ECUADOR: CURRENT PROGRAMS

Fulbright Faculty Development Program
Sponsor: Fulbright Program; U.S., Latin American, and Caribbean universities, foundations, and corporations
Countries: Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Barbados, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, Venezuela
Program focus: Faculty development
Timeframe: 1975–present
Description: The Fulbright Faculty Development Program brings up to 150 educators each year from Latin America and the Caribbean to the United States for advanced studies in a wide variety of disciplines. The program began in 1975 in Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, and Ecuador and additional countries were added over time. Cost-share partners supplement the basic grant by providing tuition assistance and other forms of complementary funding. To date, over 3,000 faculty members from higher education institutions throughout the region have obtained advanced degrees or conducted research in the United States through the Fulbright Faculty Development Program. Please see the individual country listings for information on specific cost-share initiatives. More information

Leadership Fellowship Program for Latin America and the Caribbean
Sponsor: W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF)
Countries: Bolivia, Brazil (Northeast only), Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico (Yucatan peninsula only), Nicaragua, Panama, and Peru
Program focus: Social leadership
Timeframe: 2001–present
Description: WKKF gave LASPAU a $3.6 million grant to administer this initiative. The five-year grant is designed to train up to 50 fellows through short-term, master’s, and doctoral degree programs in thematic areas critical to WKKF’s goal of implementing and disseminating models to break the cycle of poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean. Current fellows and recent alumni were also invited to participate in leadership strengthening workshops in 2003 and 2004. To date, 35 fellows have participated in the program. More information

Lewis A. Tyler Trustees’ Fund
Sponsor: LASPAU Board of Trustees
Countries: Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela
Program focus: Research grants
Timeframe: 1989–present
Description: The fund provides research support to current LASPAU-administered grantees whose work encourages the exchange of ideas, staff, or resources between institutions in Europe, the United States, or Canada and those in Latin America and the Caribbean. The award enables students to advance their research while strengthening international ties between institutions, two endeavors that embody LASPAU’s vision. The fund, named after former LASPAU executive director Lewis A. Tyler, is sponsored by current and former members of the LASPAU Board of Trustees and by others who support LASPAU’s efforts. More information

Maestría de Desarrollo Comunitario Sustentable (MDCS)
Sponsor: W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF)
Countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru
Program focus: Sustainable community development
Timeframe: 2004–2007
Description: This distance-learning master’s degree program in sustainable community development is training a cadre of Latin American and Caribbean community leaders working in rural development and food security. Supported by a grant from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, the program is administered by LASPAU in conjunction with the Universidad Nacional of Costa Rica (UNA) and Red Latinoamericana y del Caribe de Seguridad Alimentaria y Desarrollo Sustentable (RedLayc). MDCS began in 2005 with 28 students from 11 countries. The grantees were drawn from the Redlayc network of NGOs supported by WKKF and occupy leadership positions in these organizations. In addition to an introductory workshop and distance-learning courses taught by UNA, the students will participate in two extended field trips organized by RedLayc.

OAS-Placed Graduate Scholarship Program
Sponsor: Organization of American States (OAS)
Countries: Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela
Program focus: Economic diversification and integration, trade liberalization, and market access; education; social development and the creation of productive employment; scientific development and exchange and transfer of technology; strengthening of democratic institutions
Timeframe: 2002–present
Description: This program supports graduate studies for outstanding individuals throughout the Americas who are placed by LASPAU in degree programs at universities in OAS member countries. To ensure that available funds support the maximum number of grants, LASPAU negotiates with admitting universities to secure tuition assistance in the form of scholarships and assistantships. The goal of the program is to fortify the disciplines and institutions most important to building a strong future in the region. To this end, grantees pursue studies in fields critical to addressing issues such as the struggle against poverty and inequality; consolidating democracy; and achieving integral, just, and sustainable social and economic development. To date, over 280 individuals have participated in the program. More information

OAS Self-Placed Graduate Scholarship Program
Sponsor: Organization of American States (OAS)
Countries: Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela
Program focus: Culture; economic diversification and integration, trade liberalization, and market access; education; social development and the creation of productive employment; scientific development and exchange and transfer of technology; strengthening of democratic institutions; sustainable development and the environment; sustainable development of tourism
Timeframe: 2002–present
Description: This effort supports graduate degree programs for outstanding individuals throughout the Americas who have obtained their own university admission. It is designed to fortify the disciplines and institutions most important to building a strong future in the region. To this end, grantees pursue studies in fields critical to addressing issues such as the struggle against poverty and inequality; consolidating democracy; and achieving integral, just, and sustainable social and economic development. To date, approximately 440 individuals have participated in the program. More information in English | Español

ECUADOR: PAST PROGRAMS

Amazon Basin Scholarship Program
Sponsors: Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, Ford Foundation, Fulbright Program, Smithsonian Institution, Wildlife Conservation International
Countries: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela
Program focus : Environment
Timeframe: 1991–2001
Description: The Amazon Basin Scholarship Program enabled 79 professionals from the Amazon region to examine multidisciplinary approaches to environmental issues. Grants were offered for master’s level study and one-year or non-degree certificate programs in the natural sciences, social sciences, and public policy. Grantees were also encouraged to pursue short-term internships at U.S. agencies or environmental organizations. The program sponsors listed above provided funding at different times and, in some cases, for grantees from a specific country. In 2001, the Amazon Basin Scholarship Program and the Caribbean and Central American Ecology Program were combined and expanded into the Fulbright–OAS Ecology Initiative through a partnership between the Fulbright Program and the Organization of American States.

Debt-for-Scholarship Program
Sponsor: Harvard University; Fundación Capacitar
Country: Ecuador
Program focus: Debt conversion
Timeframe: 1990
Description: LASPAU was instrumental in the development of pioneering a debt-for-education program in which Harvard University signed an agreement with Fundación Capacitar to convert Ecuadorian national debt into a $2.5 million scholarship fund. The fund awarded grants for outstanding Ecuadorian students to study at Harvard while providing research and study grants and internships in Ecuador for members of the Harvard community. In addition to playing a key role in the debt conversion, LASPAU obtained a grant from the Ford Foundation to produce a monograph on the initiative.

ESPOL Faculty Training Program I
Sponsor: Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral (ESPOL), Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)
Country: Ecuador
Program focus: Faculty development (science, technology)
Timeframe: 1976–1980
Description: To meet education demands in Ecuador’s coastal region, ESPOL obtained a loan from the IDB to undertake major personnel and physical plant development projects. LASPAU was asked to assist with the training component of the program. The six grantees obtained master’s degrees in the fields of information sciences and systems and engineering.

ESPOL Faculty Training Program II
Sponsor: Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral (ESPOL), Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)
Country: Ecuador
Program focus: Faculty development (science, technology)
Timeframe: 1985–1989
Description: A continuation of the previous ESPOL program, this initiative enabled the institution to meet education demands in Ecuador’s coastal region through an IDB-funded effort to undertake major personnel and physical plant development projects. LASPAU assisted with the training component of the program, in addition to providing ESPOL with U.S. contacts for such diverse concerns as voice-data networks and advanced management training. Twenty-three faculty members, researchers, and administrators obtained master’s and doctoral degrees and short-term training from U.S. institutions in fields that included physics, engineering, aquaculture, business and management, fisheries management, chemistry, instructional media design, and statistics.

ESPOL Faculty Training Program III
Sponsor: Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral (ESPOL)
Country: Ecuador
Program focus: Faculty development (library science)
Timeframe: 1995–1998
Description: LASPAU assisted ESPOL with its institutional development efforts by administering the program of a faculty member who completed a master’s program in library science.

Executive Education Program in Managing Science, Technology, and Innovation
Sponsor: Instituto Colombiano para el Desarrollo de la Ciencia y Tecnología “Francisco José de Caldas” (COLCIENCIAS)
Countries: Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela
Program focus: Science, technology
Timeframe: 2005–2006
Description: This program linked COLCIENCIAS, LASPAU, and the Universidad del Rosario’s Center for Knowledge Management and Innovation in an effort to provide 60 government, academic, and business leaders from the Andean Region with training in the most recent policies and practices in managing issues related to science, technology, and innovation. The program was designed for senior policymakers in government agencies, managers of technological institutions, and decisionmakers in the business sector and in academia. The program consisted of an introductory conference and five subsequent seminars held in Colombia and the United States. More information

FUNDACYT Science and Technology Training Program
Sponsor: Fundación para la Ciencia y la Tecnología (FUNDACYT); Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)
Country: Ecuador
Program focus: Science, technology
Timeframe: 1995–2003
Description: FUNDACYT, Ecuador’s institute to promote science and technology, oversaw a $9 million project to fund graduate study for Ecuadorian researchers at home and abroad. In addition to the funding of masters and doctoral degrees in environmental sciences, engineering, health sciences, and information systems, FUNDACYT financed research projects at Ecuadorian universities, private institutions, and research centers. The aim of the program was to provide highly trained professionals in science and technology for the region. LASPAU assisted with the placement and monitoring of the 111 scholarship recipients who chose to study in countries other than Ecuador, which included the United States, Canada, and many European and Latin American countries.

FUNDACYT–Leo S. Rowe Fund Science and Technology Training Program
Sponsor: Fundación para la Ciencia y la Tecnología (FUNDACYT); Leo S. Rowe Pan American Fund of the Organization of American States (Leo S. Rowe Fund)
Country: Ecuador
Program focus: Science, technology
Timeframe: 2001–2004
Description: The Leo S. Rowe Fund enabled FUNDACYT to continue its training program for Ecuadorian researchers. Nineteen grantees pursued master’s degrees in the United States. Fields of study included engineering, food processing technology, public administration, computer and information science, operations research, natural resource management, communications, pharmacology, geophysics and seismology, zoology, and microbiology.

Higher Education in Latin America: Helping Institutions Respond to the Challenges of Reform
Sponsor: Ford Foundation
Countries: Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela
Program focus: Higher education reform
Timeframe: 1996–1997
Description: A far-reaching grant from the Ford Foundation to LASPAU continued the work of the Latin American Fellows Program on Higher Education. The additional funding supported in-country roundtables on higher education reform; case studies to inform practitioners about reform efforts and form the curriculum for a professional development program; a Harvard symposium on higher education reform; and wide dissemination of the published outcomes of the roundtables, case studies, and symposium.

IBM Network Project
Sponsor: IBM Latin America
Countries: Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela
Program focus: Electronic communications
Timeframe: 1990–1992
Description: IBM provided a $50,000 grant to enable LASPAU to establish its Network Project in 1990. The project was designed to encourage computer communications for academic purposes throughout the Americas with the intention of stimulating greater communications among former grantees, their colleagues, and faculty in the United States. As a result of this early program, a number of electronic mailing lists were established, some of which are still in active use. More information

International Study Grants Program for Latin America and the Caribbean
Sponsor: W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF)
Countries: Argentina, Barbados, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru
Program focus: Social leadership
Timeframe: 1999–2003
Description: Fellowships for long- or short-term study abroad were granted to professionals at institutions—including universities, nongovernmental organizations, and government agencies and ministries—actively engaged in projects funded by WFFK, with the goal of contributing to the success of those projects. To achieve the greatest impact, WKKF targeted grants toward specific areas of community need such as health; food systems and rural development; youth and education; higher education; and philanthropy and volunteerism. Half of the 61 fellows administered by LASPAU studied in the United States, and the other half studied in Latin America or Europe. More information

LASPAU Faculty Development Program
Sponsor: North and South American institutions; U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)
Countries: Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Venezuela
Program focus: Faculty development
Timeframe: 1965–1975
Description: A collaboration between USAID, U.S. universities, and Latin American universities, this program was LASPAU’s first effort devoted exclusively to faculty development. 1,600 young people from across Latin America obtained U.S. graduate degrees in preparation for careers in academia and returned home to contribute to the teaching and research missions of their home institutions. More information

Latin American Scholarship Program of American Universities
Sponsor: Ford Foundation; U.S. Agency for International Development, U.S. universities
Countries: Belize, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru
Program focus: Undergraduate and graduate scholarships
Timeframe: 1964–1968
Description: The original program from which LASPAU’s name is derived, this cooperative venture initiated by Harvard University in 1964 provided full scholarships to colleges across the United States for outstanding Latin American youths of limited economic means. More information

Leadership Strengthening Program I
Sponsor: W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF)
Countries: Argentina, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru
Program focus: Social leadership
Timeframe: 2000–2001
Description: In 1998, WKKF approached LASPAU and the Tec de Monterrey with a request to develop a leadership strengthening program for leaders of nongovernmental organizations that were recipients of WKKF funding. The central idea was to build a cadre of socially minded leaders who, through their projects, would work for the common good and have an increasingly significant social impact on their respective countries. An important theme was creating willingness in existing leaders to mentor and coach others. The program, launched in July 2000, included a three-week session at ITESM in Monterrey, Mexico, one week at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and nine months of online learning for the twenty participants. More information

Leadership Strengthening Program III
Sponsor: W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF)
Countries: Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Mexico
Program focus: Social leadership
Timeframe: 2002–2003
Description: A continuation of the previous two Leadership Strengthening Programs, this joint LASPAU–Tec de Monterrey initiative sought to strengthen the leaders of nongovernmental organizations that were recipients of WKKF funding. The program’s goal was to build a cadre of socially minded leaders who, through their projects, would work for the common good and have an increasingly significant social impact on their respective countries. The 15 participants undertook a three-week session at ITESM in Monterrey, Mexico, one week at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and nine months of online learning.

Mellon Foundation Programs in Electronic Communications
Sponsor: The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
Countries: Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Colombia, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Venezuela
Program focus: Electronic communications
Timeframe: 1991–1998
Description: The Mellon Foundation provided grants to LASPAU to support the development of electronic communications systems at universities and research institutions in Latin America and to fund in-country training programs in telecommunications technology and research techniques for Latin American scholars. In all, 4,000 individuals and over 80 institutions in 14 countries benefited from these efforts. More information

USAID Training for Development Program
Sponsor: U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)
Countries: Belize, Bolivia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru
Program focus: Faculty development
Timeframe: 1977–1986
Description: LASPAU collaborated with USAID missions and host country ministries on this effort to support basic development projects at Latin American and Caribbean universities. A university’s ability to provide service to the neediest sectors of the population was an essential criterion for inclusion. The 164 university teachers, administrators, and researchers funded by the program obtained master’s degrees at U.S. institutions in fields including agriculture, food production, nutrition, health, and education, with areas of concentration such as appropriate technology and rural development. More information

USAID Training Initiatives I
Sponsor: U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)
Countries: Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Haiti, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, Peru
Program focus: Faculty development, public and private sector training
Timeframe: 1982–1988
Description: Under this program, 50 post-secondary educators, public servants, and private-sector professionals were awarded scholarships for master’s degrees in the sciences, technology, health, education, agriculture, and engineering. More information