23. Mutual Understanding
Taken in total, exchange programs between the people of the United States and people of other countries are a powerful tool for foreign policy. Here are a couple of examples: Exchanges affect current and future leaders. Many indicators demonstrate that exceptional individuals for our exchange programs are selected. More than 23 Fulbright Program alumni are Nobel laureates, and over 35 are Pulitzer Prize winners. Over 200 current and former heads of state participated in the International Visitor (IV) Program. These distinguished IV alumni include the current prime ministers of Germany, the United Kingdom, Malaysia, New Zealand, Croatia, Senegal and India, and the current Presidents of Kenya, Uganda, Korea, Macedonia, India, Israel, Chile, and Argentina. We are currently cataloging our program alumni who are “prominent” in their respective sectors. As of September 30, 2001, we identified over 1,700 foreign and 400 U.S. distinguished former program participants. Success is also gauged through qualitative data. A few examples: Finnish Editor-in-Chief Advocates for United States. Matti Apunen, Editor-in-Chief of Aamulehti (a leading Finnish regional daily), returned home from an International Visitor program as a powerful advocate for the United States and its campaign against terrorism. In an editorial, he opined, “Finland is a neutral country, but in the search of criminals and the war on crime, Finland cannot be neutral. Remaining an outsider in the war on terrorism amounts to the wrong kind of neutrality and cowardice.” International Visitors Alumni Head Indonesia Government. The newly elected President of Indonesia, Megawati Sukarnoputri, participated in the International Visitor Program in 1988 and a Voluntary Visitor Program in 1992. The Minister of Defense was a Voluntary Visitor in 2000, and the Minister of National Education was an IV in 1991. Program Alumni Appointed to Key Positions in Bush Administration. Several alumni of the Department of State’s American Council of Young Political Leaders (ACYPL) have been appointed to key positions in the new Administration. These include Attorney General John Ashcroft, Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy Margaret La Montagne, and White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales. Each year, ACYPL conducts a series of 2-week study tours, involving up to 25 delegations of seven to nine members each, to promote ties between young Republicans and Democrats and young political leaders throughout the world. Its reciprocal programs promote democratic values in emerging democracies and strengthen ties with future leaders in established democracies. U.S. Department of State Quickly Implements New Opportunity for Americans to Study Abroad. In the fall of 2001, 140 undergraduates are studying abroad on Benjamin A. Gilman fellowships, the first Federal study abroad assistance program for U.S. undergraduates, which provides up to $5,000 for study abroad programs to students receiving federal financial aid. The competition, the first of three planned for this academic year, generated 20 applications for every available slot, with award winners representing 41 states and broad ethnic diversity. The Institute of International Education, the program partner, reports increasingly heavy use of the Gilman Web site, www.iie.org/gilman. Spanish Government Creates International Visitor Program. The Spanish Government has created a U.S.-style International Visitor program, patterned on the Department’s model. The program’s new director spent 2 weeks in the U.S. as a Voluntary Visitor in the fall of 2000 to take an in-depth look at how the IV program operates and what makes it a success. Albanian Minister of Education Endorses Project to Train 3,000 Civics Teachers. Education Minister Ethem Ruka presented a letter of support to U.S. project director Ted Kaltsounis for continued cooperation on the SEED-funded civic education project currently supported by the Department through a grant to the University of Washington. The agreement clears the way for the creation of five civic education resource centers that will train 3,000 teachers to use a new civic education curriculum in Albanian schools. State Department Pioneers Electronic Outreach in Trilateral Art Exhibit. On April 3, 2001 the U.S. Department of State, along with the governments of Mexico, and Canada, launched the first international art exhibit for the Internet entitled "Panoramas: The North American Landscape in Art." R. Susan Wood, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs affirmed, "This unique virtual exhibit exemplifies the cooperative spirit of our North American Partnership...it is a splendid example of modern technology at the service of cultural diplomacy and mutual understanding." English Language Program Link Kurds and Turks To Promote Peace. An English language institute in southeastern Turkey linked English teaching with peace education through a series of programs to help Turkey rebuild the area torn apart by 15 years of social unrest. In support of the goal for "mutual understanding," the institute brought together a cross-section of university teachers in Turkey, including ethnic Kurds, exposing them to teaching methods on conflict resolution and promoting a culture of peace. The English-Language officer based in Ankara organized the institute. Exchanges are life-changing experiences for participants. Anecdotal evidence and individual "success stories" like these are reinforced by the results of independent survey-research evaluations contracted by the Department over the past several years. We consolidated responses to 11 question areas from nine of these comprehensive program evaluations to test whether the exchange programs had an effect on participants and whether the effect was long lasting:
As with all exchanges, the theory behind these programs is that IF: People are given exposure to new ideas, concepts, values, or information, THEN: They enhance their knowledge, understanding and/or skill level. IF: They enhance their knowledge, understanding and/or skill level, THEN: They are likely to change their behavior or take action. IF: They change their behavior, takes action, or produces something different, THEN: They will influence or inform others around them. IF: Others are influenced or informed, THEN: Institutions and organizations begin to change. IF: Institutions and organizations change, THEN: Societies begin to change. The surveys were based on a combined participant population of 5,272, out of which, 3,484 responded for an average response rate of 66 percent. Although not all areas of questioning were asked in each evaluation project, the general information is impressive. We are now working to ask a set of similar questions in all evaluations to make it easier to compare across programs. Some of these areas of questioning include: - To what extent is there continued communication between people of the United States and people of other countries? - To what extent did the program further the education, training, and skills of the key audiences? - To what extent did the program promote an understanding and appreciation of the United States and/or host country? In 2001, the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs completed four evaluations, two of which were pilot projects for testing evaluation of exchanges methodology. A summary of the findings and recommendations are listed below. The purpose of the Cincinnati Domestic Impact Study was to test methodology and collect baseline data to assess the impact of Federally funded international professional exchange programs on American communities. The Greater Cincinnati area was used as a test case. Two pilot questionnaires were distributed to two groups of 1,518 U.S. host respondents and resulted in a combined response rate of 17 percent. Key findings concluded that exchanges: · Promote a better understanding of foreign relations · Are life-changing experiences · Promote international friendship and peace · Demonstrate the United States, as a whole, is interested in the development and stability of other nations Next steps: The methodology appeared successful; therefore, ECA will undertake additional domestic impact studies in other U.S. cities/regions with more emphasis on looking at “impact.” The purpose of the International Visitor Program Impact Evaluation System (IES) Pilot Study was to design and test an evaluation system that collects, analyzes, and reports program impact and results information in an ongoing, systematic manner. The Pilot Study, which was conducted for a 3-month period and incorporated 56 International Visitor (IV) participants from Hungary and Moldova. We are now streamlining evaluation procedures as a result of the pilot. · Alumni reported having a more realistic view of the United States and people of the U.S. · IV alumni reported plans to share their experiences and information obtained during their IV program with colleagues, others in their field, government officials, students, media outlets, etc. · IV alumni reported an increase in professional knowledge and understanding. · IV alumni have made key accomplishments related to their IV experiences. Preliminary findings from two other program evaluations completed in The U.S. Fulbright Scholar Program Outcome Assessment was designed to document the results of the U.S. Fulbright Scholar Program, including the professional achievements of alumni, the contribution of the program experience to Scholars’ lives, and the extent to which the program has met its legislative mandate. A random stratified sample of U.S. Fulbright Scholars was identified from the 15,659 alumni who lectured and/or conducted research overseas between the academic years of 1976 and 1998. A total of 1,911 names were selected in the sample in order to identify 1,004 valid addresses of Scholars for administration of the project survey. Using a Web-based survey as the primary data collection tool, 801 valid completed questionnaires were received by the time the survey closed out for a remarkable 80% response rate. The preliminary findings are impressive. A small selection of the numerous findings are listed, as follows: · Ninety-eight percent of Scholars found their Fulbright experience to be valuable and agreed that it gave them a deeper understanding of their host country; 0% disagreed. · Ninety-seven percent of Scholars have maintained communication with their host countries; and 77% of Scholars reported continued collaboration with colleagues. · Ninety-five percent of Scholars have changed their professional activities as a result of their grant; 93% of Scholars reported the incorporation of materials, data and information obtained during their grant into subsequent professional presentations, publications or other works. · Sixty-nine percent of Scholars have initiated or facilitated other international exchanges of students or professional since completing their Fulbright grant. The purpose of the Edmund S. Muskie/FSA Graduate Fellowship Programs evaluation was three-fold: 1) to assess the extent to which the program has achieved its goal of providing participants with significant knowledge, skills, and experience with which to become leaders within their designated fields; 2) to explore how individual career and personal developments and attitudes are related to societal economic and democratic reform; and 3) to better understand alumni needs and solicit ideas for future alumni activities. Face-to-face surveys were administered to 280 alumni and 459 semifinalists in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Georgia who participated in or applied to the program between 1992 and 1996. Overall response rates were 33% and 21% for alumni and semifinalists, respectively. The results suggest that the program has been successful in fostering the immediate goal of individual career and personal development. Alumni have moved at greater rates into key sectors and fields and are more likely to be positioned internationally. Moreover, alumni appear to have more influence within their organizations than do the semi-finalists: they report significantly higher incomes, indicate greater job satisfaction and less desire to change jobs, supervise significantly more employees, and perhaps most importantly, evince more democratic ideas about workplace leadership. Most alumni indicate that they directly utilize the technical and substantive knowledge they gained in the United States in their current jobs. The most important recommendation to emerge from the evaluation is the need to recognize that the alumni are the program’s most valuable resource, and that in order to stay in contact with these highly mobile and successful professionals, significant financial resources need to be invested in maintaining contact with alumni and understanding their choices regarding career and geographic locales. Taken together, the evaluations demonstrate that exchange programs are an effective way to engage people from other countries and promote a more realistic understanding of the United States, its people, and policies. The most consistent recommendation is that alumni are critical to furthering these goals and that resources will need to be devoted to keeping in touch with and supporting them after the exchange activity.
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