The Institute of International Education (IIE) has announced the launch of a new Emergency Student Fund (ESF) to assist students from Iran on U.S. campuses with urgent financial need due to the currency devaluation in their home country. At its annual Best Practices Conference for Internationalizing the Campus last week, IIE announced a partnership with the Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans (PAAIA) to fund this activity, with each organization making an initial commitment of $50,000 to create a fund totaling $100,000 to meet immediate needs for the spring 2013 semester.

IIE is issuing a call for nominations from U.S. colleges and universities that currently have students from Iran enrolled on their campuses who have emergency needs for funds to continue their studies so that their academic careers are not interrupted as a result of the financial situation in their home country.

Visit the Iran-ESF web page to download the nomination form.

Iran-ESF will provide approximately 50 grants of $2,000 each to Iranian students nominated by their U.S. host colleges and universities who may be unable to continue or complete their degree program in the United States. Administrators and faculty from accredited U.S. campuses can nominate up to two Iranian students at their institutions who need financial assistance to complete the spring 2013 semester. Priority will be given to those with the most urgent financial need and those closest to graduation. 

International Student Advisers or other campus officials should submit applications to IIE by April 8, 2013. To nominate students, advisers must complete the Iran-ESF nomination form and e-mail it to ESF@iie.org. Applications directly from students will NOT be accepted.

U.S. host campuses nominating students for Iran-ESF awards are expected to provide some emergency assistance to the nominated students, through tuition waivers, full or partial scholarships, housing, stipends, loans, work study, or other forms of support. Awards will be announced in mid-April. IIE may announce a second call for nominations later this year depending on the availability of funds and ongoing need.

IIE anticipates that the need will exceed funding currently available in its Emergency Student Fund, and is actively seeking donations from interested individuals and foundations.  

For more information and to download the nomination form, visit the Iran ESF web page. Or read the press release. 

IIE President and CEO Allan E. Goodman offers ideas on how to integrate technology and global education in a new online op-ed.

Goodman’s piece is based on ideas set forth at "Global Awareness, Foreign Policy and Education: Preparing American Students for Life and Work in the 21st Century," a panel discussion that was co-hosted by IIE and the Syria Deeply digital media project. 

"There was a fundamental agreement that both people-to-people exchange and connections through technology have a role to play, but that virtual communities can enhance and extend – but not replace — the experience of international educational exchange," Goodman writes. "We cannot leave this vital component of education to either exchange or technology alone. Ultimately, connecting students to the world depends on a commitment on the part of teachers and educators at all levels to make international a part of everyone’s education. Education for global competence has to start at the earliest ages in the classroom, and continue throughout a student’s educational career." 

Read more on the Syria Deeply website.

While the number of overseas students from China and India has grown steadily over the past two decades, the number of Japanese students studying abroad had been dropping since the late nineties, New York Times reporter Miki Tanikawa writes. The reporter cites IIE statistics showing that "the number of Japanese students studying on U.S. campuses hit a peak of 47,000 in 1997, and then fell to 19,000 in 2011."

But now that trend is reversing. According to the article, the number of new visas issued by the U.S. State Department to Japanese students rose 10 percent to 18,668 in 2012, from 16,811 in 2011, partially because Japanese employers are cultivating a more globalized working environment, and partially because more Japanese students at the college and high school levels are going overseas to study English. Read more at the New York Times. 

A recent report commissioned by the Higher Education Academy (HEA), outlines a number of ways to engage alumni to support international activities. In an opinion piece on The Guardian’s Higher Education Network, report author Nik Miller explains how engaging with international graduates will help universities with international student recruitment, which is often a complicated process. 

To participate, please register online.

Following a successful U.S. higher education delegation to Myanmar in February, the Institute of International Education invites you to participate in the second bi-national conference call co-hosted by IIE and the EducationUSA advising network. This call will focus on findings from a new IIE report on the current higher education needs in Myanmar, recommendations for academic collaboration, and how all sectors can contribute to rebuilding higher education in Myanmar. 

The call will be moderated by Allan E. Goodman, President and CEO of IIE. The distinguished participants will include: 

• Derek J. Mitchell, U.S. Ambassador to Burma (invited)
• Meghann Curtis, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Academic Programs, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, U.S. Department of State
• Adrienne Nutzmann, Public Affairs Officer, U.S. Embassy in Rangoon
• U Than Swe, Ambassador of the Union of the Republic of Myanmar in the U.S.
• Daniel Obst, Deputy Vice President, International Partnerships, IIE 
• Chris McCord, Dean, College of Arts and Sciences, Northern Illinois University

To participate, please register online. Dial-in information will be provided later.

Students are invited to join Catherine Lockwood, Senior Vice President for Graduate Enrollment at Robert Morris University, for a live webinar on maintaining your visa status before and during your studies in the United States. To register for the webinar, click here.

SUNY Global Center, New York, NY|

"Building World-Class Systems of Higher Education" will explore the recent dynamics of higher education systems (formal or informal), focusing particularly on how systems are now working to improve their effectiveness in educating students and improving our communities; how they benefit local populations by using the unique internationalized nature of the higher education endeavor to support the engagement of their respective communities with communities around the world, while also identifying new means for operating more efficiently.

This two-day, agenda-setting conference for senior academic leaders, senior international officers, and scholars of higher education, will result in an edited volume, anticipated to be published by SUNY Press. 

Focus will be on the following themes:

• Higher Education Systems in Global Perspective
• System-to-System Partnerships 
• System Research Collaboration 

Visit the conference website for more information. 

Public Education for Peacebuilding Support (PEPS) is a new initiative of the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) and administered by the Institute of International Education (IIE). The initiative provides support to colleges, universities and public libraries in the U.S. and its territorial possessions interested in holding events addressing international peace and conflict resolution. For more information or to download an application, please visit www.iie.org/usipsupport.

The support may be used for a variety of activities, including, but not limited to the following:

• educational or training workshops
• lectures
• speaker programs
• library forums
• web-based forums

• Application Deadline: The deadline is May 3, 2013 for events to take place between August and December 2013. 
• Key Goal: PEPS seeks to assist institutions of higher education, university groups, and public libraries that are advancing the understanding and promotion of peacebuilding and conflict resolution. By providing small support funding, this initiative will support activities that promote awareness and engage communities in a discussion of issues critical to the global community’s security and peacebuilding efforts.
• Funding: Up to 250 institutions will receive up to $2,000 in matching support for their public education activities through two cycles over the period of November 2012 – December 2013. Cost-sharing is required on the part of the support recipient.  

USIP is the independent, nonpartisan conflict management center created by Congress to prevent and mitigate international conflict without resorting to violence. USIP works to save lives, increase the government's ability to deal with conflicts before they escalate, reduce government costs, and enhance national security.

Application Deadline: July 31, 2013

The award allows scholars to spend five years building up a working group and working on a high-profile, innovative research project at a research institution of the applicant’s choice in Germany.

Scientists and scholars from all disciplines may apply directly to the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. The Humboldt Foundation plans to grant up to eight Sofja Kovalevskaja Awards. The award is valued at up to 1.65 million EUR.

Successful top-rank junior researchers, who have completed a doctorate with distinction in the last six years, and have published work in prestigious international journals or publishing houses should apply. For more information, visit the Humboldt Foundation website.

The Institute of International Education is seeking experienced EFL/ESL professionals to design and facilitate workshops on teaching English overseas for participants of the Fulbright U.S. English Teaching Assistantship (ETA) Program. The workshops are part of world region-specific Pre-Departure Orientations (PDOs) that will be held in June and July of 2013. The Fulbright U.S. English Teaching Assistantship Program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), as part of the Fulbright U.S. Student Program.

Interested parties should submit a workshop proposal to Kristin Campbell at Kcampbell@iie.org no later than Friday, April 26, 2013. Applicants are encouraged to submit applications before the deadline. Please email questions regarding proposal guidelines to Kcampbell@iie.org. For more information, visit: http://www.cies.org/ETA-facilitator/.

An IIE Scholar Rescue Fund scholar from Syria who arrived to the United States just last month has found placement at Indiana University. 

Abdal-Razzaq Moaz, an expert on the history of Islamic art and architecture, and a former deputy minister within the Syrian government, has received a one-year appointment at Indiana University's School of Global and International Studies and will teach a class there in the fall.

Moaz is one of nearly 500 scholars who have been assisted by IIE’s Scholar Rescue Fund, which provides academic fellowships for established scholars whose lives and work are threatened in their home countries. 

Read more about Moaz and Indiana University’s work with at-risk scholars on the IU website.