Board News

The Board's Vice Chairman Rolf-Dieter Schnelle will leave the Fulbright Commission.

Vice Chairman Rolf-Dieter Schnelle will retire from his position as Commissioner for Culture and Education in the Directorate-General for Culture and Communication at the German Foreign Office by the end of June 2008 and will also leave the Board of the Fulbright Commission. Mr. Schnelle has been a member of the Fulbright Commission since July 2004. The Board and the Secretariat would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr. Schnelle for his strong commitment and his diplomatic achievements in the context of bilateral relations and his engagement for the Fulbright Program.

Dr. Michael Harms, former Head of the Department for International Affairs at the German Rectors’ Conference, left the Fulbright Board in April 2008. His successor will be announced soon. We would like to thank Dr. Harms for his work on the Fulbright Board and his cooperation with various Fulbright Programs.

Staff

Catharina Hänsch, program officer for American Programs, is on maternity leave for one year. During her maternity leave Julie Mc Bride has taken over her position.

During the last few years, the German university landscape has undergone massive reforms. The resulting changes raise many questions and concerns about the future of our higher education system. With the restructuring process in full swing, German university leaders explore higher education systems in other countries to find how their academic institutions may serve as models for the future German university.

Educational Experts Seminars
In this context a group of German educational experts traveled to the United States for a five-day higher education management seminar. The pilot program directed at leaders of German “Fachhochschulen” included 13 participants and was dedicated to the theme: "Internationalization in Germany: Universities of Applied Sciences in Search for Institutional Excellence”. Read more...

German University Administrators in International Education
Almost at the same time as the German educational experts, a group of 24 German university administrators in international education traveled the U.S. The specialists represented international, fundraising and alumni-networking offices as well as student and career services offices at their universities and “Fachhochschulen”. Read more...

Teacher Spring Seminar Series
The Fulbright Commission’s successor program to the former annual teacher exchange program, the Teacher Spring Seminar, has started in March 2008. Read more...

German Studies Seminar
This year´s German Studies Seminar from June 9 – 20, 2008 looks at “Science and Society: The Impact of Science on Policy Formation.” Seventeen U.S. scholars have been invited to Berlin and Brussels where they explore how Germany and its European neighbors view the role of science in their societies and how science shapes the formation of German and European politics. The German Studies Seminar consists of  presentation and discussion sessions with politicians, scientists, journalists, and representatives from NGO´s, think tanks, and universities in Berlin and Brussels.

German Student Program
While German university leaders and administrators were traveling the U.S. , roughly 235 grantees of our scholarship programs for German students attended two pre-departure orientation seminars in Jena. Both events featured an excellent presentation of the U.S. presidential and congressional election system by  U.S. Consul General Mark Scheland, Leipzig. It stimulated a very lively discussion with the students about the pros and cons of the electoral college, the intricacies concerning the “swing states” and the various campaign issues. The German-American dialogue with Consul General Scheland was certainly the high-light of each of the two pre-departure seminars and was greatly appreciated by the students and the Commission.

Upcoming Special Programs:

Diversity Initiative
In cooperation with three U.S. universities, the Fulbright Commission will again conduct three 5-week Summer Institutes in the U.S. In 2008, the Institutes will be offered by the California State University, East Bay, the University of Alaska at Anchorage and the University of Kentucky at Lexington. The programs will be conducted in the context of the Commission´s Diversity Initiative and will afford 35 students from Germany with diverse ethnic backgrounds the opportunity to experience American campus life in action, to learn about U.S. culture and civilization, to join in community projects and to perfect their English language. The students participating in this year´s Summer Institutes have only recently been selected and are very excited about their upcoming trip to America.