Bowdoin College was recently recognized for its students' success in competing for 2004-2005 Fulbright grants. The school was acclaimed in the Chronicle of Higher Education for being one of the colleges that has received the most grants for the 2004-2005 year, with four of its student applicants receiving Fulbright awards.
Fulbright grants are annually awarded to 1,000 students from the United States. The grant, good for one academic year, is designed to encourage cultural understanding and allows students to complete projects all over the world. Students must develop a proposal outlining a project or plan that relates to their major and promotes global exploration.
Director of the Career Planning Center and Director of Fellowships and Scholarships Anne Shields noted that it is a distinct honor for the College to be recognized for its success in attaining the fellowships, but that it is also important to recognize and applaud the amount of time that the students, faculty committee members, and the Career Planning Center have invested in the Fulbright application process.
"It's not just the winning of the awards; the whole application process has value," said Shields. "Most of the time, students only realize how much of an achievement it is to receive this fellowship if they have been awarded a grant or if they know someone who has gone through the application process. It's honestly just an achievement to apply for one!"
This September, 16 applicants for 2005-2006 Fulbright grants turned in their completed applications to an internal Bowdoin committee that conducted interviews with every applicant. All Fulbright applicants will advance to the next level, but the College is required to evaluate each candidate. In past years, an ad hoc committee of faculty volunteers has conducted these evaluations, but it has been difficult to coordinate faculty schedules. This year, the College has appointed a Fellowships and Scholarships Faculty Committee to help select and guide students through the application process. The Faculty Committee oversees the application process for the Fulbright Fellowship as well as many other awards, including the Udall and Marshall Fellowships.
"With the appointment of the committee, this institution has placed a higher emphasis on fellowships and scholarships," said Shields.
In addition to attaining Fulbright grants, Bowdoin students have also been very successful in competing for the Watson Fellowship, a grant that also allows students to gain a global perspective by exploring a particular interest abroad. Members of the Faculty Committee, as well as Education Professor Nancy Jennings, helped select four Watson nominees this fall.
Tricia Welsch serves as the chair of the Fellowships and Scholarships Faculty Committee. Although students are responsible for completing applications independently, the Faculty Committee can help students in many capacities. All faculty members, even those not on the committee, help identify and encourage students to apply for specific fellowships.
"Students really seem to respond when they're encouraged [by faculty members] to apply for specific awards," said Welsch. "It's also important because it helps students realize what's out there."
Although students can only apply for the Fulbright grants as seniors or alumni, Welsch encourages much younger students, even first-years, to begin thinking about applying.
"It's important to start thinking about it early," said Welsch. "I tell some of my first-year students to think about it now, daydream, think of creative ways to link areas that you would like to explore with this fellowship. There may be a link between you and the fellowship, but you have to be the first one to see it."
After the Bowdoin committee evaluates student applications, the applications are sent to the National Screening Committee. The national committee carefully reviews students' statements of proposed study and selects which candidates it will send to one of the 140 countries that participate in the Fulbright program based on the candidate's project description and preparedness.
The Bowdoin Faculty Committee also helps students strengthen and refine their applications in preparation for the next step.
"Faculty committee members help students think through and revise their applications, just as Writing Assistants help students think about revisions for a paper," said Welsch. "Students often propose very ambitious agenda, and their proposal could be stronger if instead of planning to visit a dozen countries, they focus on staying in a few."
Welsch also noted that the College's success with the Fulbright is due to student applicants, faculty members, and counselors and staff at the CPC working together to make the process go smoothly.
Shields and Coordinator for Programs and Operations Martie Janeway "are extremely dedicated professionals with a real flair for working with students," Welsch said.