DISCIPLINE REVIEWER INSTRUCTIONS AND POLICY APPLICATIONS

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1 DISCIPLINE REVIEWER INSTRUCTIONS AND POLICY APPLICATIONS Thank you for serving as a Discipline Reviewer for the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program. Your preliminary evaluation will assist regional peer review committees to determine whether or not to recommend a candidate. You are asked to examine and evaluate each applicant s academic or professional training, experience and achievements, as well as the merit of the candidate s proposed activity. BEFORE YOU START THE REVIEW PROCESS Before you get started, please carefully review the Discipline Review Criteria outlined in this document. Each application should be reviewed against these criteria. IMPORTANT: Given the wide range of disciplines and types of proposed projects in the Fulbright U. S. S c h o l a r Program, please keep in mind that some criteria may not be applicable. HOW WILL YOUR EVALUATION BE USED? Your evaluative comments and ratings (from a discipline specific perspective) will be provided to reviewers organized by world region. The regional reviewers are often (but not always) Fulbright Scholar Program alumni, representing a wide range of disciplines. These Regional Review Committees are comprised of up to five scholars or professionals with experience in the relevant country or world area. Like discipline reviewers, regional reviewers carefully review applications and submit their comments and ratings online, through the program s web based system. Regional reviewers subsequently meet in person at the Institute of International Education s (IIE) Council for International Exchange of Scholars (CIES) offices to discuss the individual evaluations and to reach consensus on which applications to recommend for the next round of review. WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE REGIONAL REVIEW COMMITTEE MEETINGS? Following each regional review committee meeting, CIES staff sends the panel of recommended candidates to the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board, the U.S. embassy or Fulbright Commission in the host country, and the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs for further consideration. The information CIES transmits includes a summary of the review criteria, data on the pool of applications and recommended candidates for the country/program and justification comments for candidates who have had previous Fulbright Scholar awards. U.S. embassy or commission staffs confer with proposed host institution(s), convene an in-country review panel and propose candidates for funding to the U.S. Department of State. 1

2 ABOUT THE FINAL SELECTION OF GRANTEES The J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board (FFSB) was established by Congress to supervise the Fulbright Program and to officially select students, scholars, teachers, trainees, and other persons to participate in the program. Appointed by the President of the United States, the 12 member Board meets quarterly. The Board establishes worldwide policies and procedures for the Program and issues an annual report on the state of the Program. The Board makes the final selection of candidates, and the U.S. Department of State confirms the availability of funding. WHAT A COMPLETE APPLICATION LOOKS LIKE The following materials comprise a complete application: Application form Project statement (three to five pages) Bibliography (up to three pages; this is required for research or combined teaching/research awards) Curriculum vita (up to six pages or 10 pages for Distinguished Chair awards) Sample syllabus (up to 10 pages; this is required for teaching or combined teaching/research awards) Letter of invitation (only if required or recommended for the award, as documented in the catalog of awards; letters are sometimes provided by the applicant or host institution after discipline review) Language proficiency form (not required unless proficiency in a language other than English is needed for teaching or research; not required for native speakers of the language) Letters of recommendation (three are required, however applications are permitted to be reviewed by discipline reviewers if at least two letters are on file) If required for the discipline, supplemental materials such as writing samples, visual samples, video or audio recordings. 2

3 RATING SYSTEM As a discipline reviewer, you are granted access to an online rating system. After reviewing each application based on the criteria provided, please assign a rating of Highly Recommend (HR), Recommend (R) or Not Recommend (NR) and provide supporting comments in a short, cohesive paragraph Please do not rank applications in comparison to each other or refer to other applications in your remarks. Please be advised that Discipline Committees are asked to reach consensus on each applicant, either a mix of Highly Recommend (HR) and Recommend (R) ratings or all Not Recommend (NR) ratings. A rating of Not Recommend (NR) requires unanimity of discipline committee members who have not recused themselves. If some but not all members rate an application as Not Recommend (NR), CIES staff will contact all committee members, ask you to read each other s comments online, come to final agreement on a rating and enter subsequent comments. NOTE: If you cannot review an application due to a conflict of interest (see the Peer Review Committee Policies section of this document for more information), please select Recuse Myself for your rating and include an explanation in the comments field. DISCIPLINE REVIEW DEADLINE Please submit your final ratings and comments online on or before Monday, September 8,

4 DISCIPLINE REVIEW CRITERIA As you read through applications and prepare to complete your comments online for each applicant, please evaluate each applicant s training, teaching and/or research, publication record or professional experience as they relate to the proposed teaching and/or research project. Evaluate the quality and cogency of the project from the perspective of the discipline or field and whether the applicant possesses the appropriate background and experience to undertake the proposed project. Please DO NOT evaluate the cultural adaptability and sensitivity of the applicant, previous experience abroad, or match to the host country. These criteria will be assessed by the regional review committees during the second stage of the review process. Professional Qualifications Credentials, training and professional standing. Professional excellence, as evidenced through the quality of publications, grants, fellowships, honors, awards, conference papers, exhibitions, compositions, and performances. Record of service to the field and the home institution. For Teaching and Teaching/Research Awards, Look For: Match of academic, professional or artistic expertise to the award. Teaching ability and requisite experience at the postsecondary level, as evidenced by the applicant s C.V., teaching awards, the quality of submitted syllabi, innovative and effective pedagogical approaches, and/or curriculum projects, and attested to by one of the three letters of reference. Quality and feasibility of the proposed teaching project including currency in proposed teaching topics. For Research and Teaching/Research Awards, Look For: Intellectual merits of the proposal: rigor of research design and methodology; originality and conceptual sophistication; project s significance. Suitability: relevant and appropriate research experience and expertise to complete the proposed research activity successfully. Feasibility in terms of resources available and time allocated to the project. 4

5 PEER REVIEW COMMITTEE POLICIES POLICY STATEMENT ON CONFLICT OF INTEREST It is the policy of the Fulbright Program to avoid any conflict of interest, or the appearance of conflict of interest, that may be related to membership on review committees organized by CIES. CIES has established the following guidelines limiting, under certain circumstances, participation of reviewers in the evaluation of applications. These guidelines ensure that no applicant will gain or appear to gain an advantage resulting from a reviewer s service on a peer review committee. CONFLICT OF INTEREST Reviewers will recuse themselves from evaluation and final recommendation of applicants for whom they have ever written letters of reference for a Fulbright or other closely related award. Reviewers will recuse themselves from evaluation and final recommendation of applications submitted by an immediate family member or domestic partner. POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST Reviewers should consider there to be a potential conflict of interest when an applicant is a person with whom the reviewer has some other significant personal or professional relationship (members of the same department, co authors, research collaborators, etc.) which could bias his/her judgment of the applicant or the application. Reviewers should determine whether such relationships involve a conflict of interest for them and, if so, recuse themselves from evaluation, discussion and final recommendation of the applicant. ELIGIBILITY/CONFLICT OF INTEREST CIES reviewers may not write a letter of reference for an applicant being reviewed by the committee on which they serve until the academic year following the completion of service or resignation from the committee. Members of the CIES Advisory Board may not submit an application for a Fulbright award until one year after the expiration of their service on the board. Members of review committees are not eligible to apply for a Fulbright U. S. S c h o l a r award in the Catalog of Awards until one year after the completion of their service on the committee. For example, if the last year a member reviews applications is for awards in the Catalog of Awards, the earliest possible year to apply will be for an award in the Catalog of Awards. CONFIDENTIALITY OF APPLICATION MATERIALS Application materials should be treated in a confidential manner. Reviewers may consult colleagues on issues raised by an application but should never identify the applicant. Comments from someone other than the reviewer are allowed, but should be acknowledged in the reviewer s evaluative remarks. Reviewers are asked to strictly observe the confidential nature of committee deliberations, decisions, ratings and comments on specific individuals. 5

6 Reviewers should not share the outcome of the review with anyone. When considering personal and professional information on candidates, reviewers should base their evaluation solely on the information provided in the applications. Reviewers should not consult the Internet or any other outside resource for supplemental personal or professional applicant information. PRIVACY ACT OF 1974 Under the Privacy Act (Public Law ), any individual who is requested by or on behalf of a federal agency to provide information about himself or herself must be informed of the authority, purpose and uses to which the information provided is intended to be put. In conformity with this legislation, persons interested in Fulbright grants are informed of the following: The solicitation of the information requested in application forms is authorized under the Fulbright Hays Act; the information is intended to be used in screening and selecting grantees and in the administration of the grants; it may be released to appropriate U.S. governmental agencies, the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board, binational Fulbright commissions, foreign host institutions, Congress, the news media, and relatives of the grantee trying to reach the individual for bona fide personal reasons. PROVISIONS OF THE MUTUAL EDUCATIONAL AND CULTURAL EXCHANGE ACT OF 1961, AS AMENDED Applicants shall be considered without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex or age. Although the physical and mental health of candidates must be adequate to allow them to fulfill the terms of their grant, no qualified disabled candidate will be subjected to discrimination on the basis of disability. Preference shall be given to those who have served in the Armed Forces of the United States. Due consideration shall be given to applicants from all geographical areas of the United States. COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY Guided by the statement on diversity issued by the U.S. Department of State, CIES strives to ensure that the Fulbright Scholar Program reflects the diversity of the United States. Reviewers should note that the U.S. Department of State and CIES encourage participation in the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program by qualified individuals and institutions that are generally considered under represented, such as small liberal arts colleges, community colleges, minority serving institutions, women, racial and ethnic minorities, and people with disabilities. 6

7 STAGES OF REVIEW IN THE UNITES STATES AND ABROAD 1. Discipline Peer Review: (August mid September. Note, the U.S. Department of State may request that some awards remain open for CIES to receive applications through September 30. According to the discipline, CIES will forward additional applications to discipline reviewers for review in September and in early October) 2. Regional Peer Review: Reviewers screen applications based on a comprehensive match to each award and recommend candidates for further consideration. Regional reviewers evaluate and rate applicants within each specific award. Regional reviewers take into account discipline reviewer criteria and comments, as well as award requirements, regional fit, language requirements, FFSB policy, and cultural adaptability and sensitivity. After this stage, all applicants are notified by CIES of their review status (recommended or not recommended). Recommended applicants are then sent forward for review abroad and to the FFSB. (October November) 3. Review in Host Country/Countries: Review of recommended Fulbright candidates by Fulbright bi national Commissions or the public affairs section of U.S. embassies abroad, together with prospective host institutions, for final consideration. (November April) 4. Selection: Review and official selection of recommended candidates for Fulbright grants by the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board (FFSB). Applicants will receive a letter from the FFSB chair as official notice of selection for a U.S. Fulbright Scholar award. Alternates and applicants not selected will receive a letter regarding status from CIES. (November May) 7

8 BACKGROUND ON THE FULBRIGHT SCHOLAR PROGRAM Established under legislation introduced by then Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas in 1946, the Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program of the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. With this goal as a starting point, the Fulbright Program has provided more than 300,000 participants chosen for their leadership potential with the opportunity to observe each others political, economic, educational and cultural institutions, to exchange ideas and to embark on joint ventures of importance to the general welfare of the world. The Fulbright Program awards approximately 6,000 new grants each year and currently operates in more than 150 countries worldwide. All Fulbright grantees are selected through merit based open competition on the basis of academic and professional excellence, leadership potential, and an ability to share ideas with people in diverse cultures. The U.S. component of the Fulbright Scholar Program is comprised of the Core Program (2 12 month grants for teaching and/or research); the Fulbright Specialist Program (two to six week programs for consulting abroad); specialized programs involving collaborative work across designated world regions; and several short term seminars for administrators. Together, the programs enable approximately 1,300 college and university faculty, administrators, professionals and independent scholars from the United States to teach, research, or offer consulting expertise abroad. ADMINISTRATION The J. William Fulbright Foreign scholarship board (FFSB) The FFSB, composed of 12 educational and public leaders appointed by the President of the United States, formulates policy for the administration of the program, establishes criteria for the selection of candidates, and gives final approval for candidates nominated for awards. United States Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) ECA directs the administration of the Fulbright Program under policy guidelines established by the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board and sets the Department s Fulbright funding and program priorities. ECA collaborates with the binational commissions and foundations in 50 countries, United States embassies in approximately 100 other countries, and a number of cooperating agencies in the United States in the administration of the Program. 8

9 The Institute of International Education s Council for International Exchange of Scholars (CIES) administers the Fulbright Scholar Program for faculty and professionals. Through a cooperative agreement with ECA, the Council assembles panels to conduct the merit review of candidates for Fulbright Scholar awards. CIES was created in 1947 by the Conference Board of Associated Research Councils, a national body consisting of the American Council of Learned Societies, the National Academy of Sciences, the Social Science Research Council, and the American Council on Education. CIES is based in Washington, D.C., and is a division of the Institute of International Education, based in New York, NY. The Institute of International Education manages a wide variety of educational and cultural exchanges as well as training and technical assistance programs. Through a cooperative agreement with ECA, IIE has administered parts of the Fulbright Student Program since Fulbright Commissions, Foundations and U.S. Embassies abroad establish the numbers and categories of Fulbright grants to be offered each year, and supervise scholar competitions locally. The slate of U.S. candidates recommended by peer review committees is forwarded to United States Embassies and Fulbright Commissions for their recommendations. FUNDING The primary source of funding for the Fulbright Program is an annual appropriation made by the U.S. Congress to the United States Department of State. Participating governments and host institutions in many countries and in the United States also contribute financially through cost sharing, as well as by indirect support such as salary supplements, tuition waivers, university housing and other benefits. 9

10 FULBRIGHT PEER REVIEW COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP Peer review committees consist of groups of individuals with specialized discipline and world area expertise that evaluate applications and recommend candidates for further consideration to binational Fulbright Commissions and U.S. diplomatic posts in more than 150 countries. The presidentiallyappointed J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board confirms the final selection of Fulbright grantees. APPOINTMENT Members of committees are appointed by CIES on the authority of the Conference Board of Associated Research Councils. Prospective members are identified based on recommendations from CIES Advisory Board members, CIES staff, bi national Fulbright Commissions, current committee members and individual self nomination. Disciplinary, geographic, demographic and institutional balance is taken into consideration in determining the final composition of the review committees. TERM Committee membership is typically three years, but is contingent upon each committee s needs. Each year, CIES conducts a needs analysis to assess the overall pool of applications in relation to available awards. CIES also helps to ensure that committee membership broadly represents a given year s applicant pool. In certain circumstances, a member s term may be extended for an additional year. 10

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