Ryan Gliha, Public Affairs Officer of the United States Embassy in Sana’a.
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Ryan Gliha, Public Affairs Officer of the United States Embassy in Sana’a.
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YO: Do you mean for this upcoming September?
RG: Well, either in August of September of 2009. We recruit students one year in advance because there are a lot of programs and a lot of things that happen in between their selection and their actual enrollment in universities in the United States. What we are looking for are good Yemeni candidates. You have to be Yemeni to qualify for the scholarship and you have to be a graduate of Bachelor’s Degree or any equivalent. Ideally we are looking for candidates that did have not had the opportunity to study or travel outside of Yemen. We’re also looking for students that have a wonderful vision for Yemen and that they see a direct linkage between their future goals and helping out this country. We’re also looking for students with a commitment to Yemen. This is not a program that is interesting in taking the best and brightest students from Yemen and moving them to the United States permanently. This is a program where we are very much interested in giving students an opportunity to get the valuable academic experience in the United States, building upon that and coming back to you and being a leader in their particular field. So, aside from that, the major requirements are very simple; they have to be a Yemeni national, they have to be a graduate. Secondary to that, they have to be able to speak English at an appropriate level in order to enter in to a university in the United States. Likewise and tertiary to that, we are looking for students that see a benefit from their host country, being the United States.
YO: What does the program offer students when they enroll in a university, besides the academic coursework that they will be doing?
RG: This scholarship is a completely funded two-year scholarship. We pay for every single expense for the students. We pay for their airfare from Yemen to the United States. We pay for their apartment in the United States. We pay for tuition at the university, the fees at the university, their research, their food, their medical insurance. Everything is taken care of by the State Department; all the fees are taken care of. In addition to this, we also provide some enrichment activities for them while they are there to learn about leadership and research and these types of things. But their primary focus is going to be that they are a normal student in a Master’s Degree program in the United States.
YO: Why the process of the Fulbright is quite long? And how is the Fulbright Program different from other scholarships?
RG: We have a different system from most of the countries that universities in the States are not run by the government. What we do is we select people as finalists and we work with them to apply to these universities in the United States. There are 6000 universities in the Unites States.
YO: Do the students themselves apply or do you apply on their behalf?
RG: Well, the students apply themselves, but the State Department and our partner, who is AMIDEAST help in the process. They work with all the students to create a portfolio of applications that we then apply to universities in the United States. Because the United States government, the federal government, does not have a direct role in the operations in the universities in the United States, we cannot mandate that they take students. We help these students make that application. The important thing is on this process is that we are not expecting that the students that are applying that we select to know exactly what is the best fit for them in the United States. That is where we come in; we are the experts on this. We would help you find the best fit university. That’s why the process takes a little bit of time. We look at the student and we look at what their ideals are, what subject matter they want to specialize in, then we match them to the right university. Then we have to apply to that university, often there is a list of five universities. Once students are selected as finalists, we work with them to decide and we make some suggestions. It is important to note that we don’t control that list. It is a negotiation process, the student says that they would like to go here and we make suggestions that say that other schools may be a better fit academically. Then the universities have to make their independent decision on who they want to accept or reject. We don’t make that decision, but more often that not, having that Fulbright name attached to you is an attractive thing to most universities. We have never really had a problem with placing Fulbright students in universities.
YO: What other activities the program of the Fulbright is going to offer like internships and other things besides the academic program?
RG: We have a very intensive program for students. We have pre-departure orientation, we have orientation to the Fulbright in the United States and after that the Universities and give orientation to the campus and the program that the students are enrolled in. universities have an integrated part that they offer internships to graduates and these are part of the academic experience I would not really separate. In addition to that, the Fulbright program offers some additional summer activities that people can apply for. They have also several internships that the Fulbright commission at the US sponsors at the United Nations. Our philosophy is that we do not want to make the structure of the program really rigid, we like to be flexible so that when the student arrives in the United States, he can say: I would like to spend my time doing this. They’re not in one channel, they have the opportunity to set up their own activity, their own internship, however we do provide many enrichment activities that are beyond what they do in the classroom. The beauty of the Fulbright Program is that they are just a normal student at the university. They’re just like any other American student in the same program. Secondary to this they are experiencing what is it like to be an American graduate student.
YO: How many students apply and are engaged in the program?
RG:We accept about 6 or 7 applicants each year from Yemen from only dozens of applications. There maybe 100 or more applications, but there is never even close to 200. From a country like Yemen, you would expect more like thousands of applicants to the program. Yemenis always say that they have no chance to apply, as maybe only 5-10 percent are accepted, but I always tell them that if you don’t apply, your chances are zero. Any percentage above zero is better. Some people may be don’t apply because they think this program is only open for certain type of students with certain of connections to the US embassy. I categorically deny that and say that our scholarship program is merely merit-based programs where the best candidates will get the scholarship regardless of who they are and it is all based on what the individual person can present to us in the application and the interview process. One question that people ask is how do the United States benefit from this and such programs? We benefit from this. One there are not many opportunities for direct interaction between Yemenis and Americans. Due to a lot of issues security is one of them that it is difficult to bring Americans to Yemen. So by sending these Yemen Fulbrighters to the US, there are in effect little ambassadors for Yemen. So the Americans they come in contact with, learn about Yemen, learn about the Yemeni culture, Yemeni history and Yemeni people. In general, they will learn about Arab Culture, Arab history and Islam. These are all important things that Americans need to learn more about. I want the students that will travel from Yemen to represent all Yemen and only one region. So I would like students from all over Yemen to send us application, from east, west, south, north. This to make sure that the Americans that will see them will have a chance to see all parts of Yemen.
YO: How do you observe and take care of performance of students that made it and went to the US to make sure that they have no problems?
RG: Every student has a Fulbright an advisor that they have access to. There is a whole office dedicated in the State Department to following up and helping Yemeni students that are in the US. So if a student is sick we make sure that he receives treatment, if they have academic problems there are advisors at universities to help. There are a lot resources and offices at universities that help foreign students make that adjustment and file their tasks. There is a large support network there that is available to students. We do everything to make students able to focus on their academic performance and get the most out of that experience. So we try to take care of as much as we can for them so they don’t have to worry about anything except for their performance in the classrooms.
YO: What about the ban of qat chewers? Will it be applied on students?
RG: I also want to mention about the qat issue through. As for medical tests for immigration to the US, we do have tests on qat, as qat is illegal in the US and users will be prosecuted. However, for a student visa, while qat is still illegal in the US, we don’t screen applicants for qat usage.
YO: What are the tips that you would like to give to applicants?
RG: The successful candidates that we have for the scholarship are the ones that are able to provide a good vision of what they would like to see Yemen become once they return from their studies in the United States. They are people that can link their goals to the country’s goal. They need to be able to draw a clear link between their field of study and the big issues that are important for Yemen and the Yemeni people. That will be my tip to applicants is that when they are writing their essays and preparing for interviews is to think about how is what I want to do is going to be a benefit to my country. In some countries where I have served, we have a number of applicants that want to get degrees in fields and industries that don’t exits in their home country. So applicant that may choose a field that doesn’t have any application in Yemen, they have a less chance of getting this scholarship than someone who can draw a clear link between their fields of study and big issues that are important for Yemen and Yemeni people.
YO: What are the main reasons behind doing this culture exchange?
RG: There are three major reasons to why we do culture exchange. The first is that these people get the best training possible in their field of specialization. Number two benefit is like what I said before that people from the US have an opportunity to interact with people from outside the US. So again this is the whole issue of Yemeni Fulbrighters becoming little ambassadors for Yemen in the US. The third important thing is once these people come back from the US to Yemen, they become almost like cultural ambassadors for the US because they have that experience. And Zaid, you know as well as I me saying something about the US as an American diplomat, may be most Yemenis won’t accept. But some one who is Yemeni that has gone to the US and come back and saying things about the US is seen more true. People that they are going to go to the US at the end of their time may be they won’t love the US, may be they won’t respect the US but at the very least they will understand the US. And that’s the whole goal. That these people when they go to the US and come back will have a chance to see the US through their own eyes and the people they meet with when they are back will be able to have a true vision of the US through Yemeni eyes.
Deadline for applications for the program is June 11, 2008. More information can be found online at fulbright.state.gov.