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Transcript For: Fulbright Guidance Session, June 17, 2008. Q & A. - Part 2.

Fulbright Guidance Session, June 17, 2008. Questions and Answers - Part 2.

Question: So I have a question about one of the three IE MBA programs to Spain, Jon Adler? The actual grants are full time course of study in the MBA program itself which is kind of a divergent goal from your usual research or teaching and doesn’t really allow a lot of time on the side to interact with the country on a cultural level. Can I just ask you for some guidance on what a research proposal would look like if you were going towards an MBA program?

Jon: Sure, sure, sure. Generally for that you could discuss what you hope to get out of going to the program, what your career aspirations are. You’d probably have time if you wanted to do some community service, if you wanted to do that at all when you were in country. Maybe if there were specific coursework you wanted to undertake on this program.

Question: But to the extent that the coursework, the community service, or even your own goals, an MBA program can relate to, I don’t know, I mean, cultural expression, or the interaction of US and Spain relations, I mean, there are real limits to that. The MBA is kind of like a selfish, profit seeking thing really. So, I mean, are there examples maybe of previous research proposals under that?

Jon: They pretty much discuss just why the student wants to go to that school, what they hope to get out of it, and why they want to go to Spain, as opposed to going to another country to do a similar program.

Question: OK. So your career trajectory can go into kind of helping relations?

Jon: Exactly. I mean, you don’t have to specifically discuss why… how Spanish-American relations will improve by you attending this school, but just discuss why you want to go to Spain, and why you want to attend this school, what you hope to get out of it, your career goals based on once you get the degree, just something along those lines.

Question: Alright, good enough. Thank you.

Walter: Also take a look at the bi-national business program in Mexico. Within that participating country summary, there’s a section on talking points for the project statement, the grant purpose, excuse me. Take a look at that, and that’ll give you some ideas on this as well.

Question: Thank you, that’s great. Alright. And are you the most specific person to speak to in regards to the Spain program?

Jon: For Spain, yes.

Question: Hi, I’m interested in Panama and specifically I’m looking at Environmental Science. Education in Environmental Science in a specific region which is actually Darien and I noticed that there’s a security risk beyond a certain point of that province. Would that affect in any way my application, just because I’m saying that the study is within that province where there’s a restriction beyond a certain area?

Colleen: Yes, I mean if you’re not supposed to be going to a certain area, I wouldn’t try and apply for-

Question: No, there’s a restriction beyond a certain area… my study is just overall, it doesn’t necessarily mean I have to go beyond the area but I was wondering if that will negatively impact because I say that I am studying the problem.

Jon: Are you… the Darien area?

Question: Darien, yes.

Jon: Just make it clear that you don’t want to go to any of the areas that are cut off, and if you could mention cities that are areas…

Question: So I just say- Santa Fe I believe is the restriction.

Jon: Exactly, mention where exactly you want to go there so it’s not vague that you’re going to venture into areas where you wouldn’t be allowed.

Question: So I can state that my study doesn’t necessarily mean that I have to go into the area because I’m looking at the study of environmental science and…

Jon: Just make it clear you won’t-

Question: So it’s more language, how I put it?

Jon: Exactly.

Colleen: Just say that you’re not going to go to the area that you’re not supposed to go to.

Question: Even if some of the schools are within that area?

Colleen: Well, you don’t want to get disapproved because they think that you might be going there.

Question: This question is for Mr. Adler. Considering the competitiveness of the grants for the UK, what is the likelihood of getting a creative proposal recommended and also does it have to be with a university? Can it be with some other kind of organization, like a non-profit organization or something?

Jon: The UK every year does accept a few recipients for arts awards. You would have to be affiliated with a university there and have a project to even be competitive, I mean that’s… for the UK we get upwards of 500 applications for 12 grants. So you would have to be affiliated with a university.

Question: Hi, I have a Hong Kong / general question. I’m a finalist for a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship, but I really, really want the health insurance that the Fulbright provides- and additional funds as well. Am I at a disadvantage if I get the Ambassadorial Scholarship or am I still as competitive as if I didn’t have it?

Jonathan: Are you talking about having the grants concurrently?

Question: Concurrently.

Jonathan: Concurrently. That would have to be worked out at the time… I don’t know what this other funding is covering, but basically the Fulbright grant is fixed to cover the roundtrip transportation plus the monthly living expenses. So you can’t receive any funding that duplicates the Fulbright funding.

Question: Right, but some things, like a telephone bill, or my tuition for the school or this and that that isn’t covered through the Fulbright?

Jonathan: Tuition you could use it for. A telephone bill is considered part of your monthly, you know, someone’s normal monthly expenses. It’s a maintenance type of cost.

Question: OK, so I would need to discuss with some body budgeting?

Jonathan: Yes, that’s something you would discuss after you had the Fulbright award and then we would try to work with you to see if there’s some way to accommodate both. But just in general, the Fulbright is not flexible in terms of what it covers, it’s fixed.

Question: OK, thank you so much.

This is a UK question, kind of just nuts and bolts. I’m interested in the Alistair Cook Award in journalism and I’ve done a little bit of research on the website, and I get a little confused as to whether it’s supposed to be a creative arts and writing fellowship or whether it’s just a degree program fellowship or how I’m supposed to exactly-

Jon: Well it’s for journalism, so it’s not… I mean-

Question: Just in certain areas of the site, it was categorized with creative and performing arts.

Jon: Um, that’s a good question.

Question: Cause I know it said for journalists you weren’t supposed to include nay previous work…

Jon: Yes, there are no supplementary materials for journalism, so yeah, you just treat it as an academic application, at least that’s…

Question: Alright, great.

My question is for Vietnam. I currently have no language skills in Vietnamese but I am planning on starting now. And I want to propose a project that involves some of the minority groups and I don’t know if my language proficiency plan for the next year should include those languages or if just Vietnamese is enough.

Jonathan: Concentrate on Vietnamese. Again it goes back to the feasibility of the proposal. If you’re just going to have one year of Vietnamese by the time you start, don’t go too ambitious in terms of what you’re proposing. Also if you can identify a host institution or people who are doing research in the field that you’re doing… I mean that’s a way to kind of get around it, if you’re working with other, you know, native speakers of Vietnamese who might have language skills in these other minority dialects. That would be a way to kind of make it feasible because you’re not going to be able to jump in and be able to speak different languages, or all the different minority languages.

Question: Thank you.

My question is general and it’s for Mexico and Central America. I’m debating between dong it between Guatemala and Mexico, but the only problem… I’ve already established contacts with 2 non-profit organizations, one in each of the countries. But I’ve already lived in Mexico for a year and a half on my own, or independently of any institution. I was wondering if that would hurt my chances if I were to apply to do it in Mexico, or if I should go with the organization that’s in Guatemala?

Walter: I would apply to Guatemala; you’ve already lived in Mexico for a year and a half.

Question: Even though I wasn’t necessarily working.

Walter: But you’ve already been exposed to that culture.

Question: So, apply to Guatemala. Thank you.

I’m interested in doing a 3 country grant in performing arts in Asia, in Japan, Indonesia and Thailand ideally. I also lived in Japan for a year and a half, so I have a little bit of experience with the language, but I’m just wondering if you’re doing a 3 country grant, how the language requirement if affected.

Jonathan: You would have to meet the language requirements for all the countries. First of all, are you currently enrolled in a degree program in the US?

Question: Yes, graduate.

Jonathan: OK, graduate. And what type of project do you want to do?

Question: I’m getting my MFA in directing right now, so it would be with theatre.

Jonathan: With theatre, so, that wouldn’t be a possibility in Japan because they don’t want arts projects at the graduate level. And I can say for the other countries, Indonesia and Thailand, they would be willing to accept them but multi-country proposals are kind of lowest priority. The Fulbright Commissions and posts overseas, with the limited budgets that they have, they want to fund projects that are going to be in their respective countries for the duration of the grant. So if you can, I would say that it would really be better to try to focus a project in one country. You can technically apply—

Question: If I was going to apply then for 3 countries, would you have a recommendation for 3 in East Asia that would…

Jonathan: That totally depends on the type of research you want to do, and your background. But you can’t, I mean, Japan can’t be one of them.

Question: OK, can I email you further about this?

Jonathan: Sure.

Question: OK, thank you.

Walter: One of the things you need to remember about multi-country projects, as Jonathan said, he mentioned priority. But one of the other things you have to remember is language. You have to have the languages you need for all the countries involved. You have to secure affiliations for all the countries involved, if you are responsible for securing the affiliations. And, should you get recommended the application will simultaneously be forwarded to all those countries involved. They all have to select the application for funding. So you’re multiplying out the work that you have to do to be successful.

Question: Hi, this question is for Jon. I already have a Master’s in voice performance and I’m looking to apply to Germany, so I’d be looking for a post-bac sort of thing, like a performance certificate or something of that nature. I already have contacted and there are voice teachers in Germany who wish to study with me in their studios, but they’re not necessarily affiliated with any universities. One of them is, one of them is not. And then also I’ve contacted an opera company who’s interested in having me be part of their ensemble, like as an intern, and do smaller roles and stuff like that. But I don’t know really how to structure my proposal because it said sort of university centric and I wasn’t sure if I had to go to a hochschulen and take classes and blah blah blah.

Jon: Yes, you have to be matriculated into a university in Germany; you don’t have to take classes. You can certainly, if you find a university in whatever area you want to be in Germany, you can get a letter of affiliation from them, and you can also submit letters of affiliation from the 2 parties you just mentioned because you can submit more than one. But at the end of the day, the German Fulbright Commission does the placements. Applicants can state preferences, but at the end of the day they’re going to decide where they place you if you’re awarded a grant, but you can submit more- as long as you have one university affiliation you can submit more than one. I mean, other non-university ones.

Question: Good afternoon. I am a teaching artist in a public school in New York City with a Master’s and I really want to go to China, and I don’t really understand how the Critical Language piece works, and how would I find a sponsoring cultural institution since they’re primarily in Beijing and Shanghai, and the book says that you should try to avoid Beijing and Shanghai.

Jonathan: I’ll start. First of all, it’s a preference not a rule, and we do have Fulbrighters in Beijing and Shanghai each year. So if you wanted to go into one of those programs in Beijing, you could, as long as you had good reasoning for why you wanted to be there.

Question: The cultural institution?

Jonathan: You would have to affiliate with a university.

Question: A university, not a cultural institution.

Jonathan: All affiliations in China have to be with universities.

Question: And how does the Critical Language piece fit into that?

Jonathan: If you were to apply for the Critical Language Enhancement Award, it would take place immediately prior to the term of your Fulbright full grant. And that would just be to improve your Mandarin language skills.

Question: OK, they need improving. Thank you.

Question: In terms of the Critical Language Enhancement Award for Mandarin, first of all, do you have to propose where you’re going to study Mandarin, or is it—

Jonathan: Where are you applying to?

Question: What do you mean, for-

Jonathan: China, Taiwan, Singapore…

Question: China.

Jonathan: For China it’s actually very specific. On the website we have, I think, 4 approved programs that are listed and you have to apply and get accepted to one of those programs. And you know, you’re not required at the time of application, I mean when you apply in October, to tell us exactly which one you’re going to go to, but if you do have an idea that you’d want to go to the CET-Harbin program or something like that, you should let us know.

Question: So, if I wanted a specific region, say if I was going to be doing my research in Szechwan province and if the dialect is a bit different, would I receive the critical language in that dialect, or not necessarily?

Jonathan: No. We don’t teach dialect, it’s for Mandarin only.

Question: So it’ll be Putonghua no matter what?

Jonathan: Yes, yes.

Question: OK, thank you.

More questions on Asia. My research will be primarily based in Dhaka, in Bangladesh, but I think it’ll be useful for me to go to Calcutta. Would that be a multi-country …

Jonathan: That’s not possible actually. In South Asia, multi-country proposals are not accepted.

Question: OK so if I would make a trip to Calcutta, like three trips throughout the entire 9 months, would that-

Jonathan: Each trip would count against your out of country leave time.

Question: OK. And would the aftercare of female trafficking be too controversial a topic for Bangladesh?

Jonathan: No, not necessarily. We’ve had quite a number of proposals on fairly sensitive topics. What’s really important is how you approach it. You know, you need to be very sensitive and tactful in how you approach it. And also, it’s really important to get a good affiliation letter if you’re going to be dealing with really sensitive topics like that.

Question: OK, thank you.

Hi, my question is for Jermaine. I was wondering if you had any advice on which French speaking West African countries are most interested in public health projects.

Jermaine: I’d say any and all quite frankly. I mean that’s a fairly popular field sub-region wide, sub-Saharan Africa wide, not just for the Francophone countries in West Africa. I mean, really, the world’s your oyster as far as that goes. Senegal would be good, Mali would be good, Ivory Coast would be good, it’s got some security issues still but that would be fine, Togo, Benin, Niger, Burkina Faso- it’s up to you.

Question: OK, cause they’re, I know that they’re fairly popular countries and as someone who’s finishing a masters in public health and is fluent in French, do you just have any recommendations on which would be…

Jermaine: Well, you certainly have more competition as far as Francophone West Africa is concerned with Senegal and Mali. And I’d say Senegal more so because it’s certainly one of the more popular countries in terms of applications received, relative to the number of grants normally awarded. So not that those kinds of statistics necessarily dictate where you apply, you might want to bear that in mind.

Question: I’m planning on applying to Germany and if my letter of affiliation is sent to me in German, do I need to have it translated?

Jon: Yep. For letters of affiliation though, that you can translate yourself.

Question: OK, great. Thank you.

Hi, I’m applying for a creative grant for Bolivia. And I know that the South American woman is not here, but because of the political conflict in the country are the decisions usually made in the capital, La Paz?

Walter: All I can tell you is that if you get recommended the application will go to the American Embassy and I’m assuming it’s the Embassy in La Paz.

Question: OK. Thank you.

Walter: You’re welcome. Check with Jody on that.

Question: I have a question. I’m applying for dance, but it’s dance education. Would I still need to submit a video of myself dancing if it’s for dance education?

Walter: No. Unless you’re going to study dance itself, no. Apply in education.

Question: Thank you.

General question. In the proposal, let’s say there’s a person coming along with you and they will enhance you research, do you include them in the proposal?

Walter: I’m not sure I understand what you mean.

Question: For example, you can take… you have to include in your application if someone will be accompanying you, like a spouse or a family member, is that correct?

Walter: Right, you would indicate if you have any accompanying dependents, but they are not people that are involved in your project.

Question: OK, OK, that’s fine.

I’ll be graduating in December 2009. Is there anyway I can still apply and if accepted go to my country after I graduate, say around January 2010?

Walter: So, you’re graduating in December of 2009? So you’ll have your Bachelor’s degree in December of 2009?

Question: Normally it’d be spring semester. I was told at my university to apply for the next year, but I was also told to apply for this year, so I’m just a little confused.

Walter: So, Bachelor’s degree in 2009…

Woman: He wants to go to Senegal.

Walter: He wants to go to Senegal.

Jermaine: I think you’d be ok. Sub-Saharan Africa, the grants can generally begin anytime, in the case of the 2009-2010 academic year, anytime between I would say mid to late summer 2009, but absolutely no later than the end of March 2010. And by grant start date I mean that’s the date by which you would need to arrive in the country to begin your grant. So if you got your Bachelor’s degree in December of 2009, that would still leave you roughly 3 months, again the first 3 months of 2010, in order to begin your grant. Does that make sense?

Question: Yeah, that makes sense.

Jermaine: OK.

Question: What are people generally expected to do, or to do with their research project after they leave the country, if anything?

Walter: What are they—well, they’re expected to use them to further their academic or professional careers, basically. Fulbright is not going to require that you produce a thesis. I mean we are going to require some reports from you, status reports on work to date during your grant tenure. But what we hope that your time abroad has worked to achieve is that it has helped you learn more about the country that you’re going to, people that you’ve worked with; it will help you when you come back tell Americans more about the experience in the country; and, that the Fulbright experience has helped you to develop either academically or professionally.

Question: For Nicaragua, is one affiliation with a medical clinic enough?

Colleen: I guess it just says you need an affiliation but it doesn’t say how many, so I guess one is enough. Walter do you have any…

Question: All they have to write in the letter is that they’ll work with me and that’s good enough?

Colleen: Yeah, basically that they’ll support your research while you’re there, and help you with any problems that you might have, help supervise your project.

Jonathan: One thing to keep in mind when you’re setting up affiliations with institutions that are not educational institutions is that even if it’s not a university, the Fulbright program still expects grantees to be working with people from the host country. In other words, you shouldn’t be working with an American NGO, or clinic, or hospital, where it’s just a bunch of other Americans or, you know, ex-pats working there. We want you to be working with people from that country and that’s important. So the person writing the affiliation letter, or the advisor that you’re working with, should be from the host country.

Walter: Also, what’s your degree level?

Question: Bachelor’s, in Science.

Walter: Ah, ok. If you’re a graduating senior, you’re going to make your application a little bit more competitive if you have a formal university affiliation. I’m not saying you couldn’t also work with this medical facility, but have two: one with a Nicaraguan university and then a second with this institution.

Question: OK, thank you.

While receiving Fulbright scholarship, if you realize that it would be beneficial to a project if you could transfer to some other institution to do part of the work there or the rest of the work there, would that be acceptable?

Walter: I don’t know that I quite understand the question.

Question: Imagine you’re studying at some university, but before the whole period of scholarship is done, halfway you realize for example that it would be beneficial to your project if you could transfer your research to some other institution, for example, studying there for the second semester of the year, and complete your work there. Would that be ok?

Walter: Well you need to talk to either the Fulbright Commission or the supervising agency in the host country and as long as it’s a host country institution it shouldn’t be a problem. I don’t know if there are any countries that have any specific…

Jonathan: It would be a problem in some countries-

Walter: There you go, it could be a problem in some countries.

Jon: I don’t think Europe would necessarily

Question Austria or Germany?

Walter: No, it’s fine. But they’re both Fulbright Commission countries-

Question: Is there any preference or any difference between doing the research or the study grant, as far as competitiveness and also with the affiliation with the university? If you get an affiliation with the university and you’re doing research, typically you still have to enroll, or I imagine you have to enroll and pay tuition…

Walter: I, I… what’s the question?

Question: I guess the question is, as far as competitiveness, does it matter whether it’s a research grant or the study grant that you’re proposing?

Walter: No.

Woman: That’s it. Thank you.

Walter: Thank you. Good bye everybody. Thank you all for coming.