Once your institution has completed its proposal, it must be submitted by October 17, 2011. It will be submitted to an external review committee that evaluates S-I-R proposals. Although program priorities are taken into consideration when the committee conducts its review, only the best proposals will be recommended for funding.

Once the strongest proposals are selected, the review committee forwards their recommendations to the U.S. Department of State and to the appropriate Fulbright Commissions or U.S. Embassies abroad. In some cases, CIES will notify institutions that the review committee has recommended changes in their proposals, which may include proposed cost-sharing or course load.
Then the Fulbright Commission or U.S. Embassy abroad will review the requested Scholar’s credentials and confirm his or her availability and eligibility for the award. If your institution does not name a scholar, the Fulbright Commission or U.S. Embassy will attempt to recruit candidates for your award. When they have identified prospective candidates, CIES will forward their papers to you for selection.

Then the proposals and grantee selections are brought before the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board (FSB), the body appointed by the President of the United States, for final selection. It reviews all recommended proposals to ensure they meet S-I-R eligibility requirements and maintain consistency with Fulbright Program objectives. Once the board approves the proposal and scholar, the S-I-R grant for your institution will be confirmed.

S-I-R Program staff can provide more information. They can also provide guidance on how to develop a proposal up to two weeks before the deadline.