright scholars: Sedin Kobaslija, assistant professor in the Department of Children and Preventive Dentistry at the University of Sarajevo in Bosnia Herzegovina, who will arrive in January to do research on "The Use of Fissure Sealant in Pediatric Dentistry," and Thiep Quang Lam, an assistant in the Ministry of Education and Training in Hanoi, Vietnam, who is here for the academic year conducting research on higher education reform.

In the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, why is the Fulbright Program more important than ever?
In responding to this excellent question, I would like to quote from the program's mission statement: "The best way to appreciate others' viewpoints, their beliefs, the way they think and the way they do things is to interact with them directly on an individual basis—work with them, live with them, teach with them, learn with them and learn from them." This rings true for anyone who has spent an extended period of time abroad as a student, teacher and/or researcher.

How can interested individuals apply?
The first step is to visit the UB Fulbright homepage at http://wings.buffalo.edu/fulbright/ and fill out the online preliminary screening. Then, I schedule an appointment to talk about your plans. I refer faculty to the Web site of the Council for International Studies and Programs http://www.iie.org/cies, which administers the Scholar Program. Students also can feel free to e-mail me at ashwill@buffalo, or call me at 645-2292.

What question do you wish I had asked, and how would you have answered it?
One question that comes to mind is how I like my job as Fulbright adviser. It is inspirational and immensely rewarding to work with so many talented and promising students. Fulbright advising naturally complements my primary work in language and culture training, and international education, broadly defined.