NOVA professor Amy Coren arrived in Pécs, Hungary (about 100 miles southwest of Budapest) at the beginning of September to begin her Fulbright fellowship in teaching and research at the Institute of Psychology and the Faculty of Law at Hungary’s oldest university – the University of Pécs, founded in 1367.

Professor Coren is proud to be one of only five Americans from U.S. universities who were selected by the Fulbright Commission to teach and carry out research in Hungary for the 2017-2018 academic year. As a result of her unique qualifications (Ph.D. in Psychology, and J.D.), she has been engaged with both the faculty of law and the psychology department in teaching courses – an advanced undergraduate and M.A. level course in cross-cultural psychology, a seminar for Ph.D. students on the psychology of consciousness, and a lecture series in forensic psychology.

In addition to her teaching responsibility, Prof. Coren is also a thesis advisor for several undergraduate research projects spanning the fields of law and psychology (including one project examining the correlation between criminality and frontal lobe processing).

During her time in Hungary, Prof. Coren has attended several conferences on neuroscience (specifically the Regional European Neuroscience Conference, FENS), and will be delivering additional lectures to students and faculty interested in the US educational system.

At the end of October, she will be delivering a keynote address on the mental health challenges facing migrants at a conference sponsored by the University of Pécs Medical School and U.S. State Department. In addition to her ongoing teaching responsibilities, the rest of the semester spent in Hungary will involve collecting data for an international collaborative research project on positive youth development and continuing to lay the groundwork for exchange programs bringing Hungarian scholars and students to the US for academic exchanges.

The Fulbright Scholar Program is funded by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and offers over 500 teaching, research or combination teaching/research awards annually in over 125 countries. For more information on the Fulbright application process faculty can contact Stacey Bustillos (sbustillos@nvcc.edu) in the Office of International Education and Sponsored Programs for tips and guidance.

The Fulbright Scholar Award Catalog has been released for teaching and research opportunities for the 2016/17 academic year.  The online application deadline is Monday, August 3^rd, 2015 but it is advised to plan in advance particularly when letters of invitation from international institutions are required.

• 560 total awards available
• 173 do NOT require a PhD
• Several awards mention community college faculty specifically

You can find more information on the application process and other resources here.

Some awards that may particularly interest community college faculty but not limited to;

#6103 Malaysia

#6181 Denmark

#6315 and #6316 Russia

#6433 India

#6438 Kyrgyz Republic

#6451 Barbados and Eastern Caribbean

#6503 Jamaica

#6076 Cambodia

#6107 Philippines

#6118 Vietnam

Many Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) awards world-wide

NOVA has been the leading community college awarded with the most Fulbright Scholars during 2012/13 and 2013/14 with several other faculty recently awarded for 2015/16.

The Fulbright Scholar award is an individual application but NOVA’s Fulbright campus representative, Stacey Bustillos (sbustillos@nvcc.edu), is available to provide you with guidance in award selection strategies, tips for writing a competitive application and potential leads for international letters of invitation.

On Wednesday, October 22^nd, NOVA’s Office of Global Studies and Programs and CETL hosted a reception at the Ernst Cultural Center to welcome the visiting delegation of VACIE awardees from the Netherlands along with their NOVA faculty partners. The event was well attended by NOVA faculty and staff who also had the opportunity to learn about Dutch culture and the Dutch higher education system. This year four NOVA faculty and staff were awarded VACIEs out of a total of 11 awards granted by the VCCS.

Below is the list of the NOVA-VACIE awardees;

Karen Bushaw-Newton, Biology-AN

Breana Bayraktar, ESL- WO

Agnes Malicka, ESL-AL

Shannon Nieves, Pathways program, CS

The VACIE International Exchange program is an international faculty exchange program between Virginia community colleges and foreign institutions of higher education involving several countries. This year institutions from the Netherlands participated in the program. The program’s purpose is to foster the exchange of information regarding best practices in higher education, to sharpen the global perspectives of the participants, and to promote lasting international friendships and partnerships. NOVA awardees hosted their visiting faculty members in their homes for two weeks during October with a reciprocal two –week visit to take place in their partner’s home country in the spring.  If you are interested in applying for next year’s program will be announced via email in March 2015.

Special discounts, grants, and fellowships make it easier than ever to participate in an International Faculty Development Seminar. Whether you’re considering your first seminar or returning as an IFDS alum, there’s an opportunity for you.

CIEE is now accepting applications for spring and summer 2014 programs.

Deadlines are February 3 and March 1. Please visit their website for more information