The ELI Welcomes Fulbright Scholars from Argentina
- September 24th, 2021
- in English Language Institute
Paola Sanabria Penuela was on one of the last planes out of Colombia before the borders closed due to the pandemic in March 2020.
Paola, originally from Venezuela, spent the summer in Huntsville with her mother and stepfather before starting ELI classes in August.
Ten months later, Paola completed the entire ELI program with good grades and earned an ELI Certificate of Proficiency, which can replace the standardized English test score required for international admission to The University of Alabama.
Paola will begin her undergraduate degree at UA this fall and hopes to become a physiotherapist. For her, “UA is a great place to study because people are friendly, and the campus is amazing!”
Like Paola, every year a number of ELI students successfully complete their Intensive English studies and are accepted into UA.
On July 6, 2021, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published their official withdrawal of the proposed rule to change F and J duration of status periods.
Below is a history of the now withdrawn proposal, and for more detailed information and resources, please see the NAFSA Page on this topic.
HISTORY OF PROPOSAL
On September 25, 2020 the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a proposed rule to change the admission period of F and J nonimmigrants from the current “duration of status” (D/S) period (which is linked to the expiration date on your I-20 or DS-2019) to a date-certain I-94 Form (which provides an entry date and authorized period of stay). The proposed rule was highly technical, and received a lot of feedback. The following is a brief summary of how the withdrawn proposal would have impacted international students’ and scholars’ periods of admission.
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The University of Alabama’s Model UN team moved up 10 spots in the 2020-2021 North American College Model U.N. World Division rankings.
UA ascended to No. 15 after earning the Outstanding Large Delegation at the HallMUN virtual Model UN conference in November and other awards throughout the year.
“In a year when virtual global communication was more important than ever, the Model UN team quickly adapted to the challenges before them,” said Megan Wagner, assistant director of international partnerships and scholarships with UA’s Capstone International Center. “The team leadership was able to expand the team by 11 more students than last year, giving more UA students than ever the ability to learn, practice and compete at the highest level.”
Given the increase in team members and virtual format of conferences due to the COVID-19 pandemic, UA’s Model UN team was able to compete in more conferences and earned the most raw points and awards in the team’s recent history, and its first delegation award at a ranked conference.
Best Delegate awards recognize both individual students and college teams as a whole for their accomplishments in leadership, research, public speaking, resolution-building, negotiation and diplomacy.
In addition to the team awards, members Chris McCarthy, of Brewster, New York, and Sarah Conrad, of West Chester, Pennsylvania, were named to the 2020-2021 North American Collegiate Model U.N. All-Star Team. The all-star team recognizes exemplary individuals in the college MUN community who have made a difference inside and outside of committee.
UA’s Model UN team is part of the Capstone International Center’s Alabama International Relations Club. The Model UN is the cornerstone of the AIRC, the premier student-led global affairs organization at UA that continuously provides opportunities for its members to learn, develop, find community and make an impact at the Capstone and the world beyond. The AIRC is open to all UA students regardless of college or major.
Source: Megan Wagner, megan.wagner@ua.edu
Contact: Bryant Welbourne, UA Strategic Communications, bryant.welbourne@ua.edu
Four University of Alabama students have received the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship to participate in study abroad programs during the 2021-2022 academic year.
“We are so proud of Alana, Brook, Daniel, and Sophia for winning the Gilman Scholarship! They all were very committed to creating competitive essays and spent a lot of time working with our advisors crafting their applications,” said Dr. Carolina Robinson, director of Education Abroad with UA’s Capstone International Center.
“Each of these students is planning to spend an extended period of time in-country, from a semester to full academic year abroad. Their dedication to learning and cultural immersion, even during a global pandemic, is awe-inspiring.”
Gilman recipients are selected by the Institute of International Education through the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs in the U.S. Department of State. The 2021-2022 awardees are:
Sophia Grillo, a general business major from San Gabriel, California, was selected to study in South Korea.
Alana Thompson, an apparel and textiles major from Florence, will take part in Semester at Sea.
Brooke Wolfe, a kinesiology major from Dallas, Texas, will take part in Semester at Sea.
Daniel Flores Zelaya, a finance major from Rockaway, New Jersey, was selected to study in Ireland.
Gilman awardees receive up to $5,000 to apply toward their study abroad program costs, giving them the opportunity to gain a better understanding of other cultures, countries, languages and economies.
Students interested in educational opportunities around the globe can visit international.ua.edu.
Contact: Bryant Welbourne, UA Strategic Communications, bryant.welbourne@ua.edu
(April 2021) This year marked the inaugural collegiate level Model United Nations Conference hosted by The University of Alabama’s International Relations Cub (AIRC). After two years of planning, the conference, called AIRMUNC, was held April 16-18, 2021. It was organized by a team of 33 UA students led by Secretary General Katie Nuñez, Director General Lucy Philips, and Under-Secretary General Griffin Specker.
Due to the ongoing covid-19 pandemic, the conference was held virtually utilizing Zoom and Slack. Regardless of the unusual logistics, the conference was a success, with five schools across the Southeast in attendance: Florida State University, Elon University, University of Georgia, William & Mary, and the University of Texas.
Five committees were created to assess the delegates ability in parliamentary procedure, rhetoric/debate, and collaboration. The committees planned for AIRMUNC were PTA Moms of Tempe, Arizona, Fusiles y Frijoles: The Reign of Rios Montt, Jedi Council: Star Wars the Clone Wars, Valhalla Can Wait: The Chiefdom of Jarl Bjorn Ironside, and International Monetary Fund.
The delegates and staffers had an excellent experience interacting with each other to create policy and outcomes in each committee, learning parli pro, and getting engulfed into the scenarios they created.
The Model UN circuit of conferences is competitive and cut-throat. AIRMUNC was designed to be more laid back, warm, and friendly with dedicated and passionate staffers. The success of this first conference has garnered interest into what the AIRC has planned for the future.
The AIRC is part of the Capstone International Center. The Model UN traveling team, the high school conference (ALMUN) and the collegiate conference (AIRMUN) are the cornerstones of the AIRC, the premier student-led global affairs organization at UA that continuously provides opportunities for its members to learn, develop, find community and make an impact at the Capstone and the world beyond.
UA’s Model UN team ranked in the top 25 in the world for 2020. If you want to be a member of the AIRC, a club that welcomes undergraduate students from every major, you can reach the president at president.airc@gmail.com, or visit https://international.ua.edu/airc/.
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – A University of Alabama student has received a Fulbright Student Research Award and three students have won Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship Awards for the 2021–2022 academic year.
Fulbright is the most prestigious U.S. international exchange program, offering opportunities for students, scholars and professionals. The Fulbright Award of the U.S. Department of State offers one-year grants for independent study and research and for English teaching assistantships overseas.
The highly competitive program selects approximately 1,500 award recipients from more than 11,000 applicants each year. UA has received national recognition as a Top Producing Institution for Fulbright U.S. Students for five of the last six years.
In addition to this year’s winners, five UA Fulbright Student Award recipients from last year who had their awards delayed as a result of COVID-19 conditions in their host countries are expected to have an opportunity to serve in 2021–2022 as health conditions improve and travel restrictions ease.
“During a year of extraordinary challenges, every Fulbright student applicant and their faculty and staff advisors rose to those challenges by demonstrating a commitment to the vital work of advancing intercultural understanding throughout the world,” said Dr. Teresa Wise, associate provost of international education and global outreach. “No matter the circumstances, UA remains steadfast in providing such global learning opportunities to all of our students. We congratulate our 2021–2022 awardees and alternates, as well as those from last year who will now begin their Fulbright experience after a delay due to the ongoing pandemic.”
2021-2022 Fulbright Student Research Award recipient:
Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship Awards offer U.S. students the opportunity to serve in an English classroom overseas assisting the teacher and exchanging culture with the people of the host country. The 2021–2022 recipients are:
In addition, four UA students were awarded alternate status for 2021-2022. They will be invited to serve should more openings become available.
UA alternates include Michael Fisher (Germany), Matthew Southern (Spain), Chynna Swann (Thailand) and Katie Tindol (Malaysia).
The 2020-2021 Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship Award recipients who are expected to travel along with this year’s cohort include Camille Constance Nealey Carr (Colombia), Isabella Rose DeSheplo (Bulgaria), Robert “Chad” Hankins (Germany), Katherine Lightfoot (Germany) and Ian Samlowski (Germany).
“Our campus is proud of these exceptional student leaders in international engagement,” said Dr. Beverly Hawk, director of global and community engagement at the Center for Community-Based Partnerships. “We appreciate the dedicated faculty, staff and administrators who worked with our students on applications for these awards.”
UA Fulbright advisers Megan Wagner, Dr. Matthew Feminella and Dr. Beverly Hawk help students polish applications for success in the national Fulbright competition each year. Students with an interest in applying for next year’s Fulbright program can learn more at https://international.ua.edu and https://us.fulbrightonline.org, or email fulbright@ua.edu.
Contact: Bryant Welbourne, UA Strategic Communications, bryant.welbourne@ua.edu
In celebration of Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month and Asian Pacific Islander Desi American Heritage Month, The University of Alabama’s Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is hosting a cooking demonstration that discusses the history, cultural and familial connection of food to the Bangladeshi people.
Khadiza Tul Jannat, a native of Bangladesh who attends the University as a doctoral student and a graduate research and teaching assistant in the College of Communication and Information Sciences, will cook one of her favorite Bengali dishes on May 17 at 6 p.m.
To receive a link to the free cooking demonstration, registration is required.
This is Jannat’s first time celebrating Asian Pacific Islander Desi American Heritage Month. She came to the U.S. in 2016 to continue her education and hadn’t heard of the heritage month, but she said she’s excited to celebrate it so she can share her culture with others through food and her passion, dance.
“I definitely want to represent my culture and help us to learn more about each other,” she said. “I think that’s how we become comfortable with each other by celebrating each other’s culture.
“Where I’m from, we all cook. We don’t eat frozen food. My mom cooked and I observed her. I like cooking for sure, but I do other stuff. I love dancing, that’s the main thing. When I dance, I feel like a bird. But cooking is a part of my life.”
Jannat said Bangladesh is known as the land of rivers, and people eat a lot of fresh fish and rice. So, she’s going to make one of the most popular dishes in her country, fish curry.
“It’s hard to find the same fish types here that are in my country, but I’ll be using one of the most popular fish I can find here, which is tilapia. I’ll be using my own recipe cooked in my traditional way. It’s going to be extra spicy, but I’ll be showing everyone how to make it with less or more chilis based on their tolerance for spice.
“When your tummy is happy, everything is happy. So sharing food means sharing happiness. In Asian cultures, we are very much hospitable, and food is one of the best ways to show care. When we care, we show it by doing things more than telling.”
Contact: Jamon Smith, strategic communications, jamon.smith@ua.edu
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – University of Alabama student Ann Williams has received a Boren Scholarship for the study of languages in world regions critical to U.S. interests and underrepresented in study abroad.
Williams, of Montgomery, will study Mandarin in Taiwan.
In addition, Blake Moreland, of Cumming, Georgia, was selected as an alternate to study Arabic in Jordan.
Williams is a junior majoring in international studies with minors in Chinese and women’s studies, and is part of the Blount Scholars Program. She is simultaneously pursuing a master’s degree in public administration through UA’s Accelerated Master’s Program.
Williams’ immediate career goal is to be a public diplomacy officer in the foreign service. In the future, she has loftier goals of working in the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, and eventually a policy director for UN Women.
Boren Scholarships, an initiative of the National Security Education Program, provide funding opportunities for U.S. undergraduate students to study less commonly taught language in such regions as Africa, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Middle East.
Boren Scholarship recipients represent a vital pool of highly motivated individuals who wish to work in the federal national security arena. In exchange for funding, Boren Scholarship recipients commit to working in the federal government for at least one year after graduation. Amounts range from $8,000 for a summer program to $20,000 for six-to-12 months of study.
In addition to the Boren Scholarship, Williams was recently awarded a Critical Language Scholarship. Part of the U.S. State Department, the CLS program works to expand the number of Americans studying and mastering critical foreign languages. CLS scholars gain critical language and cultural skills that enable them to contribute to U.S. economic competitiveness and national security.
On Tuesday, April 13, University of Alabama students presented posters highlighting their experiences from the CIP 202 course, Introduction to Global and Cultural Perspectives. This is an intercultural experience course that offers UA students the chance to meet with international students from all over the world. The UA students join English Language Institute (ELI) students to discuss cultural and current topics. The course provides the opportunity for the students to develop their intercultural competence, the ability to communicate effectively and appropriately with people of other cultures.
Many of the students expressed that their biggest fear before joining the course was that they would say something inappropriate. However, once the course began, students quickly overcame this fear and began to form connections with the international students. UA students expressed surprise by how easily they could communicate with students from other countries and the many similarities they shared. Several UA students commented that this was their favorite class of the semester. As one student put it, it is a “life experience” class, not just a class focusing on a textbook. UA students felt that this class gave them confidence to communicate effectively with a wide variety of people in the future. For some students, the course led to an interest in studying abroad.
The ELI students benefit from the course as well. They have the opportunity to share their culture while learning more about U.S. culture and campus life.
Kelly McPherson, the course instructor, said, “It is really exciting to see the relationships between the American and international students grow over the course of the semester. You can see change on both sides as they truly get to know each other.”
The CIP 202 course is an introductory course for UA’s Global and Cultural Perspectives Minor.
