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Review
Criteria:
The overall application will be reviewed based on the five criteria below:
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A.
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Appropriateness of Host: Host institutions must fulfill the eligibility requirements discussed above. It is also important that the host institution provides unique opportunities for the Fulbright Visiting Specialist to deepen his/her understanding of the United States. Items 4
and 5 in the ‘Institutional Profile’ section of this application will address this criterion.
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| B. |
Cost Sharing: Preference is given to host institutions that will provide in-kind contributions. A letter of financial commitment from a responsible financial official must be submitted. In making its evaluation on this part of the proposal, the review committee will consider the efforts of the institution to provide in-kind support relative to its capacity to offer it. Item
6 in the ‘Institutional Profile’ section of this application will address this criterion. Note that local transportation is required for all host institutions. Providing a meal or meal stipend does make your application more competitive.
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| C. |
Proposed Academic Activities: The proposed classes/courses have to be realistic for the requested time period but should also maximize the impact of the Fulbright Visiting Specialist. The courses should NOT be language instructions or regular courses that are normally taught by a regular faculty member currently on leave. The size and diversity of the students and faculty/staff that the Fulbright Visiting Specialist will address are also evaluated. The program does not support collaborative research projects. Item
10 in the ‘Proposed Academic Activities’ section of this application will address this criterion.
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| D. |
Proposed Community Outreach Activities: It is required that the host institution share the Fulbright Visiting Specialist with other organizations/groups in the community that it serves. Ideally, these activities will also benefit the Fulbright Visiting Specialist, by helping him/her gain deeper insight into U.S. societies/cultures, and by bringing him/her into contact with Americans from all sectors of society. The size and diversity of the audience that the Fulbright Visiting Specialist will be exposed to are also evaluated. Item 12 in the ‘Proposed Community Outreach’ section of this application will address this criterion.
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| E. |
Sustainability: Although it is a short-term program, this program aims to help the U.S. host institutions start/expand Islam-related or area studies programs/courses. It is NOT intended to be a one-time project. Realistic and creative plans to sustain the course/program developed by the Fulbright Visiting Specialist are encouraged and are favorably evaluated. Item 13 in the ‘Anticipated Outcome’ section of this application will address this criterion.
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Each criterion should be addressed in the appropriate Items in the application.
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On the application form, you may expand the space for each item, as needed, by simply continuing to type. Your application, however, should not exceed six pages excluding letters of financial commitment, letters of interest and a proposed schedule. |
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Institution
Profile
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Your answers to the questions in this section will help reviewers assess whether your institution meets the objectives of the Fulbright Visiting Specialists Program and to determine if your institution will be able to offer professional and personal enrichment to the Fulbright Visiting Specialist. Items 4 and
5 address the “Appropriateness of Host” criterion described above, and Item 6 speaks to the above-described “Cost Sharing” criterion.
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Item 1. |
Provide the name and address of your institution and the department/program that is proposing to host a Fulbright Visiting Specialist. |
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| Item 2. |
Provide the name and address of the principal contact for this proposal. He/she is the one who fills out the application and who will be responsible for communicating with CIES after selection. |
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| Item 3. |
Provide the name and address of the contact responsible for administrative/financial arrangements. He/she should be the same person who endorses the letter of financial commitment detailing the in-kind contribution from the host institution. |
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| Item 4. |
Include the mission of your institution, size and characteristics of the student body and student/faculty ratio, funding structure (public or private), type of institution (Historically Black College or University, Hispanic Serving Institution, community college, four-year college, four-year research university, institution with religious affiliation, women’s college, etc.), experience with international programs, scope of academic offerings especially relating to issues surrounding Islam and the Muslim world, and characteristics of the surrounding community. Please address how the mission of your institution relates to this particular program. |
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| Item 5. |
Describe the professional and personal benefits that your campus would offer to the Fulbright Visiting Specialist that are unique to your institution and that may be different from the Fulbright Visiting Specialist’s previous U.S. experiences, if any. The program emphasizes the unique experiences that the Fulbright Visiting Specialist will gain from working with your faculty colleagues, students and community, not the tourism attractions that your community offers. Host institutions should try to involve the Fulbright Visiting Specialists in issues of their interest, such as helping them actively participate in committee meetings or helping set up meetings with individuals who share similar interests, so their stay at the host institutions will be beneficial to them and/or to their home institutions. |
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Item 6.
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This item specifically addresses the review criterion B, “Cost Sharing.” The institution’s commitment to cost sharing should be decided before the application is submitted, and any such intention should be clearly indicated in the letter of financial commitment. This letter should be on college/university letterhead and signed by an administrator who is responsible for budgets in your department/institution. Note the cost-share estimate for your institution in U.S. dollars. Some of the successful host institutions have cost-shared with other partner organizations in order to offset the cost of the program (see Item
12 for “partner organization” for definition). In this section, confirm the in-kind contributions that your institution commits to provide, as well as indicate any that your partner organizations will provide. If your partner organizations are providing such contribution, it should be spelled out in their letter of interest (see Item
11 for “letter of interest”). Please list the dollar amount of these in-kind contributions from partner organizations, to your best ability. All Fulbright funds are paid directly to the Fulbright Visiting Specialists, not to the U.S. host institution. No overhead will be provided. In evaluating this part of the proposal, the review committee will look beyond the dollar amount of the in-kind contribution and instead will consider the effort of the institution commensurate to its capacity to provide such support.
Housing/Stipend: Host institutions are strongly advised to provide free housing or housing stipend for the Fulbright Visiting Specialist throughout the duration of program. Home-stay is generally not an acceptable housing option, unless it is previously agreed upon with the Fulbright Visiting Specialist. Some previous host institutions enlisted support from their neighboring organizations or individuals to provide housing. If the host institution cannot provide housing or stipend for housing, it is required that the host institution identify appropriate housing and that they inform CIES of its details and costs prior to the Fulbright Visiting Specialist’s arrival.
Other Examples: Meal plan/stipend, office space, book and shipping allowance for the Fulbright Visiting Specialist, commitment of some funds for the U.S. host institution’s library enhancement based on consultation with the Fulbright Visiting Specialist, funds for the Fulbright Visiting Specialist’s participation in a locally-organized conference, etc.
Local Transportation: Host institutions are required to provide local transportation to all program-related activities that take place off campus, and to escort the Fulbright Visiting Specialist from and to the airport. The Fulbright Program does not provide funds for the Visiting Specialist’s participation in scholastic and/or professional conferences, nor does it fund his/her transportation to these events.
The grant provides the Fulbright Visiting Specialist with international flight tickets, in-transit allowance for expenses associated with the international travel, adequate accident and sickness insurance, honorarium, and per diem based on the U.S. Government per diem rate for the locality of the host institution, prorated according to the host institution’s in-kind contribution. |
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Requested
Individual Profile
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Institutions may propose to invite a specific individual or request that CIES assign the most appropriate individuals for their proposals. It is important to note that naming a specific individual is not required and not doing so will not affect the result of the review. More importantly, naming an individual does not, in any way, guarantee that he/she will be the Fulbright Visiting Specialist ultimately assigned to your institution. The Fulbright Visiting Specialists will receive an exchange visitor (short-term J-1) visa sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, prepared and processed by CIES and will be subject to the two-year home residency requirement. It is most advisable to contact the CIES program officer before completing your application to ensure that your requested individual is eligible for this program. |
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Item 7.
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The host institution may request a specific individual from among the eligible countries who will be able to undertake the proposed program. Should you decide to request a specific individual, please enclose the requested individual’s most current CV with the application.
You must also communicate with him/her and ensure that he/she files a separate application for this program through the Fulbright Commission or U.S. Embassy in his/her country of citizenship. It is important that you work with him/her to confirm the agreed-upon dates, courses to be taught, and the seminars and lectures to participate in. For the application form and instructions for the individual applicant, visit
Application:
http://www.cies.org/Visiting_Specialists/instructions_scholar.htm
Instructions:
http://www.cies.org/Visiting_Specialists/application_scholar.htm
The application for an individual applicant should not be sent directly to CIES. The host institution is discouraged from requesting an individual whom it had hosted previously under other Fulbright Programs or similar exchange programs. A former participant of this program is not eligible.
Although name requests are accepted, host institutions should note that this program aims to enrich the entire university and its community, rather than a particular department or particular U.S. faculty member. Therefore, it is important that host institutions uphold the mission of the Fulbright Visiting Specialists Program, by setting up lecturing opportunities for the Fulbright Visiting Specialist to reach as many and as diverse students as possible, and to extend opportunities to community groups to share his/her expertise.
The proposal should be specific about the reasons for selecting a particular individual for the proposed academic and community outreach activities. Relate the individual’s qualifications to successfully undertake the proposed activities. Although name requests are allowed, your preferred individual may not be approved or may be otherwise unavailable, and in such a case, CIES will recruit a Fulbright Visiting Specialist for your proposal whom it deems most appropriate. If you do not wish to host anyone else other than the named individual, CIES advises that you do not apply for this program. Information on other Fulbright opportunities is available on the CIES website at http://www.cies.org/Institutions/.
Individuals with U.S. citizenship or permanent residency are not eligible to be Fulbright Visiting Specialists. Individuals should be in residence of his/her home country at the time of program participation. |
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Item 8.
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If you do not have a specific individual in mind, CIES will recruit a suitable individual for your proposed program. You should indicate three disciplines and countries that you prefer, in order of priority, and provide specific reasons for your choices in light of your proposal. If you would like a generalist in the fields of humanities/social sciences, please list ‘generalist’ in the disciplines section. |
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Proposed
Academic Activities
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The academic activities on campus and community outreach activities (described in detail in the next section) are weighed equally in proposal evaluation.
The overall purpose of this section is for the applicant institutions to demonstrate the quality of their proposed academic program on campus. Item 10 specifically addresses the review criterion C, “Proposed Academic Activities,” described above. It is important that opportunities for the broadest possible contact with various levels of students and faculty/staff be planned for the Fulbright Visiting Specialist.
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Item 9. |
Write proposed dates for the program for a duration of three to six weeks between January 1 and December 31, 2009. You should only propose a program of a duration for which your institution has adequate resources to host a Fulbright Visiting Specialist. However, previous host institutions report that ideally a Fulbright Visiting Specialist should be hosted for as long as is reasonably possible, given that it takes some time for the Visiting Specialist to recuperate from the trip, and for him/her, students, faculty and community members to get to know one another and to feel comfortable asking and answering questions. |
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| Item 10. |
Describe the main academic courses/programs/seminars at your institution and partner organizations that the Fulbright Visiting Specialist will teach or in which he/she will guest-lecture. If possible, estimate the anticipated enrollment. Note that the Fulbright Visiting Specialist is not a substitute for a regular faculty who is away from the institution for sabbatical or long research trips. Proposals that primarily surround a Fulbright Visiting Specialist’s conference attendance are not appropriate for this program.
Submit a sample schedule of the day-to-day activities, including public outreach activities (described in the next section) as an attachment to your proposal. Because the sample schedule is part of the application packet, provide narratives of the activities in this section rather than a list of planned activities.
The proposed academic activities should reach out to a diverse group of students and faculty members. Programs for the enhancement of administrators are also encouraged. See below for examples of the best practices. |
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Note: This program is not for research purposes. If you are interested in hosting a Fulbright Visiting Scholar for collaborative research, please refer to the traditional Fulbright Visiting Scholar Program at www.cies.org.
Examples of Best Practices of academic activities involve, for example, teaching a credit-bearing intensive course such as “Muslims in American Literature”, “Women in the Muslim World”, or “U.S., Islam and the Contemporary World”, guest-lecturing at various regular courses, team-teaching a course with host institution’s faculty, serving as a resource on issues related to Islam or the region, leading or participating in seminars or colloquia, participating in/facilitating interfaith dialogue with student religious groups or within classes, leading book clubs, holding office hours, meeting with the management/administration of the host institution, curriculum development consultation, library-purchase advisement, appear in campus radio programs, write for student newspapers, or work with student groups. Also note that holding campus-wide receptions, forums, symposiums or meetings with senior administration early on after the Fulbright Visiting Specialist’s arrival will ensure that he/she will receive a wide exposure to the entire university and community.
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Proposed
Community Outreach Activities
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The overall purpose of this section is for the applicant institutions to demonstrate the quality of their proposed outreach program. Item 12 specifically addresses the review criterion D, “Proposed Community Outreach Activities,” described above. It is important that opportunities for the broadest possible contact with various layers of community members be provided to the Fulbright Visiting Specialist. |
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Item 11. |
Identifying and securing commitment from multiple partner organizations is a program requirement. In addition to the academic activities, host institutions are required to incorporate community outreach activities as an equally important part of their proposal. For this purpose, the host institution should identify local groups/organizations that are willing and able to host the Fulbright Visiting Specialists.
Partner Organizations are defined as community groups/schools/institutions/clubs that will host the Fulbright Visiting Specialist off-campus. The partner organizations are ideally not departments/centers within your university/college, but are groups in the local community that will represent the diversity of its population. Some examples of partner organizations are: community interest groups, service clubs, elementary and secondary schools, fraternal and ethnic organizations, cultural institutions, religious groups, business and professional organizations, international councils and clubs, local government offices, and the chamber of commerce. The partner organizations should be within driving distance of your institution. Partner organizations are encouraged but are not required to make financial contributions to this program as in-kind contributions. List up to three partner organizations that will play significant roles in contributing to the overall success of your program with the Fulbright Visiting Specialist. Local transportation should be provided for the Fulbright Visiting Specialist for functions with these partner organizations.
As stated above in the section on academic activities, please include a day-to-day sample schedule both on-campus and off-campus. Up to three Letters of Interest from partner organizations should be submitted along with the application form. Each of these letters should be limited to maximum two pages. The letter of interest should be printed on a letterhead, signed, scanned, and sent to CIES, VSpecApp@cies.iie.org as an email attachment. The letters may be signed by more than one individual, such as when more than three partner organizations would like to express their interest. Email messages will not be viewed as official letters of interest. |
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| Item 12. |
Describe proposed community outreach activities. Institutions are required to develop programs that involve the Fulbright Visiting Specialist in a variety of community activities that strengthen the international resources and programs of the surrounding community as a whole. Be specific about the venues where the activities will take place. You or your partner organizations should provide the Fulbright Visiting Specialist with local transportation to the venues of the community outreach programs.
Examples of Best Practices of partner organizations include: K-12 schools, chambers of commerce, religious groups (churches, synagogues, temples, or organizations that are committed to interfaith dialogues), youth groups, local libraries, local museums, local government offices (Mayor’s office, Governor’s office, etc), professional organizations, etc.
Examples of Best Practices of public outreach activities involve: guest-lecturing at these community organizations, training in-service K-12 school teachers, video/movie showing at a public venue followed by discussion, interview at local radio station, simul-casting the Fulbright Visiting Specialist’s lectures to other institutions, writing columns for community newspapers, etc. |
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| Item 13. |
This item specifically addresses the review criterion E, “Sustainability.” Describe how the short- and long-term goals and objectives of your institution, especially pertaining to the programs related to the Muslim world, will be addressed by the Fulbright Visiting Specialist. Also describe your institution’s plans/strategies for sustaining the impact of the Fulbright Visiting Specialist’s visit to the host institution and community, by addressing specifically how to develop, expand and strengthen programs on campus and in the community.
Examples of Best Practices of efforts to sustain impact include: incorporating curriculum suggestions into new or existing courses, establishing listserv/web chat room/distance learning mechanisms for students and faculty members, establishing an international exchange program with the Fulbright Visiting Specialist’s home institution, encouraging faculty, staff and students of your institution to apply for exchange grants such as the traditional Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program, Fulbright-Hays Program, and/or Fulbright U.S. Student Program, encouraging staff and students of the Visiting Specialist’s home institution to apply for exchange grants, making available on the internet the Visiting Specialist’s lectures via podcasts or online videos, continuing collaboration with the Fulbright Visiting Specialist to expand expertise of the faculty, and arranging for the Fulbright Visiting Specialist to record video/audio messages from U.S. host institution’s staff, students and its community members to bring back to his/her home institution. |
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Please
prepare your application
by naming and saving each material
in the following fashion. |
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Completed Application Form, named and saved as: <your institution’s name>_application
Sample schedule, named and saved as: <your institution’s name>_schedule
Letter of financial commitment, named and saved as: <your institution’s name>_financial
Letters of interest, named and saved as: <your institution’s name>_interest1 (2, 3)
CV of requested individual (if applicable), named and saved as: <your institution’s name>_CV
Following this format will help CIES keep track of various documents that you will submit.
Please submit the following materials via email
(Please do not send a hard copy)
- Completed Application Form (Only Word format is accepted. Please do not send a PDF)
- Sample schedule of day-to-day activities
- Letter of financial commitment from a financial official
- Up to three letters of interest from your partner institutions (letters may be PDF files. Alternatively, hard copies may be mailed to CIES)
- CV of requested individual (only if you are requesting a specific individual for your project)
 by April 1, 2008 via email to
The Fulbright Visiting Specialists Program: Direct Access to the Muslim World is sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) of the United States Department of State, and administered by the Council for International Exchange of Scholars. |
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