KNDY AM 1570/FM 94.1 & FM 95.5 – Marysville, KS
Three new international students are on the Beatrice Campus of Southeast Community College, thanks to the U.S. Department of State’s Global Undergraduate Exchange Program in Eurasia and Central Asia.
Enrolled for SCC’s Fall Quarter through Global UGRAD are Tamar Chubabria from Georgia, Parviz Jamalov from Tajikistan and Farid Tuayev from Azerbaijan.
Dr. Tom Cardwell, dean of student services at SCC, said the students are in their second year of college.
“They are exceptionally good students,” Cardwell said. “This is a highly competitive program in their home country, so this is huge for them career-wise. It will help them get into better graduate schools and get better jobs.” The program averages more than 3,000 applications annually, with a 5 percent rate of acceptance.
Cardwell said it’s good for SCC anytime international students are enrolled.
“It’s good for us because it gives American students a better awareness of the world in the classroom,” he said. “They are excellent students to have here.”
The three international students will study political science, communications and business at SCC. They will return to their home countries next June. The three brings to 16 the number of students SCC has hosted through the Global UGRAD program in the last five years.
Cardwell said he expected the students to get involved in co-curricular activities while at SCC.
“In the past, we’ve had students in plays and journalism,” Cardwell said. Prior to the start of SCC’s Fall Quarter on Oct. 4, the students will participate in community service projects. Past students have volunteered with the Beatrice YMCA and Habitat for Humanity. They’ve also completed internships with local businesses.
The Global UGRAD program aims to advance youth leadership and promote mutual understanding by providing one year of non-degree U.S. study to undergraduates from 12 countries of the former Soviet Union. In addition to their academic studies, Global UGRAD fellows perform community service; explore American traditions through the unique Cultural
Passport to America program, and hold one-semester internships.
The Global Undergraduate Exchange program in Eurasia and Central Asia is a program of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the Department of State and is administered by the International Research & Exchanges Board. Since 1992, nearly 4,000 participants have completed the program, increasing diversity on more than 140 campuses throughout the continental United States, Alaska and Hawaii.
The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State fosters mutual understanding between the people of the U.S. and the people of other countries to promote friendly, sympathetic and peaceful relations, as mandated by the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchanges Act of 1961. ECA accomplishes its mission through a range of programs based on the benefits of mutual understanding, international educational and cultural exchange, and leadership development.
IREX, founded in 1968, is an international nonprofit organization providing leadership and innovative programs to improve the quality of education, strengthen independent media and foster pluralistic civil society development.
