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International Programs OfficeFebruary 2010 Newsletter

InstItute for PacIfIc asIaThe Lunar new Year ceLebraTion and dinner on Monday, February 15, was a great success. The organi-

zation was smooth, the decoration was festive, the performances were eye-catching, and the activities inside Sibisa were animated. We owe many thanks to you all for your enthusiasm and hard work.

James Mendiola, program coordinator, did an excellent job publicizing the event. Thanks to James for also serving as the liaison for student organizations and Dining Services, and for seamlessly organizing many details for the event.

Thanks to Kate Smith, lead office associate, for organizing an innovative decoration, the red envelop giving-out and the tiger costume activities. Thanks for the many phone calls that secured the Lion Danc-ers, for the paperwork that accommodated the complicated purchasing request, and for climbing up and down the big ladders in the chilly night to put on and take off the lanterns!

Thanks to Yirong Luo, director for Confucius Institute (CI), for being the center pillar of the excellent team work of Confucius Institute teachers that contributed greatly to the programming of the event, the recruiting of volunteers, and the organizing of the CI display and the calligraphy table. Liu Yuan directed a wonderful Zodiac Show, with much coordination and rehearsals.

The Chinese Language Class 1 and 2 students from Navasota High School toured the TAMU campus, including a visit to KAMU where their classes are broadcast, the Rec Center, Dr. Weidong Shi’s Chinese 2 class, and ended at the Lunar New Year Celebration.

Thanks to Yanfei Wang, Chinese Language teacher, for taking much effort to make the beautiful Zodiac animal masks and signs, and for helping in many other ways. Also, thanks to Wang Ying and Han Mei for hosting the CI table and helping with cleaning up.

Thanks to Yixiao and Wenjuan for their very innovative decoration ideas and important support. Wen-juan took great pictures.

Wish you all a prosperous and happy Year of the Tiger! Special good luck to Kate, the tiger and bride in the New Year! ~ Christina Yang

offIce of LatIn amerIcan ProgramsDean of archiTecTure Gives environmenTaL DesiGn course aT The soLTis cenTer

In early January 2010, a group of 20 students from several disciplines spent two weeks at the Soltis Center for Research and Education. The group of stu-dents, led by Dr. Jorge Vanegas, Dean of the College of Architecture, completed ENDS 101, The Design Process. As part of this learning experience, students were asked to come up with innovative ideas with potential application to solve real problems. Class sessions were combined with outdoor activities in the rain-forest surrounding the Center, providing a unique learning experience for the students.

As expressed by some students, “...we did not mind getting wet and muddy, being surrounded by bugs and other animals…being in the rainforest awoke our creative instincts….”

GeoGraphY GranTeD reu supporT for The soLTis cenTer

On January 27, 2010, the National Science Foundation (NSF), through the proposal of the Texas A&M Department of Geography, will be funding an REU site at the Soltis Center for Research and Education. This REU site will provide thirty (ten per year) undergraduate students with an opportunity to develop essential skills in the design, execution, and dissemination of original research in tropical ecosystems and ecohydrology within the tropical montane cloud forest. The proposed project is called “Eco-Hydrol-ogy of a Tropical Montane Cloud Forest” and will be headed by Dr. Chris Houser and Dr. Anthony Cahill. The expected outcomes of this project are numerous including: joint faculty-student publications in leading research journals, seminars at host institutions in the United States and at the Universi-ty of Costa Rica, as well as providing an international field experience for Texas A&M students.

Dr. roGer norTon TraveLeD To panama

On January 18-22, 2010 Dr. Roger Norton of the Office for Latin American Programs traveled to Panama to visit several research and education institutions to explore new partnerships. He met with Mr. Victor Manuel Pérez, the Minister of Agriculture, Maria Noel, Director of UNOPS, and Alberto Alemán and the Panama Canal Administration. In addition, he visited with rep-resentatives from Universidad Tecnológica de Panama, several Colleges in the Universidad de Panama, Dr. Rubén Berrocal, Secretario Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación (SENA-CYT), and Dr. Rodrigo Tarte from the Center for Sustainable Development, and met with the Panama Aggie Club. Several possibilities of collaboration with Texas A&M were suggested and are being followed up on campus.

visiT of peTrobras america To Texas a&m universiTY

Orlando Azevedo, President of Petrobras America, Gustavo Amaral, Senior Vice President – Upstream, Octavio Cintra, Senior Vice President for Downstream, Rui Fonseca, Quality, Health, Safety, and Environment Manager, Jorge Grau, Health Safety and Environment, and Ricardo Peduzzi, Peduzzi & Company, Brazil-Texas Chamber of Commerce visited Texas A&M University on January 29, 2010 to tour research institutions and to meet with key contacts in order to discuss potential collaboration. While they were here they toured the TEEX facility, Emergency Operations Training Center (EOTC), and Brayton Fire Field. In addition, they met with Dr. Jorge Vanegas, Dean of the College of Architecture, Dr. John Niedzwecki, Associate Vice Chancellor and Executive Associate Dean for Engineer-ing and Dr. Jeffrey Seeman, Vice President for Research, accompanied by Maria Alves and Roger Norton.

coLLeGe of LiberaL arTs visiTs san miGueL De aLLenDe anD GuanajuaTa, mexico

Drs. Martyn Gunn, Vice Provost for Academic Services, Leslie Feigenbaum, Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs, College of Architecture, Mike Greenwald, Director, International Stud-ies Degree Program, Pam Matthews, Associate Provost for Undergraduate Studies, Mike Stephenson, Acting Associate Dean, College of Liberal Arts, and Dr. Roger Norton, Director of the Latin American Programs Office, traveled to San Miguel de Allende to discuss a potential minor in Fine Arts with key partners in Guanajuato and San Miguel de Allende. They met with rep-resentatives at the University of Guanajuato, Instituto Allende (an institute offering degrees in fine arts and Spanish language), and the University of Guanajuato Cultural Extension Center. They also reviewed progress on the planned Santa Clara research and teaching facil-ity with Aggie Pablo Marvin.

Lawrence praTT, incae business schooL in cosTa rica visiTs a&mDr. Lawrence Pratt, Director of the Latin American Center for Competitiveness and Sus-

tainable Development at INCAE Business School in Costa Rica visited Texas A&M University on February 2, 2010. INCAE is the leading business school in Latin America and will be a key partner in the region. It was founded in 1964 by Harvard Business School and USAID. The purpose of Dr. Pratt’s visit was to meet with several departments at Texas A&M to discuss potential collaboration with INCAE and other institutions throughout the region. He met with Dr. Julian Gaspar, Director, Center for International Business Studies, to discuss partner-ing on a grant for an International Business Center. In addition, he met with Drs. Richard Woodward, David Matarrita Cascante, and Tazim Jamal from the College of Agriculture to discuss a potential symposium on climate change to be held at the Soltis Center for Research and Education. He met with Drs. Rick Giardino, Ron Kaiser and Martyn Gunn to discuss a possible water management research program in Central America that would emphasize the critical wa-ter situation in El Salvador. Dr. Roger Norton of the Latin American Programs Office, who has worked closely with Dr. Pratt in the past, accompanied him in his discussions here.

InternatIonaL student servIcesISS has scheduled travel signature and visa letter sessions around campus for students who

are traveling this semester. Three dates are scheduled. If students have questions, please refer them to the website. http://international.tamu.edu/iss

February 25th Zachry Building (Lobby)March 30th Wehner BuildingApril 14th International Student Services office

There will be an International Dinner that will be held at University Apartments on February 24th; if you are interested in volunteering for this event please email Adrea Dottavio at adot-tavio@ipomail.tamu.edu

study abroad Programs offIce

DeaDLine for faLL/acaDemic Year reciprocaL exchanGes

March 1 is the application deadline for Fall and Academic Year Reciprocal Exchanges (REEPs). SAPO offers 11 university-wide REEPs in Japan, Korea, Singapore, Mexico, Ecuador, France, Switzer-land, Germany, and England. The academic colleges offer several other REEP opportunities as well. REEPs have become increasing popular due to their affordability and the opportunity to take classes that directly relate to a student’s academic degree plan. For more information on reciprocal ex-changes, please visit: http://studyabroad.tamu.edu/reep_program.asp.

benjamin a. GiLman march 30 schoLarship DeaDLine for summer, faLL anD acaDemic proGrams

The Benjamin A. Gilman Scholarship provides funding for financially needy students to spend at least four weeks abroad in one country via a credit-bearing international experience. Applicants have a 1 in 4 chance to receive up to $5,000 plus an additional $3,000 supplement for the study of critical languages. Eligibility requirements are that the applicant must be an undergraduate student who is a U.S. citizen and will participate in a Texas A&M approved credit-bearing international expe-rience and will spend at least four weeks in one country. Only Science, Technical, Engineering, and Math majors are eligible to be awarded for summer programs. For the past two years Texas A&M has ranked in the top 20 for institutions with the highest number of scholarship recipients. For infor-mation on how to apply, contact Orie Varner (ovarner@tamu.edu) or visit http://www.iie.org/gilman.

sPonsored student Programs romero hicks nameD 2010 LockheeD marTin worLD schoLar-in-resiDence

On Monday, February 16, 2010, Mr. Juan Carlos Romero Hicks, Director General of The National Council on Science and Technology (CONACYT) visited Texas A&M University. Mr. Romero Hicks is the recipient of the 2010 Lockheed Martin World Scholar-In-Residence award, which recognizes prominent international academic and business leaders and public policy makers and facilitates their interaction with university faculty and stu-dents to inspire a broader global perspective.

During his visit, Mr. Romero Hicks and officials from Texas A&M signed a new Agreement of Cooperation regarding and Exchange Program for visiting student researchers.

Mr. Romero Hicks met with the CONACYT students after the award ceremony. Throughout the discussion, he and students expressed their concerns, questions and finalized ongoing issues in regards to CONACYT scholarship requirements. CONACYT students also had the opportunity to meet and talk to Mr. Jaime Alejandr Buentello Garcia who is a former sponsored student in the Fulbright program with CONACYT. Mr. Buentello Garcia delivered a speech in which he expressed his apprecia-tion to CONACYT for the opportunity to study and conduct research at Texas A&M University. He earned his Master’s in 1995 in Wildlife & Fisheries and a PhD in 1999 in Animal Science. Mr. Buentello Garcia encouraged students to maintain their excellent performance, persistence and to look forward toward future endeavors.ssp Launches facebook anD TwiTTer

The Sponsored Student Programs office recently launched a Facebook group for sponsored students. Social events, campus activities, and important information relating to sponsored students are posted on the Facebook group page to keep them informed and engaged with the community and campus. The SSP office also opened a Twitter account and hopes to get most of the sponsored student population to follow the SSP office for short tweets on relevant events and topics. The webmaster for SSP is currently working to get the Facebook and Twit-ter postings to automatically post on the revised SSP website for better streamlined communi-cation tools.Tsunami fuLbriGhTers GaTher in LiTTLe rock

The Tsunami Fulbright students who recently gathered in Little Rock, Arkansas with repre-sentatives from IIE, TAMU, and the University of Arizona for the Bush Clinton Tsunami Ful-bright Retreat collected donations to assist with Haitian relief efforts. Students composed and sent a letter to President Bush and President Clinton indicating their utmost appreciation for their assistance during the Tsunami tragedy and encouraged them to look forward to the future of Haiti.new sTuDenT arrivaLs from iraq

The Sponsored Student Programs welcomed four (4) Iraqi students that have begun study under the auspices of the Iraqi Scholarship Program at Texas A&M University. The new Iraqi students are funded by the U.S Department of Agriculture (USDA) with program administra-tion coordinated with the Borlaug Institute and the SSP. On Friday, February 16, an additional group of 12 students from Iraq will arrive on campus to begin their studies.

InternatIonal Faculty & Scholar ServIceS

DeLeGaTion from ciuDaD reaL visiTinG This weekenD

A delegation from the Chamber of Commerce of the city of Ciudad Real is coming to College Station this weekend. College Station and Ciudad Real have a fraternal partnership agreement since 2004. Mario Rojo del Busto chairs the College Station Fraternal Committee. The purpose of the trip is for the Spanish delegation to meet and flesh out a potential multi-party col-laboration agreement for soft landing and economic development. This is a direct result and follow-up of the High Speed Rail and Wind Energy symposiums held this past fall. The meet-ing is scheduled for February 22, 2010. Offices and entities that are involved in this meeting are TAMU Vice President for Research Office, Economic Development (TAMUS); the Research Valley Partnership; the Bryan/College Station Chamber of Commerce; the Office of Technology Commercialization (TAMUS); the Research Valley Innovation Center; EU Center and the Inter-national Faculty & Scholar Services office.

upcominG evenT

IFSS Workshop with Foster & Quan (Immigration Law Firm) on March 11, 2010 in 601 Rud-der. On March 11, 2010, FosterQuan in collaboration with the International Faculty & Scholar Services will be imparting a presentation for university administrators on Labor Certifications, Special Handling and Outstanding Professor/Researcher petitions. This presentation is intend-ed for deans, department heads, department contacts, payroll, human resources and other professional staff involved in the hiring of international faculty and researchers.

Chinese Language Class from Navasota

Particpates in Lunar

New Year Celebration

Guanajuato visit

San Miguel Group

From left: Mr. Juan Carlos Romero Hicks, Dr. Jeffrey Seemann, Vice President

for Research, and President Bowen Loftin at

signing ceremony.

Dr. Norton visits Panama.

Dr. Vanegas at the Soltis Center with student

group.

Enews is provided by each IPO unit’s Communications Council representa-tive:

•Katherine Cantrell

•Ana Laura Bauza

•Gosia Wright

•Ashley Haguewood

•Kristina Reyes

•Angelina Fonseca

•Shanika Abegunawardana

•James Mendiola

•Renae Vargo

•Linda Edwards