Ohio University has been named a top producer of 2014-15 Fulbright scholars, putting the university alongside Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, Duke University, Boston College and Stanford University.
The Fulbright Program named 10 OU scholarship recipients for this academic year.
The Fulbright Program is run through the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
“The Fulbright scholarships bring people into the U.S. and they also send U.S. students and scholars abroad,” said Amanda Roden, a senior studying Spanish, who was one of those 10 recipients. “So it’s a lot about being an ambassador (in) the cultural exchange that goes on in these countries so we can bring back different cultural perspectives.”
Roden is going to Buenos Aires, Argentina, from March to November.
Fulbright scholarships can fund several different kinds of programs.
“The one that I have is an English teaching assistantship scholarship so I’ll go and help teach English,” Roden said.
OU applications for the scholarship run through the Office of Nationally Competitive Awards in the Honors Tutorial College.
“This was an unusually successful year for our English Teaching Assistantship applicants and a great deal of credit goes to the Department of Linguistics and to the professors that teach the Teaching English as a Foreign Language classes,” said Beth Clodfelter, Office of Nationally Competitive Awards director, in a university news release.
Students must be graduating seniors to apply for the Fulbright scholarship.
During the process, the applicants are asked about published works, honors societies, schoolwide activities, awards and scholarships. Applicants also submit a resume, provide their GPA and write a personal statement, Roden said.
The scholarship pays for travel expenses to get to the country, and it gives recipients a monthly stipend, Roden said.
The amount of money a recipient receives for the scholarship is “totally dependent on your country,” Roden said.
“Our standing as a top-producer of Fulbright students is a reflection of OHIO’s academic strength and our commitment to global education,” said OU’s President Roderick J. McDavis, in the release.
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