Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Awards, 2010-11
GUIDELINES FOR APPLICANTS & DEPARTMENTS/PROFESSIONAL SCHOOLS
NEWS: NCCSAS 2010-11 Academic Year FLAS application: DEADLINE April 5, 2010 (Click on this link to download the application form)
With funding provided by the U.S. Department of Education, NCCSAS expects to award non-service fellowships for the 2010-2011 academic year. The fellowships are available to undergraduate, graduate and professional school students at Duke University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, or North Carolina State University for the term of the award for: 1. A formal academic program of full-time study during the academic year, in the United States or abroad;
2. Dissertation research abroad during the academic year.
The purpose of the fellowships is to encourage the study or use of foreign languages in combination with international or area studies. Priority will be given to students enrolling in a foreign language course and at least one area studies course each semester while completing full-time course work. In some cases fellowships will be awarded to graduate students for the use of the advanced foreign language while carrying out overseas research during the academic year. In most cases, native speakers of these languages, are usually not eligible for this fellowship.
The terms of the fellowship program, as specified by the U.S. Department of Education, are as follows:
For graduate and professional school students the FLAS award consists of a cost of education allowance of $18,000 to cover tuition and required fees plus a stipend of $15,000. The remainder of the tuition and required fees will be covered by University funds.
For undergraduate students the FLAS award consists of a cost of education allowance for $10,000 to cover tuition and required fees plus a stipend of $5000. The remainder of the tuition and required fees will be covered by University funds. Undergraduate FLAS awards will be given for intermediate or advanced study of a less commonly taught South Asian language.
Students can apply for any South Asian Language. Previous FLAS recipients have studied Bengali, Hindi, Nepali, Persian, Tamil, Tibetian, and Urdu.
Please note that student applicants are required to obtain the signature of their Department or School representative signifying the Department or School’s agreement to accept the institutional payment in lieu of full tuition and fees for the FLAS Fellow. According to the fellowship program guidelines, the FLAS Fellow cannot be required to contribute to the cost of their tuition and fees from their own personal resources.
Eligibility requirements for Academic Year FLAS Fellowships:
(1) recipients must enroll as full-time students in a undergraduate, graduate or professional degree program during the fellowship period;
(2) recipients must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents;
(3) recipients must enroll in the formal study of one of the languages indicated below while pursuing a formal academic program of study that includes area studies courses, or be actively engaged in the use of such a language via overseas field research;
(4) only candidates of very high professional promise should be nominated.
Application Instructions: We are pleased to invite applications from undergraduate, graduate students in academic departments or professional schools for these FLAS fellowships. Please send your copy of the following application materials to the appropriate center(s) no later than 5:00 p.m., March 19, 2010 (it is possible to apply to more than one center – please make it clear on your application if you are doing so):
(1) a completed application form (attached -- please note that Directors of Undergraduate, Graduate Studies or their professional school equivalents must certify that applicants are in good academic standing by signing where indicated on the attached application form; applicants must also obtain any additional approvals required by their Department or School prior to submitting the application; this signature also indicates the School's agreement to accept the cost of education allowance in lieu of full payment of tuition and required fees);
(2) at least one letter of recommendation, from the candidate's academic advisor, sponsoring faculty member, or other recommender with knowledge of the student’s potential for contribution to the profession, in which an evaluation is made of the nominee's graduate and/or undergraduate performance ;
(3) an official transcript of the student's record;
(4) a two-page proposal by the nominee describing prior language and area studies training, related experiences, and future study plans, including explicit reference to how those plans will lead to professional activity in the relevant world area or areas in which the language will be used. The nominee should also clearly indicate for which language he or she is applying and what courses or research would be undertaken in the language. Students applying for a FLAS fellowship to conduct dissertation research abroad during the award period must also submit a separate description of their research project, including dissertation research topic, dissertation advisor’s name and e-mail address, and a statement of purpose, methods, and expected use of the language to be studied. The length of this statement should not exceed 300 words (per the funding agency’s online reporting system).
The availability of Academic Year FLAS Fellowships for 2010-2011 and beyond will be contingent upon confirmation of funding received by each center from the U.S. Department of Education. Please note that all the centers are currently competing for four more years of FLAS Fellowship funding. We expect to learn the outcome of our proposals to the U.S. Department of Education in June 2010 or later. FLAS awards will be announced sometime after that.
Selection and Ranking
The North Carolina Center for South Asia Studies is a National Resource Center for South Asia and an interdisciplinary educational cooperative, not a teaching department, and promotes the study of South Asia across its three principal campuses, Duke University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and North Carolina State University. With the exception of the eligibility stipulations above, there is no priority study discipline for FLAS Fellowships. The FLAS Committee reviews all applicants from any discipline and makes rankings based on the materials of the application.
This is an annual competition. The following application materials will be given equal weight:
• Past academic performance based on the transcripts and GRE scores submitted by the applicant (note that these are annual competitions, individual performance is measured against the performance of other applicants every year).
• The two-page applicant statement of academic interest, purpose, and plans for the award period, plus answers to the questions on the application form (note that career goals are requested on the application).
• Letters of recommendation.
Selection is "language blind." It is based on the quality of an applicant's overall record (including undergraduate and graduate student performance and GRE scores), the applicant's application form, the applicant's statement of purpose (with emphasis on the need for language study), and letters of recommendation. Any "Incomplete" on a student's transcript when the FLAS Selection Committee meets renders the student ineligible for a FLAS Fellowship. An award fellow must be, and remain, in good standing in the degree program at his respective institution and demonstrate satisfactory progress.
Lowest consideration in the selection of fellows is given to students who already possess language fluency equivalent to educated native speakers in the language for which the award is sought, including dissertators; and students who are applying for dissertation research or writing as opposed to students applying for language acquisition.
FLAS rankings are private information and are not posted or conveyed in any way as public information. To protect applicant privacy, an individual may inquire from the FLAS Coordinator as to his or her rank, but will not be given additional information such as total number of applicants or the rank of any other individual. The FLAS coordinator may be able to give a general idea as to the competitiveness of an annual competition and the likeliness of an award to an individual applicant who requests that information.
Due to the alternative funds available for fieldwork, academic year FLAS awards will not be available for research in the first year of dissertator status. FLAS awards will be for "write-up" use when the student is at the dissertation stage. Note that the U.S. Department of Education Title VI Program discourages centers from making awards to dissertators.
Application Instructions: We are pleased to invite applications from students in all academic departments and professional schools for 2010-11 FLAS fellowships. Please submit completed application with CV, statement of intended course of study, transcripts, letters of reference, etc., to respective FLAS Representative on your campus listed below, no later than 5:00 p.m., 5 April, 2010.
Summer FLAS
Deadline for the 2010 Summer FLAS has passed.
Summer FLAS awards are made to students who are enrolled in undergraduate, graduate and professional degree programs at Duke University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, or North Carolina State University who are seeking summer intensive language study in a FLAS-approved program located in the U.S. or abroad. Summer FLAS fellowships support students enrolled in:
1. formal domestic programs of intensive language study at the beginning, intermediate or advanced level; or
2. formal overseas programs of intensive language study at the intermediate or
advanced level; or
3. formal overseas programs of intensive study at the beginning level of languages
for which appropriate equivalent instruction is not available in the United States
The Summer FLAS award consists of a cost of education allowance of $4000 to cover tuition and required fees plus a stipend of $2500. Students can also request travel award for up to $1000. For the purposes of this program, “intensive” summer language programs are those which offer a minimum of 120 contact hours of advanced-level language instruction and 140 contact hours of beginning- or intermediate-level instruction. In order to be considered intensive, summer language programs should generally last a minimum of 6 weeks; longer programs are preferable because they are more likely to provide the student with the equivalent of a full year of language study. Undergraduate Summer FLAS awards will be given for intermediate or advanced study of a less commonly taught South Asian language.
Please note: Summer FLAS does not count against total FLAS eligibility.
For any questions, please contact your FLAS representative on Campus.
Duke:
FLAS Fellowship Application
c/o Baishakhi Taylor
Center for South Asia Studies
Duke University
109 Franklin Center Box 90402
Durham, North Carolina 27708-0402
(919) 668.2146 fax: (919) 684.8749
UNC:
FLAS Fellowship Application
c/o Peter Landstrom,
FedEx Global Education Center
291 Pittsboro St. CB# 7582
University of North Carolina
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7582
(919) 843-0129 fax: (919) 843-2102
NC State:
FLAS Fellowship Application
c/o David Gilmartin
Department of History
Box 8108
North Carolina State University
Raleigh, North Carolina 27695-8108
Phone: 919-513-2243 fax: 919-515-3886
NCCSAS does not discriminate on the basis of color, race, religion, national origin, handicap, veteran status, sexual orientation or preference, sex, or age in the administration of educational policies, admission policies, financial aid, employment or any other University program or activity. It admits qualified students to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities accorded or made available to students.