IN THE NEWS

Rutgers Engages in Ghana and Nigeria

Thursday, February 29th
Rutgers University–Camden Chancellor Antonio D. Tillis traveled to Ghana and Nigeria in January to explore ways for the university to engage more deeply in the region through student and faculty exchanges and collaborative partnerships. He was accompanied by Senior Vice Chancellor Jimmy Jung on the visit and, in Nigeria, joined by Rutgers Global Associate Director Shakirat Bola Ibraheem. In Ghana, Tillis and Jung met with the University of Ghana, the Ambassador at the US Embassy in Ghana, the EducationUSA team, and the American Chamber of Commerce. They also had meetings with Chancellor Mary Chinery-Heese of the University of Ghana, and the Minister of Education in Ghana. The delegation visited area high schools to share about the opportunities available at Rutgers University.  In Nigeria, the delegation met with the US Consulate in Lagos, the team at EducationUSA, and the Director of Public Affairs. In addition, they had meetings with a group at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), including Vice Chancellor Professor Folasade T. Ogunsola, as well as Deputy Vice Chancellors in the areas of development services, management services, and academics and research. Chancellor Tillis was especially interested in pursuing collaboration and exchange in languages study at UNILAG, which hosts a large number of international students.  The team from Rutgers also met with the Minister of Education Dr. Yusuf Sununu and the Director of University Education Rakiya Gambo Ilyasu in Abuja. They then visited the University of Ibadan (UI) and met with Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academics Aderonke Baiyeroju and Deputy Vice President for Administrative Services Professor Peter Olapegba, as well as with the Director of Research Management.  Chancellor Tillis expressed his interest in collaborating with UI on both student and faculty exchanges and plans to make use of the university-wide Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that Rutgers and UI are in the process of renewing.  Finally, the Rutgers team reconnected with His Royal Majesty Saka Adelola Matemilola, king of the Owu Kingdom, with whom they met last May when he visited Rutgers University with former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and a delegation of education leaders from Nigeria. Read about this visit to Rutgers in this article.  As a result of the meetings, there are new opportunities for study abroad programs in the region, and Executive Director of Study Abroad Dan Waite is looking forward to setting up new programs at the University of Ghana. In the next few weeks, Rutgers University–Camden professor Keith Green will be taking a group of students to University of Ghana. “We were so glad to have the opportunity to deepen our relationships with our colleagues and peers in Ghana and Nigeria, particularly our partners at the University of Ghana and University of Ibadan,” said Eric Garfunkel, Vice President for Global Affairs. “There are so many ways we look forward to further engaging in this region.” Remarking on the trip, Chancellor Tillis noted, “The Rutgers–Camden campus hosts numerous global partnerships and a thriving population of diverse international students. It was a privilege to meet with educational leaders in Ghana and Nigeria in order to better serve students from these countries—a population that will grow in the years ahead as we expand partnerships abroad. The visit also presented the opportunity for further collaboration through Rutgers Global. We are honored to join Rutgers Global in collaboration with a few of the finest educational institutions in Ghana and Nigeria to provide students from these two countries a world-class education, and to foster international opportunities for faculty.” For more photos from the trip taken by the team at UI, visit this page.

Rutgers-New Brunswick Is a Top Producer of Fulbright Recipients Again

Wednesday, February 14th
A total of 12 from Rutgers were offered awards from the U.S. international educational exchange program  Rutgers University–New Brunswick again has been named a top producer of the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, a distinction announced by the United States Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and recognized in the Chronicle of Higher Education.  The university produced 12 Fulbright students this year, including recent college graduates and students attending the School of Graduate Studies and Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. The recognition is shared by some of the nation’s most elite institutions, including Princeton University and Harvard University.  “Once again, Rutgers is pleased to be among our renowned peers as a prolific champion of Fulbright students, and I am excited to see what our latest outstanding recipients pursue through their international grants,” said Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway.  Under this year’s awards, students conduct research, teach English and advance their education at host institutions in Brazil, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Mexico, Peru, the Slovak Republic and Taiwan.   The Fulbright program is the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program. Top producer status is given to colleges and universities in the U.S. that received the highest number of applicants selected for the Fulbright U.S. Student Program and requires schools to have at least 10 students who have been offered Fulbright grants.  The university’s latest round of Fulbright recipients includes Leonardo Calzada, a doctoral student studying geography at Rutgers. He is researching the historical and current forest transition in southern Mexico affected by government policies, land management, asymmetric power relations, biophysical aspects and socioeconomic models.  “It's a huge honor, a very competitive fellowship and award,” said Calzada, who was born in Texas but grew up in Mexico. “When you start making connections and producing a new network with people outside of your discipline, suddenly that is when you get the real perspective about how important the Fulbright is.”  Calzada, who earned his bachelor's degree in biology and master's degree in biological sciences at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, worked for the Mexican government as a deputy director of communication and dissemination of biotechnology and biosafety for the National Council of Science and Technology. He saw an “academic pathway” at Rutgers–New Brunswick and applied to the university.  “For me it was just trying to understand how public policies are made and kind of disputed inside and outside of the government,” said the 31-year-old, adding that “the geography department at Rutgers is pretty focused on human and critical perspectives.”  Administered by the Institute of International Education, each of the roughly 2,000 Fulbright grants issued annually cover the cost of a student’s travel, housing and living expenses for a year in the nation where they will be teaching or studying.  “Rutgers-New Brunswick has enjoyed Fulbright top producer status for the better part of two decades,” said Rutgers-New Brunswick Chancellor Francine Conway. “This reflects the brilliance of our students, the quality of our world-class academics and the support systems that help students reach their full potential.”  The university has been a top-producing Fulbright school 14 times in the past two decades, with more than 300 Rutgers–New Brunswick students honored since the scholarship began more than 75 years ago. Of 12 awards offered to Rutgers students this year, nine were accepted.  One Fulbright recipient, Julianna Johnson, is in Chiayi City, Taiwan. The 22-year-old, who graduated in 2023 from the Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences Honors Program with a major in Chinese and a minor in mathematics and business administration, is working as an English teaching assistant at two under-resourced middle schools in Taiwan.  “It was a huge honor to receive the scholarship and I am grateful to the U.S. State Department and Taiwan Fulbright to have the chance to live and work in Taiwan,” said the Cherry Hill, N.J., resident. “I understand that this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I appreciate all the support I received from my professors and deans at Rutgers who helped me achieve my goals.”  Johnson, who attended National Cheng Kung University in the Taiwanese city of Tainan as recipient of the Boren Scholarship and the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship in the summer leading into her senior year, called studying abroad an “amazing growth opportunity.”   “Other than learning the language, there is also unexpected personal growth and development that happens when you are living fully immersed in another culture – from navigating daily activities to learning to be independent and building relationships within the community,” Johnson said. “It gives us a new appreciation for our own culture and the chance to develop new skills.”  After completing her Fulbright assignment, Johnson said she will seek a position with the U.S. Department of State “in a business or academic setting where I can utilize my language skills to be a bridge between the U.S. and Mandarin-speaking countries.”   Alice Militaru – a Fulbright recipient who works with high school students as an English teaching assistant in Aulnay-sous-Bois, a town in the northeastern suburbs of Paris – said she wanted to study abroad in France for years but had to put her plans on hold because of the COVID-19 pandemic.   “Studying abroad exposes you, not only to a new culture, but to new opportunities,” said Militaru, a Closter, N.J., resident who graduated from Rutgers–New Brunswick in 2023 with a major in marketing and French and a minor in political science. “I spent years studying French, but it wasn't until working in France that I was truly able to use the language.”   The 22-year-old added that her year abroad has opened the possibility of working in France or elsewhere in Europe in the future.  Militaru, who hopes to attend law school, added: “I'm very grateful to the Franco-American Fulbright Commission and proud to be one of the English teaching assistants in France this year.” Photo: Alice Militaru (left), Julianna Johnson and Leonardo Calzada are among Rutgers–New Brunswick's latest Fulbright recipients. This article originally appeared in Rutgers Today. 

UPCOMING EVENTS

Global Spring Festival

Tuesday, March 19th
7:00 pm
  Come experience how the world celebrates Spring! Participate in activities, design Spring-themed crafts from around the world, watch cultural performances and sample global foods!  There will be a henna artist and a photobooth, and we will be raffling off $50 VISA gift cards.  Be sure to register on getINVOLVED here!

Supporting the Writing of International Graduate Students Workshop

Wednesday, March 20th
1:00 pm
  REGISTER HERE Join us for a virtual workshop on "Supporting the Writing of International Graduate Students". This workshop is part of the classroom inclusivity series in collaboration between the Office of Teaching Evaluation and Assessment Research (OTEAR), Rutgers Writing Program, and Rutgers Global-International Academic Success Office. Wed, 3/20 - 1:00 - 2:30 pm EST For more info: otear.rutgers.edu/workshops/inclusivity