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Getting a Fellowship, From the Ford Foundation

February 18th, 2010 at 08:58am Under Education report

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

The Ford Foundation in the United States is a charitable organization that calls itself “a partner for social change.” It has a study program currently available to college graduates in twenty-two countries and territories in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

Ford fellowship recipient Caroline Kathomi returned to Kenya where she works with epilepsy patients

The Ford Foundation International Fellowships Program offers graduates a chance to continue their studies. The aim is to help them learn ways to solve problems in their own countries.

Joan Dassin is the executive director of the program.

JOAN DASSIN: “Let’s say you have an undergraduate law degree but you really want to be able to bring international human rights standards to bear on a particular conflict in your part of the world. So in that case we would send you to a program in Geneva on international human rights that would give you the international markers that you need to press cases in your particular country setting, and so on. So we work very closely with students not so much about what they want to study, but more about what problem are you trying to solve.”

About two-thirds of the fellows study in the United States, Canada or Europe. The others study in their home country or region.

The Ford Foundation started the program eight years ago with two hundred eighty million dollars. Fellows are chosen by independent local committees. They get advice about which schools and programs could help them reach their goals. The foundation says ninety-five percent are accepted into a university graduate program within one year of getting a fellowship.

Almost four thousand fellows have been chosen since the first were named in June of two thousand one. As of last December almost half had completed their fellowships.

The Ford Foundation says the goals include strengthening democratic values, reducing poverty and increasing international cooperation. Another goal is to fight “brain drain” — to make sure fellows return home to use their educations. The foundation says more than eighty percent have done that.

The program pays all costs, including support services like training in computer skills, academic writing and a foreign language. Partner organizations in the home countries stay in contact with the fellows throughout the program.

Joan Dassin says the fellowships are aimed especially at those with the fewest resources available.

JOAN DASSIN: “People from all walks of life, and particularly from rural areas or marginalized communities, can have access to higher education at the most advanced levels, and our program provides that opportunity.”

And that’s the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. You can find us at voaspecialenglish.com, or on Twitter and YouTube at VOA Learning English. I’m Steve Ember.

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College Guide Aims to Help Students Avoid a ‘Thin Education’

January 31st, 2010 at 08:35am Under Education report

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

A new college guide in the United States compares educational requirements in seven subjects. These include math, science, writing and United States history or government. The other subjects are economics, foreign language and literature.

The free online guide is from the American Council of Trustees and Alumni. The council is a nonprofit group that supports liberal arts education.

Its president, Anne Neal, says these areas of knowledge are needed to succeed in a twenty-first century society and an increasingly connected world. Yet she told VOA’s Faiza Elmasry it was surprising how many students can graduate with, in her words, a “thin education.”

Forty-two of the one hundred colleges and universities surveyed received the lowest marks. This meant they required two or fewer of the seven subjects. Five schools received a top grade for requiring six subjects. These were Brooklyn College in New York City, Texas A&M, the University of Texas-Austin, West Point and the University of Arkansas.

Robert Costrell is a professor of education reform and economics at the University of Arkansas. He says many, if not all, of the top American colleges once had a core curriculum — a set of courses required for all students.

But over the years, many have dropped these requirements. Or they have “watered them down,” Professor Costrell says, into what became known as distribution requirements. This system lets a student choose from a number of different courses to satisfy a requirement.

ROBERT COSTRELL: “And in many cases these courses went too far, I would say, towards the fluffy treatment of serious material, and students could satisfy their requirement by taking such courses.”

Professor Costrell says schools should not only re-examine what they teach. They should also measure what students have learned — for example, through some form of examinations or papers.

A new report this week from the College Board showed that college prices continue to rise. But Anne Neal from the American Council of Trustees and Alumni says higher prices do not guarantee a better general education. In fact, the group found that the higher the tuition, the more likely that students have to develop their own general education.

The college guide is on the Web at whatwilltheylearn.com. Anne Neal says her group is surveying more colleges. The hope, she says, is to discover what college graduates have really learned, and how ready they are to compete in the global marketplace.

And that’s the VOA Special English Education Report. I’m Steve Ember.

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