Fulbright Program Adviser
Newsletter

Starting the Year with Dogwood Blooms: The University of Louisville's Annual Fulbright Outreach Plan

University of Louisville's 2010-2011 Fulbright candidates, left to right: Shadea Mitchell (English Teaching Assistant to Jordan), Joseph Kern (English Teaching Assistant, alternate), Jamie Giles (English Teaching Assistant to Thailand), Carolyn Morgan (Germany), Boris Yelin (English Teaching Assistant to Argentina), Felicia Hogan (English Teaching Assistant to Korea), Venkat Ramakrishnan (Switzerland), J. Lee Young (Russia), Elizabeth Halet (English Teaching Assistant to Taiwan), Lindsay Miller (English Teaching Assistant to Ecuador), Tejas Shastry (English Teaching Assistant to Sri Lanka), Brian Goessling (Germany), Kate Doyle (Finland, alternate), Kathryn Trimble (Canada, alternate); (Not pictured: Jonathan Holland, English Teaching Assistant to Ukraine, Carime Lechner, English Teaching Assistant to Mongolia, Sarah Oesterly, Peru)

Many of the Fulbright Program Adviser (FPA) recruiting methods described below were initially presented in a “Strategies for Fulbright Advising” NAFA workshop at Depauw University on July 22, 2010.  At that session, my assistant, Seabrook Jones (Fubright English Teaching Assistant to Korea, 2003-2004) and I analyzed a typical year for a University of Louisville student applying to the Fulbright U.S. Student Program.  We offered some recommendations based on factors we’ve identified as instrumental to our success.

How do we begin our Fulbright efforts each year?  I used to say the process started when students came in to see me with their first questions.  One surprising discovery we made, as we prepared to analyze our annual Fulbright application cycle, was something I formerly regarded as a disturbance: the requests for materials for various media releases and stories each spring has now evolved into an essential first stage in our recruiting process and is the direct result of a concerted effort made over the past two years by my colleague, Seabrook to increase the profile of our efforts on campus.  The offices of Communications & Marketing, Advancement, Development, and our University Foundation all help to promote the Fulbright Program at the University of Louisville.  We found that the more we made ourselves known to the right people in those offices, the more press was generated about our awardees, and the quality and correctness of all promotional information rose exponentially.  Fulbrighters are now promoted broadly and vibrantly -- on campus and off.  At the University of Louisville, we’ve made it part of our campus culture to see winning a Fulbright as a very big deal. 

The front page of the May 6, 2010 edition of the Louisville Courier-Journal featuring the University of Louisville's 12 Fulbright 2010-2011 grantees

Faculty and students alike are now literally bombarded with the excitement surrounding the new Fulbrighters (and Boren, Critical Language Scholarships recipients, etc.) in the late spring. 

Summer Is For Matchmaking

The first step for University of Louisville Fulbright applicants is a 90-minute, one-on-one meeting with the FPA.  Late spring and summer appointments are ideal, but if they are not possible, students are welcome to come in as soon as they return to campus in the fall.  If they are unable to meet with me in person, this can be accomplished over the phone or through email exchanges.  To facilitate this meeting, I have them bring an up-to-date resume and unofficial copies of their transcripts from all college level study.  I carefully “translate” the transcripts, looking for strengths, weaknesses, and academic patterns which might be noted by national Fulbright reviewers.  I ask which faculty members have been influential to their academic development and if anyone outside of academe might be one of their recommenders.

The primary purpose of this long session is "matchmaking" them with the appropriate grant opportunity.  Given their backgrounds (both in and out of the classroom) and their goals, are they better suited to apply for an English Teaching Assistantship (ETA), or a study or research Fulbright grant?  To which countries should they consider applying?  In the past, I handed them a copy of the new Fulbright country summary guide or brochure (this year, since they will no longer be available in hard copy, we will utilize the online country summaries) and offered guidance about selecting a country and program.  I'd advise them to read the country summaries and eligibility requirements, candidate preferences, and language requirements carefully.  My bottom line to students is, if a country indicates a preference for applications in a given discipline, students with a specific level of language competency or advanced graduate students, they will get plenty of applicants who meet those qualifications.  One reason our applicants-to-awards ratio has steadily improved over the years is that I no longer allow our candidates to apply for something for which they are not suited.

Start of the School Year - Our Workshops 

Critical to our process is a sequence of three Fulbright Application Workshops.  These help applicants prepare and refine their Fulbright applications and essays.

Workshop I (Friday, August 27, 2010) The World of Fulbright: Novice Level

This workshop begins with an application process walk-through from start to finish letting applicants know what they can expect over the next month-and-a-half.  We have former Fulbrighters compare differences between ETA and study or research experiences.  This is followed by a PowerPoint walk-through of the non-essay portions of the application (pages 1-5, and Form 7) with previous successful Fulbright applications used as examples.

Workshop II (Friday, September 3, 2010) Laptop Fulbright: Intermediate Level

Candidates bring laptops.  All participants arrive with a completed draft of a Fulbright application (pages 1-5 and Form 7).  We begin the session by going through the opening pages of the applications, checking format, content, and giving on-screen advice for ways to fit their academic careers and personal lives into spaces with limited line counts.  We spend part of the session brainstorming about the two required Fulbright essays.  What is it that makes for an effective Fulbright project proposal?  What does a winning essay look like?  How can a personal essay be more of an “intellectual biography” and less of "a salute to your mother?"

Workshop III (Friday, September 10, 2010) Fulbright Speed Dating: Advanced

This is probably the most unique stage of our process.  Candidates arrive with a completed draft of their application and essays.

Applicants have multiple one-on-one meetings with members of the campus Fulbright Committee and former Fulbrighters.  We call this our “Fulbright speed dating” session because of the accelerated pace at which students will go from “never met you before” to “deeply engaged in a discussion about ideas” with members of our Fulbright review team.  Most team members are well-seasoned; some new members are added each year to avoid campus committee burn-out.

Applicants will typically meet with four committee members for 20 minutes each.  Faculty will not have seen these applications before the student moves to their table.  The student introduces themselves, hands the reviewer their application and essays, and engages in whatever dialogue comes out of the exchange. 

Participation in this workshop is the most important thing our students can do to quickly improve their applications.  It helps them clarify their ideas as they move into the final six days of their preliminary application preparation.

Our campus deadline is in mid-September, roughly five weeks before the national deadline.  The application, with all supporting documents, must be submitted electronically by then for review.  For those applying for a research or study grant, an exception often needs to be made for the supporting affiliation letters as most candidates are still in the process of securing them. 

The Campus Interviews

What might be different in how we conduct campus interviews is that we devote 60 minutes per candidate with six to eight committee members present for each student.  We group the faculty expertise as needed (by research discipline, destination country or world region, ETA suitability).  In fall 2010, we conducted interviews over four weekdays.

Something we highly recommend, based on our newfound sensitivity to media relations, is that you take high quality photos of each candidate while they’re all "dressed to kill" on the day of their campus interview.  This is invaluable for a quick turnaround in the spring when you begin announcing results.

The Final Hoops (a Suitable Analogy at this Basketball-Crazy School)

Students have just one week from their interview date to submit their final application.  With 37 candidates for the 2010-11 application cycle, we made some exceptions to that rule as we were too busy dealing with the earliest of them to crack the whip on the later ones.  This year, buried in the weight of an ever-expanding field of candidates, we engaged one of our former humanities graduate students to give our research applications a quick read to be certain errors hadn’t crept into the final drafts.  Seabrook also proofread the ETA applications. 

What Do I Do from the Time of the Campus Interview to the National Deadline?

I am engaged in the challenging and creative exercise in persuasive prose otherwise known as "writing the campus committee evaluation."  I intended initially to “be a writer,” and this is my annual challenge.  I revel in trying to fit the essence of each candidate into those small spaces.  The evaluations are my first-hand summary of the applicant’s strengths and weaknesses.  It draws attention to anything that might have particular bearing on the match between candidate and opportunity.  If committee members passed along useful written comments, I incorporate them here.  For candidates in the sciences and engineering, I rely more heavily on the interviewing committee’s assessments and quote from recommendations.  As I am engaged in this final review of the dossiers with all their documents spread before me, I often catch something that still needs a fix.

Then it’s time to press SUBMIT on the campus committee evaluations and the final application in the Embark system!

We know we have done our job right when the final application, once submitted, gives the impression that the candidate has known what country and project they were gunning for from the beginning, although that is so rarely the case when they first come to visit my office.

Candidate Potluck

In mid-January, I host a dinner for the applicants -- all of them -- at my home (even if they barely fit into the space).  The importance of the gathering is to celebrate the application process and the accomplishment it represents.  I do this before we have the national committee results at the end of January. 

From there on, it is a waiting game until students receive those Fulbright envelopes, and a new press cycle begins.

Preparing an Application in the Creative, Performing or Visual Arts

Proposals in the arts should focus on formal performance training and/or independent study in specific disciplines.  Applicants should indicate the following in their project statements: the reasons for choosing a particular country, the nature of their study, the form their work will take and whether it involves formal study at an institution, with an individual or an independent study.  In their project statements, applicants should relate their current training to the study they plan to undertake abroad, the expected results of the study or training and the contribution the Fulbright experience will have on their professional development.

Applicants must indicate host country affiliations and, where possible, provide letters of support from the individual or institution with whom or where they plan to carry out their study.  While sources of support/affiliation are country-specific, they may include organizations such as museums, music groups, galleries, conservatories, etc.

Candidates in the arts should be aware that their applications and supplementary materials will be reviewed by a discipline-specific committee of experts.  Special care should be taken when identifying the appropriate field of study in the application; it should be germane to the focus of the proposed project.  The discipline-specific committees in the creative, performing and visual arts include: Architecture; Creative Writing; Dance & Performance Art; Design; Filmmaking; Music Composition & Conducting; Photography; Piano; Organ & Harpsichord; Theater, including Acting, Directing and Costume/Set Design; Sculpture & Installation Art; Painting & Printmaking; String Instruments, including Cello, Double Bass, Guitar, Harp, Lute, Viola, and Violin; Voice; Percussion; Wind Instruments; and World Music, which includes performance-based projects in non-Western genres.

The members of the discipline-specific screening committees in the arts can be working professionals, working/teaching professionals or full-time arts faculty at academic institutions or teachers at art and music conservatories in the U.S.  They will be reviewing applications and supplementary materials in their respective fields for all Fulbright countries.

The supplementary materials should support the proposed study.  In submitting supplementary materials in support of the application, candidates should refer to their discipline in the Instructions for Submitting Materials in the Creative and Performing Arts for specifications on the materials required. Materials not specifically requested will not be reviewed.

While the quality of the supplementary material submitted in support of the written application is extremely important, candidates in the arts should be aware that members of the screening committees will also be interested in the applicant’s training and preparation to carry out the proposed project.  Therefore, previous formal study, training or experience is important.

Projects should focus on practical training or performance studies.  Candidates should outline a project which is supported by their previous study background, and which will add to their professional training and development.

Applicants whose projects emphasize academic research over practical/performance training should apply in the academic field appropriate to the nature of the project (e.g., Architectural History, Art History, Ethnomusicology, Film Studies, Musicology, Theater Studies, etc.) and not submit supplementary material.

Coaxing Fulbright Applications from Non-Traditional Students

Nigel Boyle, Fulbright Program Adviser, Pitzer College

Non-traditional age students, as students from other under-represented populations, are often the “who, me?” prospects.  New Resources students tend to academically outperform our general student population, but they also tend to lack self-belief.  Many feel under-prepared because of their circuitous routes to a liberal arts education; others have constraining family responsibilities and are less likely to have undertaken study abroad (although military service often provides something equivalent).  (Also, veterans are given preference in Fulbright selection, provided their qualifications are approximately equivalent to those of other candidates.)  Convincing students who have shown the appropriate academic quality or mettle that they are good candidates for Fulbright is half the battle.  Once Fulbright is on their radar screens, there are two advising tips particular to non-traditional age students I would share.  

1.  Don’t let them plough a lonely furrow.  It is important for students who may be socially disconnected from the general student population to share draft proposals with others.  A peer review workshop works wonders: students realize everyone else has a really dodgy first draft, too.

2.  Persuade students that their irregular route to a college degree, far from being something to be ashamed of (a common enough sentiment), is something to make into a centerpiece in the personal essay.  It is a distinction, not a handicap.  Patiently encouraging a cautious applicant that thirteen combat medals in Afghanistan and Iraq may be worth alluding to in a personal essay was one of my better Fulbright advising moments.

Once a precedent is set – the first winner from an under-represented group – then the task is promote the pipeline effect: student X won a Fulbright, you can too!  Non-traditional age students enrich and diversify the student body at Pitzer; they can do the same for the Fulbright Program.