Selection Process and Grant Details for Regular Teacher and Administrator Exchanges

Screening and Selection

With the assistance of the Graduate School, USDA, the Office of Global Educational Programs reviews applications, arranges international exchanges, and recommends U.S. candidates for seminars and one-way assignments. The Peer Review is made possible through the services of 69 Peer Review Committees. The Committees, consisting of program alumni, teachers, and education administrators, review candidates for their qualifications, adaptability, seriousness of purpose, motivation, and commitment to the program.

Oral foreign language screening is conducted at the Peer Review (for those candidates indicating good or excellent proficiency) for any languages to be taught or spoken in participating countries. Applicants for seminars in Greece or Italy will not be screened for foreign language proficiency. Interviews will last between 30 and 60 minutes. An applicant who fails to attend an interview will be disqualified from further consideration.

The months following the interview are devoted to the matching process, in which the Office of Global Educational Programs works together with binational Fulbright Commissions, U.S. embassies, and other cooperating agencies to match teachers of similar subjects and levels. The Fulbright Teacher Exchange Program is based on binational agreements, and all participants must be acceptable to cooperating agencies and educational authorities in both countries. Please be advised that being recommended by the Peer Review does not guarantee placement.

Preference will be given to applicants who have not previously participated in the program, and may be given to applicants who have not previously lived in the host country. In some countries, circumstances may require that preference be given to candidates without accompanying minor dependents. Geographic distribution of awards within the U.S. is also a factor in selection, and other considerations being equal, veterans will be given preference.

Foreign teachers, who must apply in their country of residence, are screened and recommended according to FSB policies by Fulbright Commissions or other educational authorities abroad. Recommended foreign teachers are then matched with U.S. counterparts, and are proposed for exchange at the same time as their U.S. partners.

Notification

All applicants are notified of their status in January after completion of all Peer Review interviews. Applicants not recommended for participation in the program will not be considered further for an exchange. They may re-apply for any future program cycle. Candidates recommended for participation and for whom matches prove available will be contacted by the Fulbright Office between January and late spring in order to discuss the potential match. Applicants who are not contacted in this time period are not yet matched. We advise patience. If you wish to check on your application status between March and June, please contact us at fulbright@grad.usda.gov.

Teachers proposed for a direct exchange or one-way assignment will be required, at their own expense, to have a physical examination for themselves and completed statements of health from a physician for all accompanying dependents. Final FSB approval of an exchange assignment or seminar is contingent upon the candidate's submission of a satisfactory medical report.

Teachers selected for exchange must attend the August Orientation Workshop in Washington, D.C. Applicants are advised that the Orientation Workshop is considered an essential part of the exchange and that selection presumes the selected teacher's participation in all activities. Therefore, applicants should not make travel/vacation plans for the first week in August. Most assignments shorter than eight weeks (including seminars) do not require a physical examination or attendance at the Orientation Workshop (except U.K. six-weeks exchanges where the August Orientation is required).

Seminar grantees will be notified in late spring of FSB acceptance and approval to participate in the program. Planning workshops take place in late Spring. Seminars in Italy and Greece generally begin in mid-to-late June or in early July. Seminar participants are required to attend all seminar activities and to travel on group flights, if scheduled. Participants are not permitted to join seminars already in progress and under no circumstances are dependents or spouses permitted to accompany them.

Exchange Arrangements

The majority of teachers exchange positions directly with foreign teachers; a few go abroad for one-way assignments (if available). U.S. teachers of foreign languages teach English overseas, while their exchange partners teach their native languages in the United States.

Housing arrangements are the private responsibility of grantees. For direct exchanges, teachers are expected to locate suitable housing for their partner and vice-versa before going on exchange. Fulbright recommends the following options, in order of priority, when making housing determinations: 1) Search for housing on your own in the open market with guidance from your exchange partner; 2) you and your exchange partner agree to find each other suitable rental housing before the exchange begins; 3) you and your exchange partner agree to exchange housing after exploring all other options.

If grantees choose to exchange housing, they should go into the arrangement with flexibility, open communication, and a detailed housing contract. In western Europe (especially France and the United Kingdom), teachers often exchange housing. A word of caution: You are advised neither to offer nor to accept an exchange of housing unless the accommodations will be unoccupied. U.S. participants who are trading residences with their overseas partners are required to clean the premises and leave the premises in a completely repaired condition for the overseas partner.

In cases where one partner's housing is provided free of charge, he or she may be asked to share in the partner's housing costs.

The Fulbright program reserves the right to request termination of an exchange should housing issues significantly affect how the professional exchange is conducted. Any problems arising from a housing situation into which an individual grantee has entered are the sole responsibility of the grantee and not of the Fulbright program.

Terms of Award

The terms of the award for teacher and administrator assignments vary from country to country and are described in detail in the Teacher Exchanges & Summer Seminars and Administrator Exchanges sections. In general, exchange teachers are granted a leave of absence with pay and benefits and use their regular salary to cover daily expenses while abroad. Foreign teachers are also generally paid by their home schools, and replace their U.S. counterparts at no additional cost to the hosting school. In the case of one-way assignments, teachers are required to obtain a leave of absence with or without pay, and a stipend is provided to cover living expenses while abroad.

Administrative exchanges are non-simultaneous and participants must obtain a leave of absence with or without pay prior to the exchange. Exchange dates are mutually decided and agreed upon by exchange partners. Participants typically "shadow" their partners for the duration of their exchanges while the host schools are in session, observing all facets of the host administrators' daily schedules. They are encouraged to plan their exchange in advance with their international partner and maintain contact with their partner over the course of one academic year.

Maintenance allowances, when provided, are normally paid in the currency of the host country and are based on the cost of living in that country, not on the amount of the grantee's U.S. salary. All teachers should investigate the cost of living for themselves and any accompanying family members in the proposed country of assignment. Teachers must make sure that they have sufficient funds available to support themselves while on the exchange and need to be aware of fluctuating exchange rates.

Many country programs provide full or partial transportation awards. Since all costs for dependents' travel are the participants' responsibility, teachers interested in taking their families abroad must investigate the cost of transportation for their dependents.

Orientation costs, including one-way travel to orientation for the exchange teacher only, and food and lodging for teachers and dependents during orientation, will be paid by the United States Department of State.

Modest supplemental health insurance coverage will be provided to teachers and administrators selected for an exchange. Please note that accompanying dependents are not included in this coverage. However, additional coverage for the grantee and/or accompanying dependents may be purchased through the United States Department of State. Passport and visa fees are also the responsibility of the applicant.

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