UK Partners with IIE to Host Gilman and CLS Scholarship Workshops

The University of Kentucky, in partnership with the Institute for International Education, hosted a Benjamin A. Gilman and Critical Language Scholarship Workshop last week in the Boone Center.

The workshop was created to provide advisors with in-depth resources and updates on the Gilman and CLS programs, in addition to sharing best practices for promoting, supporting and engaging students.

The team leading this workshop included three UK administrators - Tim Barnes, Executive Director of International Partnerships and Research; Patricia Whitlow, Director of Nationally Competitive Awards, and Olivia Ellis, Education Abroad Advisor and Scholarships Coordinator.

“Ultimately this is a way to get professionals in the field around the same table to meet one another and create a stronger professional advising network,” Ellis said. “These professionals will be able to build out their networks, facilitate resource sharing and explain best practices in regard to topics beyond the workshop goals.”

During the workshop, study abroad professionals, faculty and university administrators from across 40 different colleges and universities in Kentucky and nearby states had the opportunity to highlight successes and their current methods for helping students apply and compete for the Gilman and CLS scholarship programs.

Key sessions in this workshop included an overview of Gilman and CLS program and application; promotion, recruitment and support of Gilman and CLS program candidates; and advisor roles and opportunities in Gilman and CLS.

Barnes said that the fruitful partnership between the federal government and the U.S. higher education sector—particular through academic exchange and learning abroad programs such as Fulbright, Gilman Scholars, and the Critical Language Scholarships—has played a crucial role in internationalizing our campuses, enhancing the global impact and visibility of faculty research, and developing globally engaged and competent students.

“Ultimately, this sort of ‘soft diplomacy,’ based on personal interactions, relationships and transformations, extends its benefits well beyond the individual student and faculty participants,” Barnes said. “It enhances our national security, advances our global leadership role, develops a globally competitive workforce, promotes intercultural understanding, and contributes to a more peaceful, tolerant and prosperous world.”

In the past 10 years, more than 25 UK students have been awarded the Critical Language Scholarship and more than 40 UK students have been awarded the Gilman Scholarship during that same time period. 

This workshop was funded by the U.S. Department of State (USDOS)/The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), through the grant administered by the Institute of International Education, Inc. (IIE).

For more information on Gilman and CLS programs, please contact Patricia Whitlow, director of Nationally Competitive Awards, via email pat.whitlow@uky.edu. For any questions you may have regarding the Advisor Workshop, please email gilmanevents@iie.org
To learn more about the education abroad opportunities available to UK students please visit international.uky.edu/EA.

To learn more about the Department of State’s USA Study Abroad Program please visit: http://studyabroad.state.gov/

About The Gilman International Scholarship Program

Gilman International is a grant program that enables students with financial needs to study or intern abroad, thus gaining skills critical to our national security and economic competitiveness. This scholarship program is open to U.S. citizen undergraduate students who are receiving Federal Pell Grant funding at a two-year or four-year college or university to participate in study and intern abroad programs worldwide. This scholarship allows American students to gain proficiency in diverse languages and cultures, skills that are critical to their academic and career development. This program aims to encourage students to study and intern in a diverse array of countries and world regions. For more information visit: https://www.gilmanscholarship.org

About The Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Program

CLS is an overseas language and cultural immersion program for American students enrolled at U.S. colleges and universities. This program includes intensive language instruction and structured cultural enrichment experiences designed to develop rapid language growth. CLS is part of the governments initiative to expand the number of Americans studying and mastering foreign languages that are critical to national security and economic prosperity. For more information visit: http://www.clscholarship.org

Both these programs have shown support towards undergraduate students who have high financial needs and who have been underrepresented in education abroad. Some of these students include first-generation college students, students in STEM fields, ethnic minority students, students with disabilities, students attending community colleges, and students coming from U.S. states with less study abroad participation, etc.