Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS)

Fellowships

FELLOWSHIP PURPOSE The purpose of the FLAS fellowship is to enable

students to devote a semester or more of focused attention on a program of study that combines modern foreign language training with area studies, international studies, or the international aspects of professional or other fields of study.

Legislation: Title VI, International Education Programs, Part A, International and Foreign Language Studies, sections 601 and 602 of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended

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TYPES OF FELLOWSHIPS

Academic Year Fellowships

Summer Fellowships

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TYPES OF FELLOWSHIPS

Academic Year Fellowships–Graduate vs. undergraduate

Summer Fellowships–Graduate vs. undergraduate

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Institutional Payment vs. Subsistence Allowance Institutional payment (tuition and fees) Subsistence allowance (stipend)

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Undergraduate Summer

Graduate Summer Undergraduate Academic Year

Graduate Academic Year

Institutional Payment (tuition and fees)

$5,000 $5,000 $10,000 $18,000

Stipend $2,500 $2,500 $5,000 $15,000

Total $7,500 $7,500 $15,000 $33,000

Eligibility Requirements—All Fellowship Recipients Must be a citizen or national of the U.S. or a

permanent resident of the U.S. Must be accepted for enrollment or enrolled

in a FLAS-granting institution (JHU)

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Eligibility Requirements—All Fellowship Recipients (continued)

Must show potential for high academic achievement (based on GPA, class ranking, or similar measures that institution determines)

Must be enrolled in a program of modern foreign language training in a language for which the institution has developed or is developing performance-based instruction

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Eligibility Requirements—Undergraduate Fellowship Recipients

Must be in the intermediate or advanced study of a less commonly taught language– Arabic, Hebrew, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean,

Mandarin, Portuguese, Russian & Yiddish– Note: Other languages may be eligible

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Eligibility Requirements—Graduate Fellowship Recipients

Engaged in -- Predissertation level studyPreparation for dissertation researchDissertation research abroad, orDissertation writing

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Eligibility Requirements—Graduate Fellowship Recipients

The Department of Education rules stipulate: “The use of language in dissertation research abroad or dissertation writing award should be extensive enough to be able to consider the foreign language improvement facilitated by the research equal to the improvement that would be obtained from a [half] year’s worth of formal classroom instruction. Research must be conducted overseas. A dissertation writing award can be at the home institution.”

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Overseas Program Requests (OPR) —Academic Year

Graduate and undergraduate fellowships may be awarded for academic year overseas programs, but Undergraduates must be at the advanced or

intermediate level of study in a less commonly taught language, and

All fellows must enroll in one language course and one area/international studies course per semester

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Overseas programs must include at least six weeks of instruction and at least 120 contact hours of language instruction for advanced level language courses and at least 140 contact hours of language instruction for beginning and intermediate level language courses

The instruction must be performance-based (i.e., for credit or certification and with testing and grading)

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Overseas Program Requests—Summer

Dissertation Research Abroad Requests

Academic Year only Student must be affiliated with an institution

of higher education or similar entity in the host country

Student must submit a justification for the research project and have it approved by the IFLE program officer

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Travel Approval Requests—Timing Restrictions

If travel funding is applied for a student (a travel award), then IFLE will place restrictions on when students travel and return from their summer programs

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Language Approval Requests—One-time Requests

For students who want to study a language that is not offered on a continual basis

Language must have direct relevance to the student’s academic plan

Instruction must be performance-based from a qualified instructor with experience in teaching, language pedagogy, and assessment

Language approval request must include evidence of the above

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Recipient Reporting Requirements—Pre- and Post-Instructor Evaluations

Recipients must use the DOE IRIS system to submit evaluations & reports

Evals are administered by same instructor Submitting a report – do not wait!

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Independent Study Requests Must be approved by Program Officer on case

by case basis In the request, include:– Professor curriculum vitae (CV)– Syllabus– Justification for independent study

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FLAS Fellow Reports - Top 12 issues1. Fellows do not provide entire course load2. No indication of which courses are language or

area studies courses3. Enter course listing instead of full title4. Enter N/A (not applicable) for a course title5. Enter P/F (pass/fail) grades without explanation6. Enter zero credits without explanation

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FLAS Fellow Reports - Top 12 issues7. Enter area studies courses in summer reports8. Enter audit as a grade9. No details about their summer overseas

language programs10.Ongoing fellow support during fellowship11.Centers are not widely publicizing competition

opportunities12.Centers are not providing sufficient, if any,

networking opportunities

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FLAS Administration: What Ifs Graduate student wants to take the beginning level of

a language? This is allowable and usually occurs when the Graduate student wants to take the beginning level of another language related to his area expertise and research. For example, the student is proficient in Spanish and wants to take beginning Portuguese.

We said we would award Undergraduate fellowships but we did not have high-quality applications? Notify your IFLE program officer as a FYI. You may then use the funds to create additional Graduate fellowships.

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FLAS Administration: What Ifs Lodging, e.g., $700, is included in the $5000

“fees” payment for a summer overseas language program. Shall we still give the FLAS fellow a $2,500 stipend? No. You should deduct the $700 and give the student $1800, to avoid duplicative payment.

A student wants to take a single course to satisfy both the area studies/international studies course and the language course requirement. This is not allowed.

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FLAS Administration: What Ifs A student wants to take beginning Dutch to

enhance his capacity to conduct research on Indonesian colonial history. Can we request to add Dutch as a FLAS eligible language on a one-time basis for this particular student? Yes. Dutch is relevant to this FLAS student’s training as an expert on Southeast Asia.

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THANK YOUQuestions

and Discussion