Jahresbericht 2010 / 2011 - Fulbright-Kommission
Jahresbericht 2010 / 2011 - Fulbright-Kommission
Jahresbericht 2010 / 2011 - Fulbright-Kommission
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4<br />
Mission Statement<br />
by the Executive Director<br />
Dr. Rolf Hoffmann<br />
Executive Director of the<br />
German-American <strong>Fulbright</strong> Commission<br />
Dear Friends of the <strong>Fulbright</strong> Program,<br />
The German-American <strong>Fulbright</strong> Program will celebrate its<br />
60th anniversary in 2012.<br />
Over the years, it has been one of the most successful drivers<br />
of transatlantic exchange and dialogue, with 42.000 grantees to<br />
date supported in more than 35 different programs. The Commission<br />
has experienced both success and challenges in changing<br />
times – the fall of the Berlin Wall among them, a growing<br />
Europe and the changing role of bilateral relations, the Bologna<br />
reforms and their impacts on student mobility, and last – but not<br />
least – financial markets in turmoil, with its implications for government-funded<br />
programs like <strong>Fulbright</strong>. The Commission has,<br />
with the support of its Board and both governments, been able<br />
to navigate these sometimes treacherous waters safe and sound<br />
over many decades, and to continue to even grow over the years.<br />
Nevertheless, several more recent developments may leave a more<br />
lasting mark on the program: the ever growing commercialization<br />
and rising costs of higher education in a global setting, the<br />
changing role and importance of education and study-abroad for<br />
life strategies and careers outside academe for German students<br />
and a shifting focus of some U.S. public and political groups<br />
towards non-European regions away from countries like Germany<br />
that for many decades enjoyed the strongest ties with the U.S.<br />
While the <strong>Fulbright</strong> Program still is the flagship program of<br />
U.S. public diplomacy, its impact and volume of support is<br />
under constant observation on the hill, particularly in times of<br />
substantial budget constraints. Support is urgently needed, and<br />
<strong>Fulbright</strong> alumni in the U.S., assisted by current grantees in<br />
Europe, render this help by rallying their congressmen and giving<br />
testimony to how important transatlantic dialogue is and how<br />
exchange shapes young leaders on both sides of the Atlantic.<br />
U.S. universities – private as well as public institutions –<br />
suffer dramatically from current cuts and increasingly depend<br />
on full-paying students from abroad to cover part of their<br />
budgets. Hence international <strong>Fulbright</strong> students are welcome,<br />
but some face increasing challenges when they want to enroll as<br />
non-degree students for nine months of study only. Changing<br />
policies and funding patterns have been high on the agenda of<br />
the Commission to better serve the needs both of students and<br />
their host institutions in the U.S., and I am happy to say that we<br />
have been successful in adding new flexibility to the <strong>Fulbright</strong><br />
program as of next year: applications for study grants for a study<br />
period of six to nine months will be accepted, young researchers<br />
will continue to be able to apply for a research project as part<br />
of their Ph.D. thesis for six to nine months, and entire master<br />
programs of up to two years in non-professional fields will be<br />
supported too.<br />
These changes provide new opportunities for German students;<br />
they complement the existing programs and all those initiatives<br />
that would not be possible at all without the support of both<br />
governments, our sponsors and our very active alumni.<br />
I am confident that this “<strong>Fulbright</strong> family” will continue to<br />
provide the groundwork for several more decades of successful<br />
<strong>Fulbright</strong> exchanges.<br />
Dr. Rolf Hoffmann