University ranks as one of top Fulbright fellowship producers
For the third year in a row, the University continues to remain a prominent figure when it comes to producing Fulbright fellows.
With 14 recipients last year, the University is tied with Princeton, the University of Pennsylvania, Brown and Cornell, according to a Fulbright publication in the Chronicle of Higher Education.
“Last year, Fulbright had 86 people apply, and 13 from my group received Fulbright grants. This year we had 93 applicants and on both sides [graduate and undergraduate applicants],” said Arthur Casciato, University director of Distinguished Fellowships.
Casciato, who started at the University five years ago after working at the University of Pennsylvania, said the increase started after he made modifications to the program in his second year.
“The first year I was here, eight people applied,” he said. “During my second year, I changed things up and 32 people applied, the year after 36 people. More people are coming in and applying.”
Casciato said the increase was due to two reasons — more people are applying and the University now offers trained faculty Fulbright advisers.
“I began to reach out to faculty to become Fulbright advisers,” he said. “There are two advisees per one adviser. You need support to be competitive and working with two people you get direct support.”
Diana Won, a Fulbright grantee in Colombia, said via email correspondence that the University has done well in receiving Fulbright grants o Colombia over the past few years.
“There are two Scarlet Knights here now, and there have been grantees in the past two years as well,” she said. “I think more than anything it brings more national recognition to Rutgers, something that we deserve and should be proud of since there are so many incredibly bright students here.”
Won said she thinks the number of Fulbright grantees has increased because of Casciato’s student outreach.
“We have always had good students at Rutgers, but it was a matter of having them apply for Fulbright, which was not as frequent before we had this Office of Distinguished Fellowships,” she said.
Matriculating undergraduate seniors, graduate school students or those who graduated from the University have the opportunity to apply to the grant, Casciato said.
There are two types of grants available — an English Teaching Assistant grant or an independent research grant, he said.
“Teaching assistant, you end up assisting a teacher or teaching in some cases for about 20 hours a week, but it’s also a way to get to know the community,” said Giuseppe Cespedes, University alumni and Fulbright grantee in Brazil. “The other [program] you propose a research project. Everything that their project entails is calculated into their budget.”
The ETA program does not demand too high of a grade point average, Casciato said.
“Fulbright tells us not to chase away your 3.00 [GPA]. It’s not solely driven on GPA. You’re there to be a global ambassador,” he said. “You’re there to represent your country, that means being able to be a resource on a daily basis.”
In the ETA program, grantees help in the classroom as a native speaking English and have the opportunity to do an independent project, Casciato said.
“Out of the 93 applicant this year, 81 applied for ETA program,” he said. “While 16 out of the 17 graduate students applied for independent research, one applied for the Education Teaching Assistance program.”
Casciato said the ETA program is not confined to just English or Education majors.
“People who teach [first-year interest group] seminars, English tutor to a student, a teacher’s assistant, a residence hall assistant, a coach, a Sunday school teacher — all are good applicants,” he said. “What it is, is your ability to articulate.”
During the past five years the fellowship department has also received an increase in growth, Casciato said.
“The total numbers of fellows has grown equally as fast,” he said. “There are 176 fellowships awarded each year which reflects the growth, but the most growth has occurred in Fulbright fellowships.”
