IIE invites submissions for a special briefing paper on the value of the American Community College system and how it might be applied to higher education in India. The briefing paper will be published in early summer. 

The briefing paper will examine the growing recognition of the important role that community colleges play in the higher education sector of developing countries. The publication will review innovative initiatives that community colleges have implemented in other countries, with a special focus on any applications or partnerships in India. Articles can include a review of current trends and practices, as well as specific case studies. We are also seeking articles on specific approaches and suggestions for application in India. Articles summarizing how cooperating institution leaders found each other and what factors both U.S. Community Colleges and Indian institutions should keep in mind when they consider partnership options are also of particular interest. 

Articles should be between between 1500 and 3000 words. The deadline for submission of completed articles is May 6, 2013. Please contact Madeline Friedman, IIE Publications Manager, at mfriedman@iie.org for more information. 

Executive Director of IIE San Francisco Trish Tierney writes about how the 2011 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Women in the Economy Summit inspired IIE’s newest book, Women in the Global Economy: Leading Social Change. 

"I thought about the many topics and women leaders that inspire me and might also inspire others. As the book's outline began to take shape, I reached out to a handful of incredible women, some new and some familiar. Whether we'd met before or were speaking for the first time, what amazed me about these women—aside from their intelligence and achievements—was their eagerness to sign on, to write a chapter, to add more work to their already full plates—all with the common goal of making a difference by sharing their experiences," she writes. 

Read the full post on Opening Minds.  

Despite record unemployment in many of the 27 EU nations, the European Commission has proposed setting a 60-day time limit for EU countries to decide whether foreign students are eligible for an EU visa to end the current system that varies across countries and that Brussels says is complex and unclear, Reuters reports.

Commissioners argue that although there is high unemployment and unstable economies, Europe has many skilled jobs that go unfilled.

Read the full article here. 

The following institutions across Pakistan are currently seeking suitable partnerships with U.S. higher education institutions:

• University of Karachi – Public Administration 
• University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir – Linguistics
• Kinnaird College for Women – English Literature with an emphasis on American Literature 
• National Academy of Performing Arts in Karachi, Pakistan – Music 

Additional institutions that will be announcing similar requests for proposals in the near future include: 

• National College of Arts Lahore – Textile Design
• Lahore College for Women University – Gender Studies
• Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture – Communication Design 

For more information about partnership opportunities, click here. If you have any questions about the following requests for proposals, please contact Kathleen Kisting Alam, REAC for South Asia by email at REAC.Lahore@educationUSA.info. 

Designed for international admission and enrollment management professionals at U.S. colleges and universities, the EducationUSA Forum offers practical information and strategies to help you expand your international student recruitment. EducationUSA experts from around the world, U.S. higher education representatives, and government officials will present workshop sessions that offer unique and valuable information to help you recruit and enroll international students, and engage and connect with EducationUSA.

The deadline to register is June 25, 2013, but is limited to only 500 registrations. For more information and to register, please visit the website.

New York, NY

The Institute of International Education will host the 17th Annual Global E3 Members Meeting at the IIE headquarters in New York City on April 8-10, 2013. The meeting will be co-hosted by Polytechnic University of NYU on Tuesday, April 9. Representatives from the Global E3 consortium and experts in the field or engineering education will be in attendance to share best practices, network, and discuss new initiatives specific to student mobility in engineering. 

To learn more about the Global E3 program, please contact Sabeen Altaf at ge3@iie.org or visit: www.iie.org/programs/globale3.

Chicago, IL

IIE staff from the New York, DC and Houston offices are in Chicago for The Forum on Education Abroad Annual Conference. Lindsay Calvert, Assistant Director of the Gilman International Scholarship Program, Christopher Powers, Director of Education Abroad Programs, Daniel Kramer, Director, and Tony Claudino, Director of Outreach for the U.S. Student Fulbright Program are attending The Forum on Education Abroad Annual Conference, along with a Fulbright Alumni Ambassador. 

They invite anyone attending the Forum Conference to stop by table #64 in the exhibition hall on Thursday, April 4 to learn more about the Institute of International Education and our international exchange opportunities. Additionally, conference attendees are invited to participate in the round-table session Setting up Students for Successful Careers through Learning Opportunities Abroad on Friday, April 5th, 1:45 – 3:00 p.m., in Chicago 7, Ballroom Level 4 presented by Christopher Powers and Lindsay Calvert.

Join the ACE Center for Internationalization and Global Engagement for an interactive discussion of higher education in India and opportunities for engagement by US institutions.

Our higher education system's interest in India is at an all-time high and the potential for engagement with Indian counterparts holds exciting possibilities for American colleges and universities. Many institutional leaders across the United States have identified India as a "strategic priority," yet relatively few have the most current and reliable information about this immense, diverse and complex country.

This webinar and the accompanying printed brief will explore the most timely and substantive issues defining India's higher education profile, as well as what all of this means for American higher education. Visit the ACEnet website for more information. 

The BREAD Ideas Challenge is an opportunity for researchers in the agricultural sciences to identify, in 100 words or fewer, what they believe are today's most pressing issues facing smallholder farmers in the developing world. Up to 25 winners will receive $10,000 each and their ideas will be showcased on the BREAD Ideas Challenge website to draw international attention to these important challenges.

Interested researchers have until 5 p.m. EDT, April 30, 2013 to submit their ideas describing a challenge or research focus consistent with BREAD Program objectives. The BREAD Ideas Challenge is open to graduate students, postdoctoral associates and faculty at universities, colleges and non-profit research organizations in the United States and internationally. 

For contest rules and more information on the BREAD Ideas Challenge, go to the BREAD Ideas Challenge website or email BREADIdeas@nsf.gov.

The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) and the Institute of International Education (IIE) are pleased to announce the launch of the second application cycle of the USIP Public Education for Peacebuilding Support (PEPS) initiative. Through this program, administered by IIE, USIP supports colleges, universities and public libraries in the U.S. and its territorial possessions to enable them to hold events that advance and promote the understanding of peacebuilding and international conflict resolution. 

USIP is an independent, nonpartisan institution established and funded by Congress to increase the nation’s capacity to manage international conflict without violence. By supporting events across the country that cover a wide range of peace and conflict mitigation topics, USIP aims to contribute in a significant way to the national conversation on addressing, preventing, and resolving international conflict.

This initiative will provide $2000 each to 250 U.S. institutions and public libraries. Funding may be used for a variety of activities, including educational or training workshops, lectures, speaker programs, library forums or web-based forums. The activity must address issues of international conflict and its resolution and be held between August and December of 2013. The application deadline is May 3, 2013 and recipients will be announced in July 2013.  

For more information or to download the application, please go to www.iie.org/usipsupport or email usipsupport@iie.org. 

The Rolex Awards celebrate and encourage the spirit of enterprise by supporting pioneers taking on major challenges in order to benefit mankind.

The 2014 Awards are dedicated to candidates aged between 18 and 30 years old by 31 December 31, 2014, who have a project in one of five areas: science and health, applied technology, exploration and discovery, the environment, and cultural heritage.

Five Young Laureates will be chosen by an international jury of experts and will each receive 50,000 Swiss francs to advance their project, as well as a Rolex chronometer, and will gain worldwide recognition of their work through an international publicity campaign.

Candidates are invited to submit a pre-application in English on rolexawards.com/about/apply.

The 2013 Fulbright Community College Administrators Seminar in Russia begins April 3 and runs through the 17th. The seminar will take five participants from Broward College, DeAnza College, Alamo Colleges, Minnesota West Community College and County College of Morris to Moscow and several cities in Tatarstan.

The program brings senior American community college administrators to Russia for meetings and events with their Russian counterparts. Participants learn about the Russian higher education system, including reforms that created a new system of special status, federal, and national research universities. They also examine changes in professional education as well as efforts to solve labor issues through collaboration between schools, colleges, professional training centers, universities, and employers.  Because Fulbright community college fellows understand both professional and higher education in the United States, they have a wealth of information and experience to share with their Russian counterparts. And due to the significant reforms taking place in Russia and the scale at which these reforms are being implemented, the Russian hosts also have much to share with their American colleagues.

For more information about the Fulbright Community College Administrator Seminar in Russia, visit: http://www.cies.org/Fulbright/Russia/seminar/ccas/.

The Council for International Exchange of Scholars (CIES), the division of IIE that administers the Fulbright Scholar Program on behalf of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, is seeking scholars and professionals to fill more than 200 open Discipline Peer Review Committee appointments across 78 disciplines.  The Peer Review process is comprised of two levels of review, Discipline and Regional, where each application is evaluated by at least two committees and recommended based on its merits.  Each year, nearly 550 Fulbright Scholar alumni and other distinguished scholars and professionals serve on one of these committees as part of a 3-year term.  

If you or someone you know is interested in joining a committee, please visit the CIES Peer Review website or contact Douglass Hay at PeerReview@iie.org for further information. 

If your institution is seeking to develop strategic institutional partnerships with higher education institutions in Vietnam, consider applying for IIE's International Academic Partnership Program, administered by  IIE’s Center for International Partnerships in Higher Education.

Following more than three years of success, the International Academic Partnership Program (IAPP) will engage a select group of U.S. colleges and universities in strategic planning activities focused on implementing partnerships with higher education institutions in Vietnam. Since 2009, IAPP has engaged more than 70 U.S. higher education institutions in comprehensive, yearlong programs aimed at increasing the number of focused, sustainable partnerships between U.S. higher education institutions and their counterparts abroad. Past participants have utilized the IAPP strategic planning process to initiate long-term partnerships that aim to increased faculty exchanges, diversify study abroad offerings, and stimulate joint research. 

Application Deadline: April 15, 2013 

Program Cycle: May 2013-April 2014 

Study Tour to Vietnam: October/November 2013 

Program Cost: IIENetwork Members $11,500/Non-members $13,000 (This includes all in-country costs for one representative from your institution to travel on the IAPP study tour, not including international airfare.) 

1. Strategic planning process, including guidelines for assessing on-campus international partnership capacity and developing practical strategic plans for partnership activities in Vietnam. 
2. Expert advice and guidance on developing or expanding a strategic plan for partnerships with Vietnam by a member of the IAPP Advisory Board and IIE staff in the United States and abroad. 
3. A study tour to Vietnam that will include visits to select higher education institutions, the U.S. Embassy, EducationUSA Advising Centers, the Fulbright Commission, and other educational exchange organizations. All in-country expenses for one representative from each institution will be covered as part of the program fees. Participants are responsible for covering their international airfare. 
4. A series of training webinars, focused on topics such as implementing strategic partnerships, faculty engagement, developing a consolidated partnership strategy, and higher education in Vietnam. 
5. A suite of information resources on the higher education system in the focus country, and IIE publications and policy research reports. 

For more information, or to download the IAPP application, please go to: www.iie.org/iapp. Or contact Clare Banks at +1 (212) 984 5481 or cbanks@iie.org.

IIE's Scholar Rescue Fund (SRF)® is seeking academic positions at colleges, universities and research centers around the world for 17 threatened scholars from Colombia, Ethiopia, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, the Sudan and Syria in order that they may continue their academic work in safety.

The IIE-Scholar Rescue Fund provides one-year awards to academic institutions willing to host professors, researchers and public intellectuals facing threats to their lives and academic work in their home countries. These temporary academic visits are intended to allow the scholars to continue to teach, write or research, pending improved conditions that would permit their safe return home. Fellowships may be renewed for a second year. IIE-SRF seeks matching funds or in-kind support from the host partner institution.

• A clinical biologist / biochemist 
• A medical scientist specializing in nephrology and internal medicine
• A specialist in animal physiology 
• A mechanical engineer

• A Colombian historian / sociologist researching armed conflict 
• Two (2) Ethiopian scholars specializing in: law and peace studies; and Ethiopian folklore and literature
• Three (3) Iranians specializing in: sociology; gender-based discrimination and violence; and medieval history and historiography
• A microbiologist / human virologist from Nigeria
• A Sudanese sociolinguist also working on human trafficking and judicial reform 
• Three (3) Syrian scholars specializing in: developmental sociology; visual art; and theater and Middle East Studies 
• A Syrian engineer specializing in chemical process engineering 
• A Syrian chemist focusing on the use of electrochemical techniques to resolve environmental problems 

For more information about these scholars and how to become a host to an IIE-SRF scholar, please visit: www.scholarrescuefund.org/pages/for-hosts.php.

Email: SRF@iie.org Phone: SRF General: +1-212-205-6488 / SRF Iraq Project: +1-202-326-7746. Visit www.scholarrescuefund.org for more details.