Focus on Faculty
Claudine SchWeber Named to Fulbright Senior Specialists Roster

Claudine SchWeber

By Chip Cassano

In November 2001, Claudine SchWeber, UMUC associate provost, Distance Education and Lifelong Learning, was approved for candidacy on the Fulbright Senior Specialists Roster, a new component of the U.S. Department of State's prestigious Fulbright Program. As a candidate on the roster, SchWeber—an expert in distance education—will be matched with corresponding requests submitted to a Fulbright commission or U.S. diplomatic post abroad. A Fulbright grant will cover travel expenses and provide a modest per diem and honorarium. Lodging and in-country travel will be provided by the host country or institution.

The new Senior Specialist Program is tailored to the demands placed on U.S. faculty and professionals; although SchWeber will still have to arrange to be absent from her post at UMUC, grants are awarded for shorter periods, ranging from two to six weeks, to better accommodate busy personal and professional schedules. The grants also allow for specialists to assist in broader capacities, including curriculum and faculty development, institutional planning, seminar and workshop leadership, consulting, and more.

"The Fulbright program has a long history of supporting the international exchange of ideas," SchWeber said, "and this is an opportunity to highlight UMUC's role as a global leader in distance education. The fact is, higher education is being transformed in the 21st century, and even if you don't offer an entire set of programs like UMUC, you have to know that you are also going to be asked to provide a variety of related services—online registration, library resources, and so on. We have a lot of experience and we know what it means, and what it costs, to provide those services."

SchWeber is no stranger to the role of visiting scholar. In 2000, the U.S. State Department sent her to Australia for two weeks to talk about distance education as part of a program similar to the new Fulbright program.

The Fulbright program, named for Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, was established in 1946. It is recognized as the U.S. government's flagship program in international educational exchange. Since its inception, the program has sent abroad more than 85,000 U.S. award recipients to lecture or conduct research in a wide variety of academic and professional fields; during the same period, more than 144,000 foreign citizens have come to the United States under Fulbright auspices.

For more information about the new Fulbright Senior Specialist Program, visit www.iie.org/cies and click on "Senior Specialist Program."