Fulbright Scholar Campus Representative Workshop for Community Colleges – San Francisco, CA
Steve Oluic, Lakeland Community College
As a Dean at Lakeland Community College, in Kirtland, Ohio, I was extremely pleased to participate in the Campus Representative workshop presented by CIES (and sponsored by the U.S. Department of State) in San Francisco on April 19th. It was well attended by a wide range of Community College faculty, staff and administrators. The workshop cleared up one huge commonly held perception that I believe most community colleges have: that the Fulbright Program is tailored specifically to fit four-year institution and graduate school programs. In fact, there is no preferential treatment for these institutions and community college faculty and administrators are strongly encouraged to participate.
The Community College Campus Representatives collaborated during breaks and evening hours to share this newly gained knowledge and how our home institutions could benefit from the opportunities presented; there are many indeed! I was able to gain insight on how other colleges were using these Fulbright opportunities and how the college administration and faculty cooperated to make them a fruitful endeavor in so many ways. Topics included scholar recognition, participant benefits, salary impacts, tenure or promotion implications, and faculty release time – there was a lot to share and learn from one another. I now have the tool kit and knowledge to articulately present the Fulbright opportunities to administration leadership and the campus faculty. Until this workshop, being a campus representative was merely a title; now the valuable information gained through interacting with other institution colleagues, and Athena Fulay and Andy Riess from CIES, permits me to be an agent of positive change at Lakeland Community College. I have already met with faculty to discuss the Fulbright grants and we plan on requesting support from the Fulbright Occasional Lecturer Fund to bring a Visiting Scholar from another part of the country to our campus. The event was a resounding success for all who were lucky enough to attend.
There are approximately 2,600 designated Fulbright Scholar Program representatives on college and university campuses throughout the United States. This network of committed individuals is crucial to the promotion of the Fulbright Program to the U.S. higher education community. To find who your campus representative is, click here.