UNC Staff Member Awarded Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program Award for Seminar in Germany
August 28, 2019
Renée Welch, director of the University of Northern Colorado’s Center for Career Readiness,
has received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program award to participate in an International
Education Administrators Seminar in Germany.
Welch is one of over 800 U.S. citizens who will teach, conduct research and/or provide expertise abroad for the 2019-20 academic year through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program. Recipients of Fulbright awards are selected on the basis of academic and professional achievement as well as record of service and demonstrated leadership in their respective fields.
“I’m excited and very grateful for this opportunity,” Welch said. “I hope to learn how the German higher-education system prepares students for the workforce.”
Welch’s interest in applying for this Fulbright was based on initiatives in Colorado to address forecasted shortages in the workforce-talent pipeline. Colorado’s Workforce Development Council (CWDC) has reported that by 2020, 74% of jobs within Colorado will require some education beyond high school, and not enough students are gaining post-secondary education to fulfill the state’s expected workforce demands. In order to address this gap in the talent pipeline, CWDC has created industry led Workforce Sector Partnerships based on European models of education and work-based training.
Welch hopes to share what she learns with the Workforce Sector Partnerships, higher-education and industry leaders so those areas can better connect to benefit students.
She will depart on October 27 and participate in a 12-day seminar designed to familiarize U.S. higher-education administrators with Germany's higher-education system, society and culture.
During the first days in Berlin, participants are provided a comprehensive overview of the German Higher-Education System through presentations, meetings with experts, campus visits and city tours. During the second part of the program, participants travel to other destinations throughout Germany to visit more institutions including research universities, universities of applied sciences and others as well as explore Germany’s federal education system.
Past recipients of the Fulbright Program at UNC:
- Karen Barton, Ph.D., an associate professor of Geography, GIS, & Sustainability, visited Nepal to conduct a study of natural hazards in fall 2018.
- Cindy Shellito, Ph.D., a professor of Meteorology, studied and taught Andean climate and weather in Ecuado in 2015.
- Christiane Olivo, Ph.D., an assistant professor of Political Science, visited Germany in 2012.
- Lewis Jackson, Ed.D., a professor of Special Education, developed a positive behavioral support training program for the United Arab Emirates in fall 2012.
- Tom Griggs, Ph.D., an associate professor of Teacher Education, lectured on coordinating and aligning English language programs and integrating English at the University of the Jequitinhonha and Mucuri Valleys-Brazil-Diamantina from summer 2018 to fall 2019.
- Robert Brunswig, Ph.D., a professor emeritus and research fellow in Anthropology, received two Fulbright
Program awards:
- Fall 2014: Started an international collaborative research program with faculty from universities in Poland and Slovakia.
- 2016-17: Taught at Jagiellonian University as well as assisted on a joint-archaeology project in Tatra National Park in Poland.
- Margaret Berg, Ph.D., an associate professor of Language and Literacy, visited Russia to lecture and research on academic biliteracy and ecological systems for writing from fall 2016 to spring 2017.
About the Fulbright Program
Led by the U.S. government in partnership with more than 160 countries worldwide, the Fulbright Program offers international educational and cultural exchange programs for passionate and accomplished students, scholars, artists, teachers and professionals of all backgrounds to study, teach or pursue important research and professional projects.
