FLAS renewal year

[dithius_9]

Is anyone following the FLAS debacle this summer? All the Title VI centers are caught in some kind of prolonged state of limbo regarding federal funding allotments for 2010-14. For my part I've been kicking around on some kind of wait list since March for the academic year fellowship. It's been very confusing for me to figure out what has been going on in departments, to and assess my chances of getting the award at the end of the day. From talking to some colleagues at other departments and universities, as best I can piece together:

1) Some people got offers right off the bat in April, but they came with the caveat "...is contingent on final award notice by the Department of Education sometime in late June"

2) Some departments were able to offer a small number of *unconditional* awards (2-3 instead of 6-10) with the university promising to float the bill in case ED falls though.

I would like to see if anyone has heard anything recently from their departments in the last 2-3 months. I would especially like to know if anyone got a conditional award and has since gotten a followup confirmation. That would at least indicate ED is finally getting off their butts (perhaps they forget that students, such as they are, generally have to start the semester in about a month. )

[EbolaZaire]

I'm in the same boat. I will get the fellowship if my school receives the same amount of funding in years past. I haven't heard a thing, and have followed up multiple times with the FLAS coordinator. She said she hasn't heard anything from the Dept. of Education and is expecting to any day now. Sighhhhh.

[EbolaZaire]

Rumor has it that departments will receive funding info sometime next week!

[kandeya]

I'm so glad I'm not the only one who's been suffering a long wait--I was admitted back in February! It's waiting for godot, graduate school style. haha.

[Subang]

I just got confirmation on a FLAS two days ago. The school received the funding and therefore so did I. Good thing too, considering my family and I had already moved here. I wasn't too worried though as the school wasn't in much danger of losing the funding. Their program is pretty well established. My husband did ask what I would have done if they had said there was no money this year...I said I guess laugh. Not much else to do at this point if it didn't come through! Good luck to everyone else that is waiting.

[EbolaZaire]

I just got confirmation on a FLAS two days ago. The school received the funding and therefore so did I. Good thing too, considering my family and I had already moved here. I wasn't too worried though as the school wasn't in much danger of losing the funding. Their program is pretty well established. My husband did ask what I would have done if they had said there was no money this year...I said I guess laugh. Not much else to do at this point if it didn't come through! Good luck to everyone else that is waiting.

Congrats!

Did anyone else not hear anything yet? I'm guessing they'd tell me if I didn't get it, but maybe not:/

Edited August 5, 2010 by EbolaZaire

[kandeya]

I didn't hear anything yet--my departmental secretary told me two days ago they received word on how many fellowships in total they could deliver, and now they have to do some number-crunching to figure out who would get how much funding, so it would take a few days. Maybe today or tomorrow?

[EbolaZaire]

I didn't hear anything yet--my departmental secretary told me two days ago they received word on how many fellowships in total they could deliver, and now they have to do some number-crunching to figure out who would get how much funding, so it would take a few days. Maybe today or tomorrow?

Kandeya--I called Gina today and she was able to tell me the news (unfortunately for me they didn't get any $$ for French). Soooo I'm in Berkeley, signed a lease, and...will either be selling my eggs (jk...I think) or breaking my lease and going home. I hope you get funding!

[kandeya]

Oh no! That's terrible. >__< I applied in a different language, so I've no idea what the funding allotment looks like, and now I'm a wee bit scared to call them--it would kinda kill me to be dumped after such a long wait. ughhh. maybe i'll just grit my teeth and wait for bad news to come to me instead..

[NYUmom]

My daughter found out this afternoon that the NYU/Columbia NRC consortium for European Studies lost their funding, so no FLAS funding for European languages. They are, and have always been, one of the premier European Studies NRC's in the country. NYU's Near Eastern Languages NRC/FLAS program and Latin American and Caribbean NRC/FLAS program did get funded. I also heard, second-hand and unconfirmed, that the European Studies programs at Indiana and Pittsburgh also lost their funding. They also had very strong programs. What is going on? Did any other European Studies programs lose their funding?

[dithius_9]

Congratulations to everyone who got final award notices. Even for those who did not receive good news in the end, it is a good feeling to finally be able to start making basic plans for the school year and get on with life.

@NYUmom: My school does not have a European center, so I haven't heard anything. Looking at the Dept. of Ed.'s FLAS site, I see that the number of Western Europe centers was 11 in 2005-2010. The two previous award cycles the number was around 7. This doesn't really say anything, but one guess is that the Western Europe roster was getting bloated and needed to be scaled back. I heard an interesting story that the Indiana University Inner Asia center is now holding some 11th hour competition for an unexpected batch of Pashto, Farsi and Dari fellowships that came through. All I can infer is that policy priorities are shifting with the new administration.