LisaRog

Important update: Go to: Go to http://www.facebook.com/pages/Save-Fulbright-Hays-Programs/219331454753009 We have moved to be more inclusive of all Fulbright-Hays programs.

One more thing: The total award for Fulbright-Hayes DDRA in 2007 was about 4.5 million dollars. One F35-A fighter jet in 2007 cost 75 million dollars. By 2011, that latter figure has more than doubled, to 183 million dollars. Quoted from Save the Fulbright Hays

I agree that this is crap. A few things: 1) "There doesn't seem to be a single news story on this that I can find. That needs to change if anything is to be done about this." (Quoted from the Save DDRA Facebook page) --> This is a really important important! Please, everyone, we have to work together to get this story into the media. If you know of any journalists, or have any prior background in new media or old media, please please please work your contacts!! 2) We need to find out who in the Department of Ed. made this decision, and we should really try to organize a letter-writing campaign. I know everyone (myself included) is angry, disheartened, saddened, and shocked by this unprecedented decision. But, if possible, we should try to channel that anger into saving the fulbright-hays. Again, please join the facebook page in support of saving the fulbright-hays: Save Fulbright Hays DDRA

depressed.

if it makes you feel any better, two of my friends had just started their research in Egypt when the revolution began, and because they were on a fulbright iie/boren fellowships the state department made them evacuate and hasn't let them go back since... yay for revolutions, but boo for research being thrown into upheaval. anyway, i'ma fellow MENA person, so we'll see what they do with us this year...

i know how you feel... on the plus side, though, this board (and all of y'all) have really been like group therapy for me. i think i'd be going crazy about now otherwise!

Not to get anyones hopes up or anything, but there is a lot of conflictual information out there. The comments form on the UCSD Funding Blog, for instance, seem to imply that this years budget for FB-Hays will not be effected by the budget cut. (check out: http://ucsdgraduatefunding.wordpress.com/2010/10/14/fulbright-hays-internal-deadline-reminder-and-human-subjects-narrative-tips/#comment-183) Here's the exact quote from the comments: also this quote: so, which knows what this means....

okay i'll be the optimistic one: i put $100 down that we'll here this Fri. (13 May 2011).

@igotmeanewname; apologies - i don't remember how long it's been, maybe a month, perhaps two (i've been taking exams, so the past few months have just soared by super quick and i've lost all sense of time). but when i called the helpdesk because i was being paranoid, they told me that they have been migrating everything over to the g5.gov website for a while, so it's possible some of us were migrated over to the new website earlier than others. basically, this seems to be all about the switch to the new website and nothing else. i think its just that, in the absence of other news, its easy to get obsessed with these superfluous details:-)

ok thanks, that's what i thought (figured I was just being paranoid, but had to check). looking into it further, it appears that the reason the usernames no longer work is because the website has now migrated to g5.gov ... so I guess if we're reapplying next year (g-d forbid!) we'll have to create new usernames and such. thanks for the help :-)

I'm sorry to be so crazy, but I have to ask the forum a paranoid question: are you able to log onto the e-grants website anymore? Up until 2 or 3 weeks ago, I was able to log in whenever I wanted and it would let me look at and even re-download a pdf copy of the application I had submitted for the DDRA online. However, as of a few days ago, I am no longer able to log into e-grants with my old username and password. I tried to reset the password, but no matter what I do it won't let me log back in. I'm trying not to read anything into this... but, since I'm a paranoid graduate student, I just wanted to know if anyone else has had trouble accessing their e-grant profile? thanks in advance

any updates?

Yes! Great idea, please do post on facebook, and ask your friends to repost. Also, please consider emailing your dept listhost or university listhost to share this info with as many people as possible... strength in numbers!

If for any reason you prefer to snail mail your letter, here is the suggested text from the National Humanities Alliance:

IMPORTANT UPDATE: The National Humanities Alliance is organizing a letter-writing campaign to try and save the Fulbright-Hays from the drastic cuts proposed in the recently passed budget. To make it easier for all of us, they have created a simple online system for writing to our congressional reps about this important issue: http://www.congressweb.com/cweb2/index.cfm/siteid/NHA/action/TakeAction.Contact/lettergroupid/12 Please forward this information to your respective dept. administrators, student listhosts, etc. The more letters we can submit, the better it will be for all of us!

I agree. I will also write... thanks for sharing the information

unfortunately no: the budget being voted on TOMORROW proposes to cut $50million dollars from Title VI, of which the Fulbright-Hays is part of. In this case, the program would lose almost 40% of its funding. There's not a lot of time, so please write to your reps today.

I urge you to write to your senators and representatives. Here is a draft of my letter: Feel free to copy/paste/amend as you see fit. Please help get the word out!

Cause for concern? The budget deal includes proposed cuts of nearly $50 million from Title VI... "Overlooked in this report is the hatchet taken to International Education and Foreign Language programs, which lost $50 million, cutting funding by 40%. This will gut a host of Title VI and Fulbright-Hayes programs, including the National Research Centers and FLAS fellowships (complete list below). Programs Authorized Under Title VI of the Higher Education Act * American Overseas Research Centers * Business and International Education * Centers for International Business Education * Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowships * Institute for International Public Policy * International Research and Studies * Language Resource Centers * National Resource Centers * Technological Innovation and Cooperation for Foreign Information Access * Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Language Program Programs Authorized Under the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act (Fulbright-Hays Act) * Fulbright-Hays Training Grants--Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad * Fulbright-Hays Training Grants--Faculty Research Abroad * Fulbright-Hays Training Grants--Group Projects Abroad * Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad--Bilateral Projects"

no, last year we heard on 4/28/2010... so end of April (and that was without a big federal budget crisis looming on the horizon) anyway, we'll see soon enough when they notify this year. Regarding notification timetable: everyone finds out at the same time of their status -- finalist, alternate, or rejected -- at the same time, regardless of regions. hope this helps

I just had a terrible thought: could our fulbright-hays DDRA applications be endangered by the current federal budget crisis?? Here's the only information I could find so far: This makes it seem as though the entire budget supporting the fulbright-hays program could be in limbo starting on 4 March 2011 -- e.g. in two days. If this happens, or if there's a government shutdown, how will this impact our applications? Is there a possibility of the program being eliminated or funding cut down? Wow, I really can't imagine anything more awful... someone please help me sort through this! Thanks!

I think its time we can stop calling it a "correlation." I've looked over similar forums dating from the last three years, and I've yet to find one concrete instance that was not based on heresy in which someone who never got a transcript request ended up being selected for the grant. It seems a shame to get people's hopes up, especially when all the evidence available to us indicates that a transcript requests will be issued to those who have made it to the second run (and vice-versa, a request will not be issued if you're no longer under consideration).

I don't know abt getting one's hopes up... based on a fairly large sample (+25 peers who I personally knew applied last year, from a range of disciplines and institutions), it seems pretty clear to me that there is a strong (if not absolute) correlation between being asked for transcripts and being selected from the second round. I'd love to be proven wrong, but for the time being I will just assume I've been rejected.

if anyone here does hear back from ssrc next week or week after, please post update. tnx.

apps are in... countdown begins!