Bio:

Alsace-Lorraine (Alsace) Gallop joined North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, the country’s largest and top historically Black university (HBCU), in October 2018 as their National Scholarships and Fellowships Coordinator.  Alsace has served as a national reviewer for the Boren, Gilman, and Critical Language Scholarships and the Udall Scholarship, and has presented at the past four biennial conferences for the National Association of Fellowships Advisors (NAFA) as well as the 2023 Global Inclusion conference from Diversity Abroad.  Her conference presentations and invited panels have featured topics related to actively identifying, guiding, and supporting first generation college students and underrepresented ethnic and racial minorities as candidates for nationally competitive and prestigious programs. She was recently competitively selected for two professional programs: the inaugural cohort of Gilman Alumni Ambassadors, where she is serving a second term for the 2023-24 year, and the inaugural cohort of the Fulbright Program Adviser (FPA) Mentor program. Alsace currently serves as the NAFA Membership Committee chair and in July 2021 became the first NAFA Board of Directors member elected from an HBCU.

Since September 2012, Alsace has recruited and advised hundreds of students and alumni at North Carolina A&T State University; North Carolina State University, the state’s largest public university; and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the flagship university in the UNC System.  Her highlighted student and alumni national outcomes include N.C. A&T State University’s first three documented Truman Finalists, first Goldwater Scholar in seven years, first Astronaut Scholar in 12 years, first documented Fulbright Program grantees from their alumni community, first Pickering Graduate Fellow, and first Marshall-Motley Scholar.  Alsace recruited and advised both UNC-Chapel Hill and NC State’s first Mount Vernon Leadership Fellow; UNC-Chapel Hill’s first Udall Scholar of Native American descent, first Churchill Scholar in five years, and first Marshall Scholar in nine years; and NC State’s first Udall Scholar in four years, first Marshall Scholar in ten years who was also NC State’s first black Marshall Scholar, and first Truman Scholar in 15 years.

Alsace earned a diploma from the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, a B.S. in biological sciences as a Banneker/Key Scholar at the University of Maryland in College Park, MD, and an MHA in health policy and administration with a focus in marketing from the School of Public Health (now the Gillings School of Global Public Health) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Email: acgallop@ncat.edu

About North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University:

North Carolina A&T State University is the country’s largest historically Black university with an enrollment of more than 13,500 students. NC A&T State is a land grant, doctoral research university specializing in STEM education, and ranks among the top universities nationally in upward social mobility.

Bio:

Dr. Amanda Bennett is the Director of Global Partnerships and Engagement at the University of North Texas (UNT). Since 2016, Amanda has served as UNT’s Fulbright Program Adviser and Fulbright Scholar Liaison. She is responsible for promotion and marketing, recruitment, advising, and application assistance for Fulbright Programs at UNT. UNT’s Fulbright U.S. Student Program applicants include undergraduate and graduate students, alumni, first-generation students, non-traditional students, veterans, and come from various academic disciplines, including the practicing and preforming arts.

Amanda oversees UNT’s international initiatives, including global partnerships and international agreements with universities abroad. Amanda collaborates with academic units to develop global programs and to advance campus and curricular internationalization. She also supports the global scholarship of faculty and students by managing intramural grants, advising on global engagement activities, and providing proposal development support for external global funding and fellowship opportunities.

Amanda is a 2014 Fulbright Scholar to Japan through the International Education Administrators program and a 2022 DAAD Fellow to Germany. She holds a PhD in Political Science from UNT.

Email: amanda.white@unt.edu

About University of North Texas:

The University of North Texas (UNT) is one of the largest public research universities in the nation. UNT is a Minority-Serving and Hispanic-Serving Institution, a Tier One research university, and designated as a Purple Heart University by the Military Order.

Tip for New Advisers:

Embrace learning—As an FPA, there are endless opportunities for you to learn more about your applicants, your institution, and your approach to fellowship advising. Embrace these learning opportunities and use the new information to determine the best strategies for your applicants and your institution.

Bio:

Brian V. Souders is the Associate Director for Global Learning at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). In his current role, Brian serves as the Fulbright Program Adviser and works with multiple internationally-focused scholarship programs. He works in close collaboration with UMBC’s Director of Undergraduate Research and Prestigious Scholarships to encourage UMBC’s most talented students for both domestic and international fellowship opportunities. This collaborative effort has led to UMBC students earning multiple prestigious awards over the past five years.

As part of UMBC’s Education Abroad team, Brian has served as UMBC’s Fulbright Program Adviser for fourteen years. He has been a professional in the field of international education for more than two decades. He started at UMBC in 2000 as its inaugural study aboard professional, working to establish best practices for all aspects of study abroad and exchange programs.

Brian has served on both the advisor and executive board of National Association of Fellowship Advisors (NAFA), in addition to regional leadership for NAFSA: Association of International Educators, as Region VIII chair. He has presented at multiple NAFA biennial conferences, NAFSA regional and national level, and the Council for Undergraduate Research. He has also served as a reader for multiple scholarship panels for both domestic and international scholarships.

Email: fulbright@umbc.edu

About University of Maryland, Baltimore County:

The University of Maryland, Baltimore County is a mid-size public research institution located in the heart of the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area. Designated as a minority-serving institution (MSI), UMBC is a minority-majority institution that incorporates diversity and inclusion in all aspects of its student support and programming. UMBC is the top producer of Black undergraduates who go on to complete a PhD in the natural sciences or engineering, as well as of Black undergraduates who go on to complete an MD/PhD. UMBC has twice been named a Fulbright Top Producer.

Tip for New Advisers:

I think of Fulbright Award Descriptions as job descriptions. I encourage our students to read the Award Descriptions as such, making sure that they understand that the Fulbright Program is a combination of what they want to do and the preferences of the host country. I frequently read through Award Descriptions with students to make sure they understand what specifically the host county is looking for, and ask if they think they meet those preferences.

Bio:

Dr. David Hoffman is the Fulbright Program Adviser and an Associate Professor of Cultural Anthropology with a specialty in Environmental Anthropology and the director of the Office of Prestigious External Scholarships (OPES) in the Shackouls Honors College at Mississippi State University (MSU). He has helped guide students to winning the Fulbright, CLS, CLS Spark, Boren, Udall, Churchill, Astronaut, Goldwater, Humanity in Action, and PPIA awards, as well as becoming finalists for the Knight Hennessy, Rhodes, and Truman scholarships.

David joined MSU and its Department of Anthropology and Middle Eastern Cultures in fall 2008. His research focuses on natural resource management, biodiversity conservation, fisheries resources, and the interaction of parks and protected areas with the development and livelihood needs of adjacent human communities. This work has focused on Mexico, Costa Rica and the U.S. Gulf Coast and has been supported by grants from Fulbright, the NSF, and NOAA.

Email: dhoffman@anthro.msstate.edu

About Mississippi State University:

MSU is a public, Land Grant institution, a Top 100 Research Institution, and a PhD-granting, R1 Very High Research Activity university. The majority of MSU students hail from the state of Mississippi. In fall 2021, MSU’s minority enrollment was 27%. MSU undergraduates are 29% Pell Eligible and 37% first-generation students. In 2023, MSU was named a Top 10 Military Friendly School for its support of veterans.

Tip for New Advisers:

Don’t get overwhelmed trying to learn every single facet of Fulbright and every award available. You are never alone in this work. Attend IIE-sponsored FPA trainings and workshops and reach out to other advisors (through NAFA, for example) for help when you need advice.

Bio:

Gladis Herrera-Berkowitz joined University of California, Riverside (UCR), in 1998. As the Director of Engaged Learning in Undergraduate Education, she oversees a team that engages students in high-impact experiences across all colleges. Gladis was a participant in the Fulbright Program Adviser Development Initiative in 2015, and as a result, increased the number of students who apply to Fulbright.

Gladis helps students learn to tell their story and identify why Fulbright is a fit for their goals in a concise and compelling way. The most rewarding aspect of being a Fulbright Program Adviser for Gladis is providing students with a positive learning experience and empowering them to believe in themselves and articulate orally and in writing why they are a fit for Fulbright. More importantly, she teaches the students that, no matter what the outcome is, they will grow their team of supporters and learn about themselves in the process.

Gladis received her bachelor’s in Political Science from University of California, Davis, and her master’s in History from the University of San Diego.

Email: gladis@ucr.edu

About UC Riverside:

University of California, Riverside, is one of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The university is dedicated to the fundamental missions of teaching, research, and public service and enrolls more than 26,000 students. UC Riverside continues to be named the nation’s leader among public universities for social mobility by U.S. News and World Report. UC Riverside is a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI), and the university is ranked number one for Hispanic enrollment among selective universities (Urban Institute) and number three for Hispanic STEM graduates in the nation (National Science Foundation).

Tip for New Advisers:

Help students see themselves as Fulbrighters by demystifying the application process and helping them see the value that their diversity brings to the program. Challenge them to think deeply as they reflect on where they come from, what they have learned, and how their experiences will contribute to the Fulbright mission of mutual cultural understanding. Show them the impact they will bring to the program!

Bio:

Jeff Wing has been the fellowships advisor and Fulbright Program Adviser at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) since 2005. VCU averaged one Fulbright applicant per year in the ten years before Jeff started working as VCU's FPA and only one student had been selected as a Fulbright U.S. Student Program Finalist. In the almost twenty years since, VCU students and alumni have submitted nearly thirty applications annually and 89 VCU applicants have been selected as Finalists. Jeff has also served as one of VCU's Fulbright Scholar Liaisons for more than ten years.

Jeff's experience with nationally competitive awards dates back to the 1980s when he was nominated for the Truman, Rhodes, and Marshall Scholarships during his undergraduate years at Kansas State University. He was selected as a 1987 Truman Scholar and was a finalist for the Marshall Scholarship two years later. After graduating from Harvard Law School in 1992, Jeff worked as a negotiation and conflict resolution consultant for fifteen years. Jeff has been an active member of the National Association of Fellowships Advisors (NAFA), and he served on the Executive Committee as Treasurer from 2015-2021. He has also been an organizer of the Mid-Atlantic NAFA group. In addition to directing the National Scholarship Office, Jeff is also an assistant dean in VCU's Honors College.

Email: jawing@vcu.edu

About Virginia Commonwealth University:

Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is an urban research university located in Richmond, Virginia. VCU is a Minority-Serving Institution with a high percentage of students who are Pell-eligible and also a high percentage of first-generation college students. Among the most diverse public institutions in the Commonwealth of Virginia, VCU prides itself on being a welcoming and inclusive campus set in the heart of Virginia's capital city.

Tip for New Advisers:

Consider creating a Fulbright Advisory Committee comprised of other key campus partners who can help you to recruit and mentor potential Fulbright Student Scholarship candidates.

Bio:

Jen Green is the Director of the Office of Student Fellowships and Awards at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). In this role, Jen mentors UTEP undergraduate and graduate students applying for nationally competitive fellowships and ensures that the process provides valuable professional skills development. Fulbright is the cornerstone of Jen’s efforts, and she has established a robust advising program supported by a sizeable community of distinguished faculty and staff. In her first year, Jen increased UTEP’s record for total number of applicants from five to 23. Of this remarkable group, five were selected as Finalists, which is more Finalists in one year than in the entire history of UTEP.

Jen has over 20 years of experience in higher education administration that includes expertise in admissions, academic advising, financial aid, and the management of study abroad programs. From 2015-2022, she established and developed the fellowships advising program at the State University of New York (SUNY). Stony Brook’s Fulbright applicants broke several institutional records and secured the university’s first two appearances on the Fulbright Top Producer list. Jen attributes a great deal of that success to the knowledge she has gained from membership in the National Association of Fellowships Advisors (NAFA), where she served on the Executive Board from 2019-2022.

Email: jlgreen@utep.edu

About University of Texas at El Paso:

The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is an R1 doctoral university and the leading Hispanic-Serving Institution in the country with a deep commitment to access and excellence. Its student body is 84% Hispanic, 94% minority, and roughly 50% of undergraduates are the first in their families to pursue a college degree. The campus is located on the U.S./Mexico border and the El Paso – Ciudad Juárez metroplex is one of the largest binational and bicultural communities in the world.

Tip for New Advisers:

Plan for the applicant numbers you WANT to have and create advising structures that can be modified to accommodate growth. I have found cohort-based advising to be especially helpful because it ensures that resources are distributed equitably and extends the advisor’s reach. It also provides opportunities for applicants to work collaboratively and increase their confidence with grant writing.

Bio:

Jessica Fowle is a dedicated professional with 23 years of experience in higher education, currently serving as the Director of Grants, Fellowships, and Research at Kalamazoo College. She divides her time between supporting students and alumni applying for fellowships and undergraduate research and supporting faculty research proposals. She serves as Fulbright Program Adviser for the Fulbright U.S. Student Program and Scholar Liaison for the Fulbright Scholar Program. Leveraging a combination of information sessions, group workshops, and one-on-one advising, Jessica seeks to build both skills and community amongst her applicant cohorts. She is committed to helping students synthesize their academic, co-curricular, and life experiences, articulating how these connections shape their future goals in general and building a case for nationally competitive fellowship and grant opportunities.

The first 15 years of Jessica’s career were spent in undergraduate admissions, where Jessica gained valuable insights into the admissions process and developed a passion for empowering students. This understanding of the reviewer perspective provided excellent transferrable skills to supporting folks on “the other side of the desk,” first explored while serving several interim roles in health careers advising and as interim executive director of the Heyl Science Scholarship Program.

Email: jessica.fowle@kzoo.edu

About Kalamazoo College:

Kalamazoo College is a small, undergraduate, residential liberal arts college. Thirty-three percent of the student body are domestic students of color, 20% of students are the first in their families to attend college, and 24% of students receive Pell Grants. Most students participate in an immersive study abroad program and engage in experiential service-learning opportunities in and outside of the classroom. Kalamazoo College was named a Fulbright U.S. Student Program Top Producer in each of the last three years.

Tip for New Advisers:

Have a box of tissues in your office! The process of applying for a Fulbright often requires an intense amount of reflection and vulnerability from the applicant at a point in their life and educational career that feels big and amorphous. Be prepared to offer a tissue and a reassuring ear—this often leads to great connections and brainstorming.

Bio:

Karen Wachsmuth is the Associate Director of International Fellowships in the International Programs office at the University of Iowa and has served as the Fulbright Program Adviser for the past 12 years. Karen sees Fulbright advising as a process that involves two main focus areas for applicants: steady practice, (like practicing an instrument or sport) and organization. Writing practice, introspection, and developing goals go hand-in-hand with organizing a team composed of recommenders, host affiliations, etc. The process starts early so that applicants have time for the soul-seeking that Fulbright requires of young people. In providing a structure for applicants, Karen and her team have created a course site that includes timelines and writing resources. In building up a program that was initially low-ranked, Karen has had tremendous campus-wide support from faculty and staff and credits her success to her participation in the 2014 Fulbright Program Adviser Development Initiative.

Karen is a former music professor and conductor. Karen’s experience as a Fulbright Program Adviser inspired her to apply for an International Education Administrators Award to Japan (IEA) where she spent two amazing weeks in 2016, officially joining the Fulbright alumni network. Karen also serves as the Fulbright Scholar Program Liaison.

Email: karen-wachsmuth@uiowa.edu

About University of Iowa:

The University of Iowa is a Midwestern R1 university with approximately 30,000 students. Iowa’s Fulbright applicants come from many different backgrounds: students from rural agricultural areas in Iowa; students from the Chicago or Los Angeles suburbs; first-generation students; honors students; students who immigrated from Sudan or other countries at a young age; and high-achieving graduate students from our most selective programs such as creative writing and medicine. Iowa has been a Fulbright U.S. Student Program Top Producer for seven years since 2015.

Tip for New Advisers:

Use the wide-ranging resources of the worldwide Fulbright community to connect and build your program. Seek out faculty on your campus who have had Fulbright awards and have them tell their stories, reach out to Fulbright IIE Program staff, and contact Alumni Ambassadors to present on your campus. Many students know family members, friends, professors, or staff advisers who have received Fulbright awards, and hearing their life-changing Fulbright stories will frequently inspire those students to overcome their doubts and apply. Plugging into that community will help you develop a “Fulbright Family” on your campus to support applicants!

Bio:

Dr. Kendra L. Mitchell is director of composition and assistant professor of English at Florida A&M University (FAMU), where she has taught composition, literature, and historical linguistics. As an alumna of the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, Kendra has shared her experiences in her role as one of the Fulbright Program Advisers at FAMU since 2018. Kendra has developed a curriculum that reduces the gaps between student awareness of Fulbright opportunities, campus partners, and the application process that led to FAMU’s recognition as a Fulbright HBCU Institutional Leader in 2018, 2019, and 2022.

In 2016, Kendra served as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant to South Africa, where she was a guest lecturer in the Faculty of Education at the University of Pretoria Groenkloof Campus and served as a cultural ambassador. It was in this role that she honed her ability to harness empathy as a resource to mitigate racial, cultural, and socioeconomic divides in the classroom driven by national student protests. She has since been invited to serve as an external evaluator for several of their graduate students.

Kendra serves as an elected Conference on College Composition and Communication Executive Committee member for the National Council for Teachers of English (NCTE). Her writing center scholarship can be found in the Writing Center Journal, Praxis Journal, and several book collections. Her current scholarship includes her forthcoming HBCU writing center co-edited collection, Makin’ A Way Outta No Way: HBCUs, Writing Centers, & Antiracism.

Read more about Kendra

Email: kendra.mitchell@famu.edu

About Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University:

Founded in 1887, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) is a public, historically Black university located in Tallahassee, Florida. FAMU is an R2 doctoral-granting institution and enrolls nearly 10,000 students from across the United States and more than seventy countries.

Tip for New Advisers:

Learn to redefine (and modify) what success means to your program based on your institutional culture and students’ needs.

Bio:

Dr. Kim Germain is the Director of the Office of Undergraduate Research and External Fellowships (UREF) at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). At UIC, Kim has been responsible for running outreach, advising, and nomination processes for prestigious external fellowships, including Fulbright. Fulbright Program Adviser duties at UIC have been shared, where Kim focuses mainly on undergraduates/alumni while another FPA focuses on graduate students/alumni.

Kim came to fellowships advising, and higher education, by accident. A first-generation student with a scholarship to study engineering, she found she missed reading, writing, and arguing about ideas. She changed her major to political science, earning her bachelor's degree from MIT and her master’s and PhD from the University of Chicago. After teaching for several years with no tenure-track job on the horizon, she wanted to remain deeply engaged with students’ academic and personal development. Fellowships advising was the answer, and Kim’s own academic/career history, with two big swerves instead of a straight line, helps her to advise students who have different paths, goals, and disciplines.

Prior to the 2022-23 academic year, Kim spent 16 years running a solo office devoted to fellowships advising, at UIC since 2017 and previously at Colgate University and New York University. She was elected to the Executive Board of the National Association of Fellowships Advisors (NAFA) and served from 2017-21; Kim continues to serve on NAFA’s Membership Committee.

Email: kgermain@uic.edu

About University of Illinois Chicago:

University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is one of the most diverse universities in the United States; an HSI and an AANAPISI institution, with a very high proportions of first-generation and Pell-eligible students. UIC has the highest percentage of Pell-eligible students among R1 institutions. UIC has a significant population of transfer students and is a majority commuter school, as only 15% of students live on campus, and most students work while enrolled full time. Currently fewer than 2% of students study abroad, in part due to students having family and/or work obligations outside of college. Many students come from immigrant families and speak other languages at home.

Tip for New Advisers:

Bring your whole self to your FPA role. Our students can struggle to bring their whole selves to the Fulbright application – e.g., to really get personal in their personal statement instead of narrating their resume – and it helps them immensely when you can share yourself with them.

Bio:

Dr. Kiyoko Nogi Simmons has served as the Fulbright Program Adviser at the University of New Mexico since 2015. She joined UNM in 2004 and transitioned into the role of fellowship advising in 2009, following five years of experience with the Dean of Students Office. Currently, Kiyoko holds the position of director of the Center for Academic Excellence & Leadership Development within the UNM Honors College. As the sole fellowship advisor on campus, Kiyoko handles various crucial tasks, ranging from recruitment and the campus selection processes to assisting students with their applications for major nationally competitive scholarships.

Originally from Yokohama, Japan, Kiyoko brings a multicultural perspective to her work, allowing her to connect with students from diverse backgrounds. She earned her undergraduate degree in American Culture from Keisen Jogakuen College in Tokyo, followed by a master’s degree in Sociology from the University of West Georgia. Kiyoko completed her academic pursuits by earning a PhD in Organization, Information, and Learning Sciences from the University of New Mexico, demonstrating her commitment to advancing knowledge in her field.

Email: caeld@unm.edu

About University of New Mexico:

The University of New Mexico serves as the flagship institution within the state and is a public R1 university and a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI). Recognized as the Fulbright HSI Leader in both 2021 and 2022, UNM has produced over 90 Fulbright awardees since 2010. The University of New Mexico has been designated as a First-Gen Forward Institution, underscoring its commitment to supporting the success of first-generation students by providing comprehensive resources and opportunities.

Tip for New Advisers:

A "one-size-fits-all" approach is not applicable in this role. Embrace the flexibility to adapt your advising methods to meet the unique needs and circumstances of each individual student.

Bio:

As the associate dean for national scholarships at Arizona State University, Dr. Kyle Mox directs the Lorraine W. Frank Office of National Scholarships Advisement (ONSA), which exists to support students and alumni as they seek and apply for major external scholarships and fellowships. Kyle creates and manages progressive student development programs that encourage creativity, interdisciplinary thinking, and intensive self-reflection. As a member of the leadership team for Barrett, the Honors College, Kyle also helps guide the vision and mission of one of the top-ranked honors colleges in the nation.

Kyle has worked in fellowships advising for over 18 years, first at Texas A&M University and then at the University of Chicago, before coming to ASU in 2015. He takes an active role in the professional discourse surrounding fellowships and has served as a board member and president of the National Association of Fellowships Advisors.

Kyle holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of New Orleans and a PhD in English from Texas A&M University. He has taught composition and rhetoric, practical writing, literature survey, and business communication courses, as well as designed several special topics courses and seminars. Kyle’s scholarly work centers on modernist literature and culture and psychology in literature. His most recent publication examines the function of trauma and narrative in the works of Kurt Vonnegut and D.M. Thomas.

Email: kyle.mox@asu.edu

About Arizona State University, Tempe:

Arizona State University is a public, R1 institution. ASU assumes a fundamental responsibility for the economic, social, cultural, and overall health of the communities it serves. With an undergraduate admission rate of over 85%, it is radically inclusive. Identified as a Hispanic-Serving Institution in 2022, over one-third of ASU students are first-generation college students, and an equal number receive Pell Grants. In fall 2022, 46% of incoming first-year students came from minority backgrounds. Although ONSA is physically and administratively located on the Tempe campus, the office serves the entire ASU community across four campuses, including graduate students, alumni, and students on our digital campus.

Tip for New Advisers:

First, understand the “ecosystem” of your institution. What works at one university doesn’t always work at another. Once you understand the culture, you can then establish your own terms for success.

Bio:

Matthew Price is the Director of the Center for Premier Awards and Scholarly Engagement at the University of North Alabama. He provides advising and support for fellowship and scholarship applicants and coordinates undergraduate research.

Matthew first became a fellowship advisor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2012 and learned the role of a Fulbright Program Adviser from the incomparable David Schug. When he moved to the University of North Alabama to work in their University Success Center, Matthew kept meeting interesting students that were just Fulbright material, but at that point UNA had never had a student Fulbright recipient. In 2016, Matthew convinced the Dean of Arts and Sciences to let him advise a cohort of applicants as an overload, and that year a student was a recipient. From then on, Matthew became a full-time scholarship advisor, and University of North Alabama has been named a Fulbright Top Producer twice.

Email: mprice2@una.edu

About University of North Alabama:

The University of North Alabama is a comprehensive regional state university. UNA is a 30% Pell-receiving institution and enrolls about 8,800 undergraduate and graduate students primarily from Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Georgia. UNA is a majority-commuter school with 69% of students living off campus.

Tip for New Advisers:

This might be counter-intuitive, but try not to sweat the small stuff. Focus on the candidate and helping them tell their story authentically. A committee is looking for a person to invest in and that person has to be present in their essays. Don’t let the technical get in the way of an applicant being themselves!

Bio:

Samila Sosic serves as the Executive Director of International Learning at Miami Dade College. In this role, Samila oversees all outgoing international learning and recruits diverse cohorts of study abroad students, focusing on inclusion and representing underrepresented groups. Samila successfully managed partnerships with institutions of higher education globally, including mobile and virtual exchanges and faculty-led programs. Her contributions to internationalization efforts are instrumental in fostering cross-cultural understanding and collaboration.

As a Fulbright Program Adviser, Samila advises on applications, and beyond that, she supports students by connecting with local resources in-country, fostering meaningful connections with the host community, and working on maximizing the impact of their Fulbright experience. Samila’s work continues with helping students with cultural adjustment and awareness, as well as reflection upon the return from their Fulbright experience. One of the most rewarding parts of advising and mentorship for her is the involvement of Fulbright participants in programs that will help them pay it forward to other students upon their return: mentoring them in becoming mentors and advisers themselves.

Email: ssosic@mdc.edu

About Miami Dade College:

Miami Dade College is one of the largest, open-access, post-secondary Hispanic-Serving Institutions in the U.S. and awards more associate degrees to Hispanics than any other college in the country. Mirroring the community served, MDC is a minority-majority institution. Eighty-five percent of students are Pell Grant eligible. MDC serves students from 166 different nationalities speaking 50 different languages. Ninety-two percent of full-time, first-time students receive financial aid.

Tip for New Advisers:

Familiarize yourself with the Fulbright Program by reading and analyzing the mission, objectives, and all kinds of scholarship options, as well as the application process, criteria for selection of candidates, and expectations for Fulbrighters. Keep yourself updated, as changes guidelines can change. The best way to keep up with all is to be active in the Fulbright Program Advisers network.

Bio:

Shari Merrill is a global higher education professional with over 15 years of experience in the field. She currently serves as the Fulbright Program Adviser and the Associate Director for Study Abroad and Global Engagement within the Department of Extension and International Programs at California State University, Fullerton (CSUF). In this role, Shari collaborates with our colleges and departments to support faculty and staff on a variety of programs and campus engagement opportunities, and she supports institutional relations management with educational partners and international institutions.

Shari implemented and maintains the internal CSUF Fulbright application and faculty committee processes, which provides significant application support to students. She also works with her team and campus partners to raise awareness about Fulbright opportunities and CSUF support to students during the application process. CSUF’s application and advising rates have increased steadily over the past five years, and one candidate was selected as a Fulbright Finalist for the 2023-2024 award cycle, the first in nine years. Shari considers these outcomes as measures of success in gradually building a Fulbright culture on campus. Shari also serves as the Fulbright Scholar Liaison for faculty and administrators.

Email: smerrill@fullerton.edu

About California State University, Fullerton:

CSUF is the largest of 23 universities in the California State University system, serving over 40,000 students. CSUF is a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI), an Asian-American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving-Institution (AANAPISI), a Minority Serving-Institution (MSI), as well as a Land-Grant institution. Approximately 50% of CSUF students identify as Hispanic, and the university has been recognized for its commitment to Latinx student success, receiving the Seal of Excelencia (Excelencia in Education, 2021-2024) and distinction as an inaugural Fulbright HSI Leader in 2021. Thirty-two percent of CSUF students identify as first-generation college students.

Tip for New Advisers:

I would encourage new FPAs to collaborate as much as possible with other FPAs and campus partners. You don’t have to do everything alone! I learn something new and accept more help with each application cycle, and it has enabled me to provide more effective support to applicants!

Bio:

Since 2008, Dr. Anthony “Tony” Cashman has been the Director of Distinguished Fellowships and Graduate Studies at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. He has served as the Fulbright Program Adviser at Holy Cross during that entire period and has made Fulbright the point of focus for the college’s post-baccalaureate awards.

Tony is particularly interested in promoting the Fulbright because his own Study/Research grant to Italy in 1994-95 was life-changing for him. Before becoming the fellowships advisor at Holy Cross, Tony taught general humanities at Valparaiso University, European history at College of the Holy Cross and Assumption University, and first-year writing at Harvard University. Holy Cross has been a Fulbright Top Producing Institution for 14 of his 15 years, and in that time his students have received more than 115 Fulbright Scholarships. On a personal note, Tony’s son Emmett, who graduated from Vassar College, is set to begin his Fulbright ETA in Kazakhstan in September 2023.

Email: acashman@holycross.edu

About College of the Holy Cross:

The College of the Holy Cross is a small, private, Jesuit liberal-arts undergraduate institution. Holy Cross was a Fulbright U.S. Student Program Top Producer in 2022 and 2023.

Bio:

Valeria (Valerie) Hrimnak has served as Baruch College’s prestigious fellowships advisor since 2013. Since founding the Office of National and Prestigious Fellowships Advising at Baruch, Valerie has fostered a fellowship community at Baruch, developing a culture of belief that Baruch students are competitive and worthy of prestigious fellowships such as the Fulbright Program. She views the Fulbright application process itself as an opportunity for personal growth and development for all who apply. She has used that principle and advised many students to great success, significantly increasing the number of both applications and Fulbright awards won by Baruch students and alumni.

After completing her master’s in Intercultural Communication at the University of Denver, Valerie’s interests in cultural exchange and education took her to London, where she first served as an educational advisor with EducationUSA before becoming Program Director with the US-UK Fulbright Commission. This experience led her to take a position with the Institute of International Education as Senior Program Manager for the Fulbright U.S. Student Program to Europe and Central Asia. She subsequently became Director of Fellowships and Grants at The American-Scandinavian Foundation where she oversaw one of the United States’ oldest cultural and educational exchange programs.

Email: valeria.hrimnak@baruch.cuny.edu

About Baruch College:

Baruch College is one of the senior colleges in the City University of New York (CUNY). It is a large urban university located in midtown Manhattan. The College's nearly 20,000 students speak more than 110 languages and represent over 160 countries. This has led Baruch to being repeatedly named one of the most ethnically diverse student bodies in the United States. Baruch is nationally recognized as being one of the top institutions in the country for social mobility.

Tip for New Advisers:

Don’t discourage any student from applying for a Fulbright. Instead, be honest with them about the level of competition and guide them to the award opportunities that are the best fit for their goals. Trust that the application process to be a rewarding and transformative experience for each student. Whether they hit submit and go on to win is not the goal. The goal is helping them to learn and grow from the application experience.

Bio:

Dr. Vincent Bohlinger is the Director of the Film Studies Program and a Professor in the Department of English at Rhode Island College (RIC). Vincent has served as RIC’s Fulbright Program Adviser—the college’s first and only FPA—since 2014. Not knowing about Fulbright while an undergrad and then having had the life-changing privilege of a Fulbright-Hays to Russia during graduate school, Vincent is eager for students to become aware of and strive for such experiences for themselves. He is thrilled, and quite nervous, to share that RIC has had a Fulbright Finalist in each of the past three years.

Cinvent's principal research interests are in Soviet and post-Soviet cinemas, and he is one of the coeditors of KinoKultura. Vincent is the delighted winner of RIC’s Mary Tucker Thorp College Professorship for 2023-24 and the RIC Alumni Association’s Faculty Award for 2023. His current service commitments on campus include College Council (our faculty senate), the Academic Technology Advisory Committee, the Performing and Fine Arts Commission, the Arts and Sciences Assessment Committee, and the faculty union’s Executive, Grievance, and Political Action Committees.

Email: vbohlinger@ric.edu

About Rhode Island College:

Rhode Island College is a Hispanic-Serving Institution enrolling about 5,800 undergraduate and graduate students. Over half of RIC’s incoming student body identifies as a person of color, and over half of students are first generation and are Pell eligible. Over 90% of students receive financial aid, even though RIC is one of the most affordable four-year institutions in New England. Almost every student works while attending school, many full-time or at multiple jobs. Because the student population is stretched thin financially, the idea of a Fulbright weighs heavily on opportunity costs. Beyond the time commitment of a Fulbright application, the prospect of one-year/short-term employment away from family, family responsibilities, and a predetermined career path can be daunting. Having such a student win a Fulbright feels so much bigger than just that student’s and RIC’s win.

Tip for New Advisers:

I encourage new FPAs to think about Fulbright as a key component to building and supporting internationalization efforts across campus. A single Finalist brings the prestige that at least secures greater attention from students and administration. Building that network on campus can be slow going and there is high probability that extraordinary students will not end up winning, but the Fulbright application process crucially involves self-realization about access and opportunity. Fulbright can serve as a gateway to other opportunities abroad or stateside. It is critical that our students think of such paths as possible for themselves, and it is necessary for our students to see themselves—and be seen in turn—as ideal representatives of the United States.

Bio:

Dr. Yee Han Chu is the Academic Support and Fellowship Opportunities Coordinator at the University of North Dakota (UND). She has been in this role since 2018, assisting both undergraduate students and, to a lesser extent, graduate students in their applications for national scholarships.

Yee Han promotes the Fulbright Program within the context of helping students access global learning experiences that enhance their professional goals. To build a campus culture dedicated to global learning, Yee Han works closely with the Languages, Geography & Geographic Information Sciences, and Political Science Departments and with the Study Abroad office. Yee Han promotes Fulbright and other international scholarship opportunities through campus classroom presentations, monthly newsletters, student stories in the UND Today campus paper, recognition receptions for students and faculty, and student scholarship videos.

Yee Han earned her bachelor’s degrees in genetics and psychology from the University of California, Davis; master’s in clinical social work from Columbia University School of Social Work; and PhD in teaching and learning with a higher education emphasis from the University of North Dakota. Yee Han has worked as a clinical social worker, served as a UND faculty member, and co-founded the North Dakota Association for Gifted Children, also serving as its first president.

Email: yee.chu@und.edu

About University of North Dakota:

The University of North Dakota has existed longer than North Dakota has been a state and, therefore, is the state’s flagship institution. Most UND students come from rural North Dakota and Western Minnesota and arrive on campus with limited international travel experience. UND draws many first-generation students and is committed to its identity as a best-value institution.

Tip for New Advisers:

If you are in an office of one, form a small (3 people minimum) network of reliable and dedicated faculty who will serve as your campus talent scouts and your emotional strength to help you persevere in what can often feel like solitary work.