Write to your Members of Congress and urge them to support robust FY14 funding for Department of State exchanges at $625 million

The following IHEC Blog post is a copy and paste of an e-mail I received from Lisa Heyn, Policy Specialist at the Alliance for International Educational & Cultural Exchange, and it is re-posted with her permission.  Please take a moment to review the information and if you support this effort then please take a moment to send a letter as it literally takes less then one minute to submit the templated message the Alliance has prepared if you don't have time to write your own letter!

The Senate State-Foreign Operations appropriations subcommittee will hold its first hearing on FY14 funding tomorrow (Thursday, April 18th) which is why it is critical that we boost our efforts today and spread our message far and wide via Twitter and letters to Congress!

So far, 161 letters have been sent. While this is a great start, we need to have many more letter sent to lawmakers today, especially to House and Senate appropriators!  Our goal is to have at least 500 letters sent by the end of today!

An editable sample letter is available on the Alliance Action Legislative Alerts and Updates webpage. If possible, please include specific examples demonstrating the (economic) impact of exchanges in your community. You can find your Members of Congress here.

Tweet #ExchangesImpact

We also need to gather as many Tweets as possible today using the hashtag #ExchangesImpact – please take our message to Twitter and tweet your Members of Congress about the importance of international exchanges, using their individual Twitter handles. For a complete list of Member Twitter handles, refer to these House and Senate lists. Sample tweets are included below for your use.

Thank you for taking action today by tweeting about #ExchangesImpact, and for helping us reach our goal of having at least 500 letters sent to Congress in support of FY14 funding for Department of State exchanges at $625 million.

Sample Tweets

·         Support FY14 funding at $625 million for Dept. of State exchanges, a proven and cost-effective PD and smart power tool #ExchangesImpact

·         Leadership, cultural learning & language study: International exchange programs prepare Americans for the global economy #ExchangesImpact

·         Exchanges teach Americans critical skills and enhance U.S. global competitiveness #ExchangesImpact

·         Exchanges are a cost-effective investment, expanding the vision of current & emerging leaders across the globe #ExchangesImpact

·         International exchanges enhance U.S. national security & smart power by engaging future leaders across the world #ExchangesImpact

·         Exchanges change lives and minds, creating a vast reservoir of goodwill toward the U.S. across the globe #ExchangesImpact

Photo credit:  studentofrhythm

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on the Impact that Violence in the United States has on Prospective International Students

ABSTRACT - "The National Security Education Program and its Service Requirement: An Exploratory Study of what Areas of Government and for What Duration National Security Education Program Recipients Have Worked" a Dissertation by David Comp, 2013

If you are interested in reading my dissertation and are unable to locate it electronically then please feel free to e-mail me and I will send it to you as an e-mail attachment.

Forum on Education Abroad 2013 Annual Conference #Hashtag

In honor of the Forum on Education Abroad officially setting their own annual conference #hashtag of #ForumEA13 thought I would post a Twitter search widget so those not in attendance nor on Twitter can follow the back channel from the conference.  For those of you attending I look forward to our paths crossing!

Tweets about "#ForumEA13"

Inaugural Diversity Abroad Conference - "Changing Landscapes: Strategies and Opportunities For Greater Access" Twitter Backchannel

The inaugural Diversity Abroad conference started today in Chicago and runs through tomorrow.  I wish I could attend but my schedule would not allow for me to attend this conference and the Forum on Education Abroad conference here in Chicago that begins Wednesday and runs through Friday!  Those of you going to the Forum conference I hope our paths cross.

While I couldn't attend the Diversity Abroad conference I received in the mail a copy of Charles Gliozzo's article "The International Education of Minority Students" published in Minority Education in 1980.  My research has found that Gliozzo's article is the first piece of literature in the field focusing on underrepresentation in study abroad so this is a great addition to my Bury Book International Education Library & Archive!

If you are not on Twitter and you want to follow the backchannel from the Diversity Abroad conference I have embedded the #DiversityConf13 hashtag!

Tweets about "#DiversityConf13"

"The SAGE Handbook of International Higher Education" (2012) edited by Darla K. Deardorff, Hans de Wit, John D. Heyl, and the late Tony Adams

So far, today has been pretty good. 

Not only did I receive an e-mail about a potential evaluation/assessment project but I received the following book (hard cover) in the mail (benefit of JSIE Editorial Board membership):

The SAGE Handbook of International Higher Education (2012) edited by Darla K. Deardorff, Hans de Wit, John D. Heyl, and the late Tony Adams.

Now that I'll be done with my dissertation (I defend tomorrow and submit final manuscript by April 1st)  I will be able to read this book and do a more formal review for IHEC Blog.  It will also be a lovely addition to my Bury Book International Education Library & Archive!

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on the Fulbright Program and International Leaders who Studied in the United States

Full text available on the U.S. State Department of State website.