 n addition to the core mission of the
Fulbright Program to increase mutual
understanding between the people of
the United States and the people of other
countries, the Faculty Development Program
has a long-term commitment to
strengthening institutions of higher education
in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Both commitments were reaffirmed in
2007, when the United States Department
of State approved LASPAU’s bid to administer the Faculty Development Program for five more years. LASPAU has administered the program since 1976, when the first 24 Faculty Development grantees from six Latin American countries began their graduate degree programs in the United States. Now, 32 years later, the program supports approximately 135 grantees annually from 25 countries in the region.
Since 2002, LASPAU has successfully worked with the Institute for International Education to administer the programs of Fulbright grantees from Latin America and the Caribbean, a partnership that has generated significant cost-savings for the Fulbright Foreign Student Program, which includes the Faculty Development Program.
On a programmatic level, significant changes in the Faculty Development Program over time are the result of local developments in Latin America and the Caribbean. For example, the program originally supported graduate studies at the master’s level, with a small percentage of doctoral grants, but in the past few years, doctoral grants have accounted for almost half of the total number of awards. This reflects the greatly expanding number of graduate-level academic programs in many Latin American and Caribbean countries in recent years.
One of several countries that is putting more focus on doctoral education is Colombia. The Colombian Fulbright Commission has successfully partnered with government agencies such as COLCIENCIAS, the Ministry of Education, and the National Planning Department to greatly expand opportunities for Colombian faculty members, as well as non-faculty researchers, to pursue doctoral studies in the United States. In fact, in 2008, Colombian grantees represent 35% of the incoming Faculty Development Program cohort administered
by LASPAU.
The new Colombian programs that
began this year (detailed on this page) focus
on attracting candidates from outside
the capital city or from Colombia’s Afro- Colombian and indigenous communities. Through initiatives like these, the Fulbright Program is increasing mutual understanding between the people of the United States and a wider, more diverse group of Fulbright grantees while at the same time helping to strengthen their home institutions.
For further information, please contact LASPAU Associate Director for Programs Craig Hastings by email (craig_hastings@harvard.edu) or telephone (617-495-0432).
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