annual program report - fulbright6 bulgarianamerican commission for educational exchange grant...

Bulgarian-American Commissionfor Educational Exchange

Fiscal Year

ANNUAL PROGRAM REPORTProgram period: October 1, 2015 – September 30, 2016

2016

2 Bulgarian–American Commission for Educational Exchange

Grant Activities ......................................................................................................................................... 06

US Grantees in AY 15-16 and AY 16-17: Activities and Accomplishments .............................. 06

US Scholars ..................................................................................................................................... 07

US Specialists .................................................................................................................................. 08

US Graduate Students ................................................................................................................... 10

ETA Program .................................................................................................................................... 12

Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................... 15

U.S. Alumni Accomplishments in AY 2015-2016 ............................................................................ 16

Bulgarian Grantees in AY 15-16 and AY 16-17 ................................................................................ 20

Bulgarian Grantees’ Accomplishments in AY 15-16 ....................................................................... 24

Grant-Related Activities .......................................................................................................................... 27

Academic Advising ............................................................................................................................... 29

Participation in International Events .................................................................................................. 33

General Factors Impacting the Program ............................................................................................ 34

Administration, Budget, Fund-Raising, Income-Generating Activities .................................. 36

Conclusion .................................................................................................................................................... 37

Appendix 1: Bulgarian Media Coverage of Fulbright Activities ............................................................ 39

Contents

3Annual Program Report, Fiscal Year 2016

The Bulgarian-American Commission for

Educational Exchange (Bulgarian Fulbright

Commission) was officially inaugurated

on February 9, 1993, under a ten-year bilateral

agreement between the governments of the United

States and the Republic of Bulgaria. On December

3, 2003, a new bilateral agreement was signed

between the governments of the United States and

the Republic of Bulgaria establishing the Fulbright

Commission in perpetuity. Prior to the establishment

of the Commission, the Fulbright exchange in

Bulgaria existed on a limited scale: between 1967 and

1993 there were 102 Bulgarian and approximately

80 American Fulbright grantees. The total number

of Bulgarian and American Fulbright grantees since

1967 is 1187. Of these, 560 are Bulgarians and 627

Americans.

The Commission board consists of ten members, five

American citizens and five Bulgarian citizens. They

represent the major areas of state and public activity:

government, education, the arts, and business. The

Ambassador of the United States to the Republic of

Bulgaria and the Minister of Education and Science

of the Republic of Bulgaria serve as honorary

chairpersons of the Commission.

The board members at the time of publication are:

US Members

l Thomas Higgins (CEO, Yatoto)

l Stratsimir Kulinski (President, American

University in Bulgaria)

l Tammy Paltchikov, Treasurer (Attaché for

Educational and Cultural Affairs, US Embassy)

l Brian Stimmler, Chairman (Counselor for Public

Affairs, US Embassy)

l Jeffery Warner (Head of Teacher Support, Teach

for Bulgaria)

Bulgarian Members

l Ivan Dimov (Deputy Minister, Ministry of

Education and Science)

l Kaloyan Damyanov (Advisor to Minister of

Education and Science)

l Viktoria Melamed (Minister Plenipotentiary,

Eastern Europe and Central Asia

Directorate,Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

l Maria Metodieva (Family Economic Success

Officer, Trust for Social Achievement, Sofia)

l Julia Stefanova (former Executive Director of the

Bulgarian Fulbright Commission)

Bulgarian-American Commissionfor Educational Exchange


The main function of the Commission directly derives

from the goals of the Fulbright Program worldwide

and consists in administering the exchange of

Bulgarian and American scholars, students, teachers,

school administrators and professionals and providing

educational advising about opportunities for study

in the U.S. During FY 2016 the Bulgarian-American

Commission for Educational Exchange continued to

serve the goals of the Fulbright program as defined in

the 1961 Fulbright-Hays Act and the 2003 agreement

between the US Government and the Government

of the Republic of Bulgaria. In the past year, the

commission underwent a major change, namely

moving to new premises at 12 Vitosha Boulevard

after more than two decades at its previous location.

Various economic challenges and domestic and

regional factors also impacted the Fulbright fiscal

and academic year under review. Below is the list of

our major goals and objectives over the past year:

1. Promote academic exchanges in all fields.

2. Extend outreach to Bulgarian universities, high

schools and other educational and research

institutions to provide a higher quality, a greater

number, and diversity of applicants.

3. Further popularize the Fulbright program

in Bulgaria in the context of increasing

competition from European universities by

strengthening EducationUSA and broadening

the use of Internet resources and social

networks.

4. Increase the number of Bulgarian candidates

by promoting diversity through program

outreach to underserved areas and social

groups, attracting students in STEM areas,

offering non-degree opportunities to doctoral

students, young researchers and NGO officers.

5. Disseminate information about the Fulbright

opportunity in Bulgaria at US universities

and educational institutions so as to attract

more and better quality US applicants in all

categories.

6. Involve Fulbright alumni more actively in the

promotion of the Fulbright program in Bulgaria

and the US.

7. Assist Bulgarian universities to develop

partnerships with US universities and other

institutions.

8. Promote the Specialist Program among

potential candidates from the US and in

Bulgarian universities and educational

institutions.

9. Increase Fulbright presence in Bulgaria by

using the resources of AmericanCorners and

US Embassy-supported libraries and involving

ETAs more actively.

10. Maintain and expand productive cooperation

with the America for Bulgaria Foundation,

especially with a view to the ETA program.

11. Maintain cooperation with other donors and

identify more fund-raising opportunities.

12. Participate in international events relating

to the Fulbright program and international

education.

13. Maintain good communication with ECA,

cooperating agencies and educational

institution in the US and Bulgaria, and other

Fulbright Commissions to ensure high

standards of program administration on

the basis of binationalism, peer review and

professionalism.


To help meet these objectives, throughout FY2016

one of the Bulgarian Fulbright Commission’s major

goals was to update and expand its communications

and outreach efforts, especially its Internet and

social media presence. The commission’s paper/

PDF newsletter was completely redesigned as of

Spring 2016 as a bi-annual magazine meant to be

more attractive to alumni and partner organizations,

while a bi-monthly newsletter was launched in

late 2015 to offer regular updates to the Bulgarian

Fulbright community. ED Angela Rodel and staff

coordinated a complete reconstruction and redesign

of the commission website, which was launched

in November 2015; the news and information

published there is far more integrated with our

social media and e-newsletter than the previous

website. Our current website statistics (for Fulbright.

bg) for the period October 2015-September 2016

are as follows:

l Unique visitors: 29,344

l Sessions: 46,942

l Page views: 109,391

Although still modest compared to larger European

Fulbright Commissions’ social media presence,

Fulbright Bulgaria’s social media outreach has

expanded considerably over the past year, as the

following statistics indicate:

1,276 current Facebook friends plus 81 followers:

https://www.facebook.com/Fubright.Bulgaria (as

compared to 875 last year, a 45% increase)

128 members in the closed Fulbright Bulgaria

Community group (as compared to 81 last year, a

58% increase)

147 members of the closed ETA Facebook group (as

compared to 118 last year, a 25% increase)

421Twitter followers (as compared to 254 last year, a

66% increase)

We also started a Fulbright Bulgaria LinkedIn account,

which already has 397 connections

We have developed a strategy for more frequent and

coordinated posts between our website, e-newsletter

and various social media, so as to increase the

likelihood of reaching a larger number of alumni and

partners through such channels.


Grant ActivitiesUS Grantees in AY 15-16 and AY 16-17: Activities and Accomplishments

In AY 15-16 the number of US grantees working

in Bulgaria was 43: five scholars, four graduate

students, twenty-nine English teaching assistants,

and five specialists. The scholars came from the

following fields: political science, American literature,

filmmaking, and psychology. They were affiliated

with the University of National and World Economy,

Plovdiv University, the University of Veliko Tarnovo,

the National Academy of Theater and Film Arts, and

the National Centre for Addictions. The Fulbright

Specialists were experts in the following fields:

women/gender studies, migration, special education,

speech-language pathology, and education/

curriculum development. Fulbright graduate students

conducted independent research in the field of

social entrepreneurship, social work, and history,

while the student selected under our joint program

with the Romanian Fulbright Commission studied

how to play Bulgarian woodwind instruments. The

twenty-nine English Teaching Assistants worked with

Bulgarian high schools in twenty-four towns around

the country.

US Fulbright Scholars in Bulgaria, AY 2015 - 2016


The group of scholars in AY 2015/2016 was very

active. All of them had guest lectures at institutions

that were not their official hosts. Dr. Boyka Stefanova

(University of National and World Economy) offered

guest lectures and research seminars at New

Bulgarian University, the American University in

Blagoevgrad, Sofia University, and the University

of Plovdiv. She developed a joint proposal for a

conference presentation with a colleague from

her host institution; started a new research project

on political memory with two colleagues from

the American University in Bulgaria; collaborated

with several interested institutions to develop their

curriculum in the field of innovation policy and

international governance, and submitted for approval

proposals for institutional cooperation between

Bulgarian universities and her home institution, the

University of Texas San Antonio.

Dr. Carol MacCurdy, who taught writing courses,

Contemporary American Literature, and Ethical

Dilemmas in Contemporary American Fiction at

the University of Plovdiv, was invited to deliver the

plenary address to the 11th Biennial Conference of

the Hungarian Association for American Studies

(HAAS) held in Pecs, Hungary, on May 12, 2016. She

was the driving force behind the organization of

a panel where US visiting scholars in the country

discussed contemporary issues in American life that

challenge the boundaries of tolerance from their

own perspective. The panel was entitled “American

Challenges (In)Tolerance,” and was held on April 8,

2016, at the University of Plovdiv.

Dr. Isabelle White, who taught Nineteenth Century

American Literature and American and Canadian

Culture and History at the University of Veliko

Tarnovo, made a guest appearance at the University

of Plovdiv.

Mira Niagolova, a documentary filmmaker from

Vermont, taught two courses at the National

Academy for Theatre and Film Arts, but she also

volunteered to teach a whole senior class at Sofia

University’s Journalism and Mass-communication

Department. She did a research for her new multi-

platform documentary film, with the working title

“Mapping Paradise,” set to discover how Bulgarians

perceive happiness. She travelled to different parts

of the country to conduct video interviews with

people from all walks of life. With the assistance of

the Fulbright Commission and US Embassy, Mira

did a screening of her film “Welcome to Vermont,”

followed up by a discussion on promoting cultural

understanding through film. She also presented a

guest talk entitled “Producing Independent Social

Documentaries in the USA” at the Sofia International

Film Festival.

Dr. Ronald Harvey, whose project was to research

possibilities for creating an Oxford House in Bulgaria

as a form of residential aftercare for substance

addicts, actually ended up starting the first Oxford

House on the European continent. He received

a three-month grant extension to complete this

project in collaboration with Bulgarian researchers

US Scholars

From left to right: Mira Niagolova, Dr. Ronald

Harvey, and Dr. Carol MacCurdy at the “American

Challenges (In)Tolerance” panel discussion

Dr. Ronald Harvey leading an improv comedy

workshop at “Peter Bogdan” Foreign Language

High School in Montana


US Specialists

and practitioners at “Open Your Eyes” drug treatment

centre in Varna. They translated Oxford House

program materials into Bulgarian, created a house

operations manual for the residents and transition

staff, paid initial rents and security deposits, and

provided communal housing for four men. Along

with his official research work, Ron also conducted

improv comedy workshops for high school students

and adults for team building and general training in

Montana, and for the general public in Varna. He also

performed at “Tears and Laughter” and “@lma @lter”

theatres in Sofia.

The final reports of the US lecturers and the evaluations

of the partner institutions were very positive. The

only challenge we had was related to the cost-share

provided by Bulgarian host institutions. They were

expected to provide an honorarium to scholars

who taught courses, but some could not afford it.

This honorarium is usually very small, because it is

calculated by Bulgarian standards (about 1.5 USD

per academic hour). Despite that, it is becoming

more difficult for public universities to provide such

payment. Therefore, we have decided not to ask

hosts for such contributions anymore. The monthly

Fulbright stipend is generous for Bulgarian living

standards, and most scholars are satisfied with the

amount. Also, they usually do not work only with one

university - we encourage them to reach out to more

institutions, colleagues, and friends, which leads to a

greater visibility of their projects, and the results are

far more satisfying than the results from teaching

a single course at a single university. All scholars

expressed interest in returning to Bulgaria to continue

their work here and have been very helpful to the

Commission in their capacity as resource persons for

the new cohort of grantees, and as reviewers for the

Bulgarian Fulbright grant competition.

The 2016 fiscal year was marked not only by greater

interest in the Specialist Program, but also by new

joint initiatives. The Commission carried out a

project entirely funded by ECA under their call for

Specialists working in the field of Migration. This led

to the establishment of new partnerships with the

Association for Integration of Refugees and Migrants,

the Red Cross, the International Organization for

Migration, the UNHCR, and Council of Women

Refugees, and to a successful visit of a Specialist with

many productive meetings, and two public lectures

at Sofia University and New Bulgarian University.

Specialist Bill O’Keefe works for the Catholic Relief

Services and is eager to continue his collaboration

with his partners in Bulgaria. We sincerely hope that

there will be new opportunities to encourage the

exchange of experts in the field of refugees and

migration, because the topic is very relevant and

requires special attention.

Another new form of collaboration was a joint

project with the US Embassy in Sofia, entirely funded

by a grant they received from DOS Office of Global

Engagement. The goal of the Specialist’s visit was

to research ways to increase American students’

presence and to help improve marketing of Bulgarian

universities to the U.S. During his stay in Bulgaria,

Fulbright Specialist Dr. Scott Waring had meetings

with Sofia University and New Bulgarian University in

Sofia, the American University and the South-West

University in Blagoevgrad, and a business school

Fulbright Specialist Bill O’Keefe (fifth from left to

right) on a visit to the refugee center in Harmanli


in Varna. Dr. Waring represents one of the largest

Universities in the US, the University of Central Florida,

and he is committed to forming various institutional

linkages, so we are eager to see the follow-up of this

initiative. Also, it is crucial for the Program to be co-

financed under such joint projects, because while

Bulgarian institutions are greatly interested in hosting

short-term specialist visits, unfortunately most of

them are unable to afford even the modest cost-

sharing required by the program.

In FY 2016, two universities and one NGO that

received funds from European Programs for

their projects were able to host a US Specialist.

Sofia University attracted a prominent American

feminist and historian, Dr. Linda Gordon from New

York University, for a series of open lectures at the

University, and for evaluation and upgrading of

their curriculum and teaching resources. Professor

Gordon also met students and colleagues from other

universities in Bulgaria: the New Bulgarian University in

Sofia; the American University, and the Southwestern

University in Blagoevgrad, and took part in a TV show

for one of the major Bulgarian TV channels.

The Specialist in Speech/Language Pathology

hosted by the South-West University in Blagoevgrad,

Dr. Robert Orlikoff, taught an intensive lecture course,

presented workshops and seminars, conducted

consultation-based research work with his Bulgarian

colleagues, and took part in academic courses

evaluation and assessment. The project was also the

first successful realization of combined international

Erasmus+ and Fulbright programs in Bulgaria.

The main role of the Specialist in Early Childhood

Intervention/Early Childhood Special Education

hosted by the Karin Dom Foundation in Varna was

to support the development of services for children

with special needs and their families. Cathy Hyslop

assisted the development and expansion of their

current Parent-Mediated Group, and she was

involved in their attempts to increase the inclusion

of parents whose children receive therapy in

their Center for Children with Special Needs. She

attended individual and group therapy sessions,

conducted trainings for the professionals working

at the Center, developed a formal assessment and

data collection system for children in their Early

Intervention Program (age 0-3), and was invited by

the Medical University in Varna to share practical

experience for parent-mediated services, and to

raise awareness about the involvement of parents in

the care for their children.

Fulbright Specialist Dr. Robert Orlikoff with Dr. Georgieva, SWU’s Deputy Rector of International Relations,

and Dr. Deliyski from Michigan State University


In AY 2015/2016 the Commission hosted four US

graduate students in social entrepreneurship, social

work, history, and music. They were affiliated with

the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, the University

of National and World Economy, New Bulgarian

University, and the Academy of Music, Dance and

Fine Arts in Plovdiv. The researchers collaborated

with other local institutions, attended research

conferences, established networks and connections

that will be of use throughout their careers, and

gathered a wealth of material during their time in the

country.

Julia Irons researched bilingual inscriptions from

Roman Thrace. She identified and when possible

examined in person bilingual inscriptions known

in the former province of Thrace, established

relationships with Bulgarian scholars in relevant

fields of study, gathered archival and field data in

anticipation of incorporating her work into her future

dissertation. Her host institution was New Bulgarian

University, but she also volunteered extensively with

the Balkan Heritage Foundation, a Bulgarian NGO

that oversees archaeological field schools in Bulgaria

and Macedonia. She reviewed English-language

documents and edited and created Wikipedia pages

for their projects. She presented alongside several

other Master’s-level students at a gathering of New

Bulgarian University students and faculty preceding a

university-sponsored trip to the island of Samothrace

in May, and submitted a paper for a conference in

Plovdiv, which was accepted. Thus, Julia returned to

Bulgaria in October to participate in the conference

and present the outcomes of her research.

Michelle Asbill, affiliated with the University of

National and World Economy, came to Bulgaria to

explore the role of education and its potential to

reduce the percentage of Bulgarians turning to the

sex industry to meet legitimate economic needs.

Her future dissertation will involve interviewing

past and current Bulgarian traffickers in order to

investigate community and societal factors identified

as significant by traffickers as influential in their own

process of deciding to become a trafficker. During

her Fulbright project, Michelle participated in a

conference on social service delivery to children in

Vienna, Austria, and co-taught a course organised by

her home university (University of Illinois) in Greece.

Rachel Susser was a recipient of the joint Bulgarian-

Romanian Fulbright grant. Her project was to learn

to play traditional folk music on kaval (Bulgaria) and

nai (Romania). She was placed at the Academy of

Music, Dance and Fine Arts in Plovdiv, where she

attended individual classes in kaval, folk singing,

and folk dancing, funded by the Bulgarian Fulbright

Commission. In addition to working with the kaval

US Graduate Students

Fulbright Graduate Student Julia Irons, New

Bulgarian University

Fulbright Graduate Student Michelle Asbill,

University of National and World Economy


teacher at her host institution, Rachel worked with

kaval players in Sofia, Kotel, Shiroka Luka, and with

the Trakiya Ensemble in Plovdiv. She attended various

rituals, events, and festivals in Plovdiv, Rakovski,

Brestovitsa, Pernik, Trud, and Blagoevgrad to learn

about the use of folk music in various traditions.

Zachary Wenner, placed at the Bulgarian Academy of

Sciences, researched social entrepreneurship, impact

investing and development finance in Bulgaria. He

addressed local audiences during several conferences

related to social entrepreneurship, participated as a

lecturer in the EMPATHEAST Forum (Empathy Driven

Social Change in Eastern Europe, 13-15 November

2015, Sofia), and joined EU level events such as

local events surrounding Startup Europe Week. He

was sponsored by the Commission to participate

in the Seminar on the EU, organized by the Belgian

Fulbright Commission. A good part of Zachary’s

research studies culminated in publications (IGI

Global Optimal Strategies for SMEs - Book Chapter) or

reports at conferences (Conference of the Romanian

Academy of Sciences “Victor Slăvescu,” Centre for

Financial and Monetary Research, Conference of

the French Higher School of Management ESFAM in

Bucharest, Warsaw workshop of the Warsaw School

of Economics.)

The students’ reports indicated that they have been

very satisfied with the exchange and would like to

continue the established contacts and relationships.

We have taken steps to engage them further by

inviting them to a Facebook group that was originally

intended for Bulgarian alumni only, but we expanded

it to include current grantees and alumni from both

countries in an effort to establish a community

where they can ask questions, discuss hot topics, or

share information about their publications or other

achievements.

In December 2015 and in May 2016, mid-term and

wrap-up seminars were organized for US Scholars,

Students, and ETAs. The events were a great

opportunity for the grantees to showcase their

achievements and discuss the challenges that they

face. Student grantees arriving early were given the

opportunity to join the Bulgarian language course

during the ETA training in the beginning of September,

and there was one-day orientation program for all

graduate students in the end of September. Scholars

arriving for the second semester also attended one-

day orientation program in February.

Fulbright Graduate Student Rachel Susser,

Plovdiv Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts

Fulbright Graduate Student Zachary Wenner (last person to the right, last row) at the annual EU Seminar

organized by the Belgian Fulbright Commission

12

The ETA program is Fulbright Bulgaria’s largest and

most visible exchange program: in the period under

review, the direct beneficiaries of the program

are over 7,000 students from 24 high schools with

intensive foreign languages instruction, three regular

secondary schools (one in Vidin, two in Sofia), one

mathematics school (Varna) and one professional

school (Silistra). Direct beneficiaries are also the ETAs

themselves, their Bulgarian mentor teachers and

their local communities. Throughout the year, the

Bulgarian Fulbright Commission staff conducts site

visits to each school, hosts a Mid-Term meeting in

December and a Wrap-Up seminar in June in order

to support ETAs in their role, monitor performance,

address various challenges and explore best practices.

ETAs have regular teaching duties of between 14 and

20 hours per week and teach alone or with a co-

teacher, according to the particular needs of the host

school. Each has around 300 students on average.

While most ETAs are required by their schools to

focus on speaking activities and developing the

productive skills of their students, there are 11 ETAs

who also teach British and/ or American literature

- in Blagoevgrad, Burgas, Dimitrovgrad, Haskovo,

Plovdiv, Pravets, Razgrad, Ruse, Shumen, Silistra and

Vratsa. ETAs incorporate teaching American culture

into their regular classes or make especially themed

presentations on aspects of American culture –

holidays such as Halloween and Thanksgiving, typical

American food, sports and music, American regional

dialects and urban slang, etc.

All 291 AY2015-2016 Fulbright ETAs started their

school year on September 15, 2015, after an intensive

ETA Orientation Training organized by the Fulbright

Commission. Throughout the months of October,

November and December the Fulbright Commission

conducted its annual site visits. Meetings were held

with ETAs, mentor teachers and school principals,

starting with the schools hosting a returning ETA

in Sofia, Lovech, Vratsa, Sliven, Pernik, Kardjali and

Gabrovo. Commission Director Angela Rodel and

program officers Rada Kaneva and Iliana Dimitrova

also observed each ETA deliver a lesson and visited

the accommodations provided by the partner

schools. US Embassy English language specialist

Jesse Kiendl joined Commission staff for many of the

schools visits and provided detailed and individual

feedback to ETAs on their teaching methods and

lesson materials. Program officers followed up in

cases where issues of various natures were identified

during the visits and made sure actions were taken to

resolve those issues. For example, with support from

the schools’ management, the ETAs’ schedule and

workload were adjusted in Blagoevgrad, Vidin, Silistra;

problems with accommodation were addressed in

Haskovo, Gabrovo, Pazardzhik, and Pravets. The site

1 The ETA placed in Pleven resigned on a very short notice, which reduced the total number of ETAs to 29.

ETA Program

ETA Sirena Wurth, Ekzarh Yossif FLHS, Razgrad

Nikola Vaptsarov FLHS, Shumen. From left:

principal Georgi Georgiev, Jesse Kiendl, ETA

Lauren Gieseke, Angela Rodel, ETA mentor

Stefan Gandev

1The ETA placed in Pleven resigned on a very short notice, which reduced the total number of ETAs to 29.


visits were a great introduction of the new executive

director of the Commission to the national network

of schools participating in the Fulbright ETA program

and their specific needs and profile.

Many ETAs engaged in extracurricular activities

outside of class and school, involving the local

community. They were actively involved in the

Creative Writing and Spelling Bee events run by the

CorPlus Foundation, in preparation of students for

programs such as YES, Assist and Benjamin Franklin,

college counseling and various projects and

competitions sponsored by the Bulgarian Ministry

of Education and Science. Many ETAs continued

clubs started in their school or town by a previous

Fulbright grantee or a Peace Corps volunteer – such

are the Women Club in Varna which was expanded

into a Gender Club, the English Club in Razgrad,

the Cooking, Basketball and Reading clubs in

Montana, the Coffee and Conversation hours ETAs

have with their students in Sofia, Vratsa, Pravets,

Vidin, Gabrovo, Montana, and Varna. Other activities

included coaching a football team at the Teofano

Popova orphanage in Stara Zagora, running Creative

Writing Clubs in Haskovo and Plovdiv and preparing

students for the SAT, TOEFL or Cambridge exams in

Lovech and Burgas. Most ETAs also helped senior

students with their college applications assisting

with essay writing, interview practices or choosing

the right school. Returning ETA Anna Fuselier (Sofia)

continued her art class project with refugee children

at the Voenna Rampa camp in addition to serving as

assistant managing director and Fulbright-liaison of

the BEST foundation. ETAs Moriah Kent (Plovdiv) and

Colby Fleming (Pazardzhik) raised funds and travelled

to the Greek Island of Lesbos in order to distribute

clothes, feminine care products and other items to

refugees with the help of a local organization.

The success of the program was not hindered

despite of some sad events - one ETA was granted

a month of leave in November in order to deal with

death in the family, and another ETA resigned early, in

February, for personal reasons.

In the second school term the Fulbright Commission

supported some new extracurricular projects

through a mini-grant competition. The funds for this

initiative were saved from bank transfer fees due to

the fact that many ETAs opened local bank accounts.

Eight out of the 13 project proposals were approved

by the Commission Board for funding and received a

total of 2000 BGN. Among them were a pen pal and

postcard exchanges in Pravets, Sliven and Smolyan,

publishing a school literary journal in Haskovo,

conducting health education workshops in Gabrovo,

developing a photography club in Burgas, starting

community English classes in Silistra and running a

football clinic with children from the orphanage in

Stara Zagora. ETAs submitted detailed budget and

activity reports upon completion of their projects.

During the period under review the Commission

continued to support (administratively and financially)

the BEST Foundation - a Fulbright legacy organization

founded by six ETAs in 2013 with the mission to

promote English language skills and practice through

speech and debate high school competitions on a

national level. The initiative currently serves over 500

students and over 1000 community members. Out

of 37 participating schools in AY 2015-2016, 24 were

schools hosting an ETA. While not all ETAs were able

to field a team, all 29 ETAs participated in BEST events

in some capacity - as a coach, judge or volunteer.

A total of eight regional and national tournaments

took place in AY 2015-2016, and Fulbright staff

attended most of them as volunteer judges. An

official guest to the tournament in Ruse was also

Scott Righetti, Academic Exchange Specialist at the

Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the US

Department of State, who was in Bulgaria as part of

ETA Molly O’Keefe ran a soccer clinic with

students from Romain Rolland FLHS and

children from Teofano Popova orphanage in

Stara Zagora


his regional tour to Fulbright Commission countries.

Scott Righetti also visited one of the ETA schools in

Sofia, the Second English Language School “Thomas

Jefferson,” and observed two consecutive lessons of

ETA Connor Leach with ninth-grade students.

Along with their teaching and extracurricular

activities, ETAs had a rich cultural immersion

experience. Many ETAs continued to study Bulgarian

language independently throughout the year

and made significant progress – McKinley Alden,

Connor Leach, Christine Pardue, Jason Syphrett,

Colby Fleming, Chris Mayers, and Claire Manning.

ETAs in Gabrovo, Varna, Razgrad and Stara Zagora

regularly attended Bulgarian folk dancing classes. In

March seven Fulbright English Teaching Assistants

represented Bulgaria at the 62nd annual seminar

organized by the German Fulbright Commission

in Berlin, Germany. ETAs Molly O’Keefe and Sirena

Wurth were selected from 50 applicants to share their

presentation “Bulgaria: Beyond the Classroom” with

over 300 American Fulbrighters from 20 countries.

Their presentation, ending with a horo lesson,

attracted a lot of attention to the ETA program in

Bulgaria and our country as a destination for cultural

and educational research and teaching projects.

The ETA program also continued to receive media

attention. One ETA, Anna Fuselier, was interviewed

on national television and others were interviewed by

local or national media: Colby Fleming – newspapers

Marica and Pzdnes; Kaitlyn Alkass – BiT TV. Many

ETAs maintained personal blogs where they shared

their experiences as young teachers in Bulgaria.

In December the Fulbright Commission conducted

its midterm conference for U.S. grantees, the

“One Hundred Days in Bulgaria,” in a completely

redesigned format that better suits their needs for

additional professional training. Apart from giving

an opportunity to grantees to share their projects

and experiences so far, the event offered various

formats of group discussions and workshops aiming

to support grantees in their teaching or research

projects. Such were, for example, the Q&A session

of ETAs with experienced Bulgarian and American

teachers in Bulgarian schools, the workshops on

classroom management and teaching methods led

by Jesse Kiendl and ETAs Sirena Wurth and Moriah

Kent and the lecture on handling cultural adjustment

issues, led by a professional psychologist.

Upon receipt of the new student applications in

January 2016, Commission Director Angela Rodel

and program officers Rada Kaneva and Iliana

Dimitrova conducted a total of 39 Skype interviews

with selected candidates in addition to reviewing their

paperwork. The opportunity to converse directly with

the applicants and find out more about their skills

and experiences enhanced the selection process

and served as a foundation for a more effective

further communication. The America for Bulgaria

Foundation and the Commission Board approved

27 principal candidates and five of the applying

seven ETAs for a second year extension of their

grant – Andrew Malin (Dobrich), Molly O’Keefe (Stara

Zagora), Reid Furubayashi (Montana), Lauren Gieseke

(Shumen) and Wilhelmina van den Berg (Burgas). All

returning ETAs remained at their current assignments

for AY 2016-2017 except for Andrew Malin, who

was transferred to Sofia on his request, and Reid

Furubayashi, who teaches in Sofia combining the role

of a Fulbright ETA with that of an Assistant Director

for the BEST Foundation. Outreach efforts on behalf

of Commission Director Angela Rodel brought a new

corporate sponsor to the ETA program - with the

support of the American company ContourGlobal

the Professional School of Energy and Electrical

Engineering in Galabovo welcomes its first ETA in AY

2016-2017. With the schools in Pleven and Kyustendil

From left: ETAs Reid Furubayashi, Andrew Malin,

Sirena Wurth, Lauren Gieseke, Molly O’Keefe

and Emily Herlinger at the Berlin seminar


The program for the AY 15-16 US grantees was

successful and contributed to the promotion of

the Fulbright program in Bulgaria. We did not face

any significant issues with the implementation

of the program. A few ETAs reported incidents of

cyber-bullying or online harassment by students,

which in one case led to the immediate expulsion

of the student from the school. Also, some grantees

struggled with depression and other mental-health

issues and felt challenged by the lack of English-

speaking mental-health professionals in Bulgaria.

Fulbright Bulgaria staff guided them to Fulbright

Assist and also helped them locate the necessary

specialists in Sofia.

By working in close coordination with Bulgarian

Fulbright board member Viktoria Melamed,

Minister Plenipotentiary in the Ministry of Foreign

Affairs, Fulbright staff were able to quickly resolve

any problems that arose during the visa process.

Eventually, all US grantees obtained visas on time

and found appropriate housing. Another ongoing

issue related to long-stay visa applications is proof of

insurance. The Bulgarian authorities require official

confirmation that the insurance amounts to more

than thirty thousand euro, however, the coverage

amount is not stated on the ASPE insurance cards.

Learning from the previous years’ experience, the

Commission staff worked closely with ECA officer

Scott Righetti and the relevant State Department

officials to request additional letters well in advance

from the administrator Seven Corners to confirm that

the ECA-sponsored insurance is up to $100,000. We

will continue working with our partners in both the

US and Bulgarian governments to provide the future

grantees with timely and updated information,

advice and direct help, if necessary, however, a

simple addition stating the maximum health benefit

on the official ASPE cards would be a great solution.

Throughout the period under review, the Fulbright

Commission staff maintained regular communication

with the officers from CIES and IIE Silvija Stoljevska,

Rachel Boylan, Carmel Geraghty, and Marla Mazer.

We appreciate their efficiency, responsiveness and

readiness to solve problems promptly.

returning to the program after a one year break, the

total number of ETAs in AY 2016-2017 is 33.

All new ETAs arrived in Sofia at the end of August

to commence their 10-day orientation training.

The training included methodological lectures and

workshops, an intensive Bulgarian language course

and an introduction to partner organizations offering

volunteering opportunities in the country. On their

first day of training the young teachers were greeted

by Commission Director Angela Rodel and Natalia

Miteva, Director Programs for Education and Libraries

at the America for Bulgaria Foundation. The new

cohort of ETAs was informed of the official name

change for the Fulbright ETA award to “Fulbright-

America for Bulgaria Foundation English Teaching

Assistantship” award. The change was proposed by

the Bulgarian Fulbright Commission and approved by

the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board, giving the

due recognition to the long-term commitment of

the America for Bulgaria Foundation to the Fulbright

ETA program in Bulgaria.

Conclusion

100 Days in Bulgaria meeting – Q&A teacher

session


U.S. Alumni Accomplishments in AY 2015-2016

Larger than Life: Mural Retrospectives new

book by Fulbright Scholar Kong Ho (National

Academy of Arts, Sofia, AY 2009-2010)

Fulbright English Teaching Assistant in Haskovo in AY

2015/2016, Allegra Hyde, has a short story included

in the 2016 Pushcart Prize Edition. The Pushcart Prize:

Best of the Small Presses series, published every

year since 1976, is one of the most honored literary

projects in America. It is awarded annually for works

of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction published

by literary magazines or small presses during the

previous year. In addition to that, Allegra’s short story

collection, Of This New World, which won the 2016

John Simmons Short Fiction Award, was published on

October 1. The book has received excellent reviews

thus far. Library Journal called Of This New World “a

luscious collection...promising more good things to

come” and Publishers Weekly named Allegra a “bright

and bold new voice in fiction.”

In February 2016, Kong Ho (Fulbright Scholar,

National Academy of Arts, AY 2009/2010) published a

new book called Larger Than Life: Mural Dreamscape.

In the book, he presents the impact of community

mural on community in terms of educational, social,

cultural, historical and technological contexts

through his Fulbright Scholarship in teaching mural

painting in Bulgaria and his community mural projects

in Brunei Darussalam. The cover of the book features

the mural Professor Ho developed with his students

from the National Academy of Arts, and which can

still be seen in the main building of the Academy.

Kong Ho has also published several peer-reviewed

articles and conference proceedings for the 2015-

2016 academic year.

Of This

New World

short story

collection by

Allegra Hyde,

recipient

of the

2016 John

Simmons

Short Fiction

Award


Fulbright alumnus and great friend of Bulgaria,

ethnomusicologist Prof. Timothy Rice from

University of California Los Angeles, was awarded

the honorary degree Doctor Honoris Causa of Sofia

University “St. Kliment Ohridski.” The ceremony took

place in the Main Hall of Sofia University on May 10th,

and it was followed by Prof. Rice’s lecture.

In April 2016, Brian Farrell, Fulbright Scholar at

Sofia University, AY 2012/2013, was an invited

expert for the annual doctoral seminar of the Irish

Centre for Human Rights in Galway, Ireland, where

he delivered a talk titled “World Habeas Corpus

Revisited.” In June 2016, Brian was awarded the

Iowa State Bar Association Young Lawyers Division’s

2016 Award of Merit. He was invited to deliver the

Geiger Lecture in History at St. Ambrose University.

The title was: “Fictitious Sieges, 3 A.M. Knocks,

and Places Beyond the Seas: Habeas Corpus and

the Delicate Balance of Governance.” He was

also invited to deliver a Simpson Forum lecture

entitled “Wrongful Convictions in the American

Criminal Justice System” at Simpson College in

September. In October, Brian Farrell was appointed

to serve on the Iowa Supreme Court’s Access to

Justice Commission. His book Habeas Corpus in

International Law will be published by Cambridge

University Press in the next few months.

Shelby Carvalho, Fulbright ETA in Targovishte

in 2012/2013, is currently working at the World

Bank on education and labor issues. This year,

she worked with the International Commission on

Financing Global Education Opportunity (chaired

by Gordon Brown) to produce the “Learning

Generation” report. This report is a global review

of the state of education and identifies innovative

pathways to improve access to education and

learning outcomes for all, with a specific focus on

those furthest behind. Her work focused primarily

on developing the cost projection and finance

model which outlines historical trends in spending

for education and mechanisms to help donors and

countries finance education systems and initiatives

that have the potential to get all students learning

at the secondary completion level by 2030. The

report was presented and well-received at the

UNGA in September. Irina Bokova and Ban Ki Moon

were part of the UNGA panel discussing the report

and seemed very pleased with the report and

recommendations. Shelby will also be publishing a

more detailed report on the cost projection model

in the coming month.

Knox College has named Dr. Brenda Tooley,

Fulbright Scholar at the University of Veliko Tarnovo

in AY 2010/2011 and FISI instructor in 2012 and 2014

as the first full-time director of the College’s Eleanor

Stellyes Center for Global Studies. The Eleanor

Stellyes Center for Global Studies coordinates

study abroad and off-campus programs, brings

to campus distinguished guest speakers and

scholars-in-residence who provide international

perspectives, and promotes international travel and

research by Knox students and faculty.

In September 2016, Cascade Tuholske, Fulbright ETA

in Sliven in AY 2011/2012, received a Master’s degree

in Geography from the University of California, Santa

Barbara. He participated in the American Association

of Geographers Annual Meeting (San Francisco,

CA. 28 March – 2 April), presenting a paper entitled

“The Effects of Tourism on Land Cover and Land

Use Change in Roatán, Honduras.” In 2016, he

was the recipient of the following fellowships: U.S.

Borlaug Fellow in Global Food Security; Graduate

Student Research and Travel Grant -Broom Center

for Demography; Jack and Laura Dangermond

Geography Travel Scholarship. His article on “How

Tourism Changed the Face of Roatán” was published

by Nasa Earth Observatory- http://earthobservatory.

nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=87557

Fulbright Scholar Timothy Rice receives the

honorary degree Doctor Honoris Causa of

Sofia University


Alan Weltzien, Fulbright Scholar at Sofia University

in 1997/1998, published two new books this past

year: Exceptional Mountains: A Cultural History of

the Pacific Northwest Volcanoes (Univ. of Nebraska

Press, 2016); and Rembrandt in the Stairwell, his third

book of poetry (FootHills Publishing, Kanona, NY,

2016). Alan also participated in the annual Western

Literature Association (WLA) conference, during

which he presented two papers and chaired a panel.

In May, Dana Ray, Fulbright ETA in Dobrich in AY

2013/2014 (http://www.danamray.com/) graduated

with her Masters in English from Bucknell University.

Her thesis was a creative project, and she wrote

a series of essays about her time in Bulgaria. The

project was well received and she is currently looking

to place essays in literary journals. Currently, Dana

is working with a marketing and design agency,

Rowland Creative.

Since returning home, Priscilla Howe, Fulbright

Scholar at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences in

AY 2014/2015, has been able to put her research to

use in a few ways. In autumn 2015, she developed

a storytelling program for children called “Courage,

Compassion and Kindness,” which includes the

Bulgarian folktale Baba Metsa i loshata duma. Priscilla

presented a performance of the Bulgarian stories

she found in her research at the National Storytelling

Conference in 2015, at a benefit for the River and

Prairie Storyweavers, and in the Kansas City Fringe

Festival in 2016. She told two Bulgarian folktales as

part of a group performance at the Story Center at

Woodneath Library in August. At the 2016 National

Storytelling Conference, she presented a workshop

on Fulbright for storytellers. She is currently working

on a collection of Bulgarian folktales for publication.

This past year Nancy Bartley, Fulbright Scholar at

the American University in Bulgaria in AY 2012/2013,

has been working on a second book of narrative

nonfiction. She spent part of the year researching in

India and London. Her completed screenplay, based

on her first book, The Boy Who Shot the Sheriff, won

several script contests.

Ruth and David Marshall are now living in Winona,

MN, retired, and enjoying volunteering. Dave, a

Fulbright Scholar at the University of Veliko Tarnovo

in AY 2000/2001, has taught four classes for Winona

State University’s Senior University, and will teach

another this coming spring on “The Poetry of

Peace and War.” Both are serving as docents at the

Minnesota Marine Art Museum, and Dave is vice chair

of the Great River Shakespeare Festival and also helps

out with Toys for Kids in the autumn.

Laurel Isbister (Student Researcher AY1996-97)

was recently promoted to be the executive director

for the Greater Belhaven Foundation, a small

neighborhood organization in Jackson, Mississippi.

The organization works to increase liveability, long-

range planning and economic vitalization of this

community. Greater Belhaven is one of the most

economically and racially diverse neighborhoods in

the city of Jackson. She started her new position on

November 9, 2016. Laurel continues to create and

perform original music that expresses cross-cultural

connections, just as she did during her Fulbright year

in Bulgaria.

Ted Efremoff, (Student Researcher AY 2008/2009) is

putting the finishing touches on Mother Tongue, a

60-minute film created in 2016, which is a linguistic

journey down the Danube River exploring the

intersections and boundaries of identity, place and

time. The film reveals attitudes toward neighbors,

outsiders and borders within the Danube River Basin

- from its German headwaters to its Romanian/

Ukrainian delta. It features nine major languages

spoken along the river: German, Slovak, Hungarian,

Croatian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Romanian, Ukrainian

and Russian with subtitles in English.

Fulbright Scholar Priscilla Howe bringing her

collection of stories to China


Minka Stoyanov, Fulbright graduate student in AY

2013/2014, is now in her third year of PhD studies.

In 2016, she presented an artwork and a paper at the

International Symposium of Electronic Arts (Artwork:

“Performing Hypo-Linguistics” is a performance that

uses EEG brain sensors to allow two artists to create

an audio-visual performance. Paper: “Cash Rules

Everything Around Me: ...” is available on her Academia

account and reads the recuperation of hip-hop

culture through Ranciere and Attali). In September,

Minka presented a paper “Performing Hypo-

Linguistics” at the RIXC Open Fields conference in

Riga, Latvia, and gave a talk in New York at “Theorizing

the Web” about gender and cyborgs. She is currently

doing preliminary research towards expanding the

interviews she made in Bulgaria into a book.

In 2016, Dr. George Miaoulis, Professor of

Entrepreneurial Marketing and Fulbright Scholar

at Sofia University in AY 2013/2014, returned to

Bulgaria for a brief visit. While in Sofia, he presented

two lectures on cross-cultural marketing at

Sofia University’s Department of Economics and

Business Administration, and at VUZF University;

he also supported Fulbright scholar Ronald

Harvey in establishing Oxford Addiction Recovery

House in Varna. George presented courses in

consumer behavior, health care management,

entrepreneurship, and new product innovation at

Sheffield University / City College in Thessaloniki,

Greece. He presented a series of marketing the arts

workshops for Maine Artists on Islesboro Island,

Maine, a course in Sales Management at Eastern

Connecticut State University, and he is currently

leading an effort to establish an undergraduate

education program in automobile restoration for a

major auto museum in the US.

In 2016, Linda Rashidi, Professor Emerita from

Mansfield University and Fulbright Scholar at Sofia

University in AY 2006/2007, completed her two-

year term as President of the International Lawrence

Durrell Society. Her term ended in June in Crete with

the ILDS’s biennial conference OMG XIX, which was

joined by the newly-formed Patrick Leigh Fermor

Society. As President, she was the convener, chairing

several sessions and moderating the banquet

festivities.

In 2016, Julian Chehirian, Fulbright Student working

with New Bulgarian University in AY 2014/2015,

returned to some unfinished business from his year

in Bulgaria - he filmed an interview that will be a part

of a short film about the exhibition and installation

he did at the Red House, and the written work from

the project funded by Fulbright was just published

in an anthology of the Center for Advanced Study

in Sofia — Тялото при социализма (The Body Under

Socialism). He also presented on his research at

several conferences: the 2015 annual meeting

of the American Anthropological Association, an

anthropology conference at Binghampton University,

and he will also participate in an upcoming conference

of the Association for Slavic, Eastern European and

Eurasian Studies.

Three poems by Kaitlen Whitt (Fulbright ETA in

Ruse, AY 2012-2013) were published in Still

Journal: http://www.stilljournal.net/kaitlen-whitt-

poetry2016.php. Kaitlen Whitt is a third year poetry

candidate in Virginia Tech’s creative writing MFA

program. She has composed stories for broadcast on

West Virginia Public Radio and has published poems

with Natural Bridge, Appalachian Journal and The

Blue Earth Review.

The story “Gagarin’s Shoelaces,” written by Eireene

Nealand (Fulbright Student, Sofia University, AY

2014/2015) was just published in the most recent

edition (Vol. 23) of the Chicago Quarterly Review.

It’s a belated defense of St. Petersburg - leaky roof

crises, meat scandals, and much more!

Dr. George Miaoulis on his moped waiting for

the ferry to Islesboro Island, Maine


In the academic year under review (2015-16)

there were 15 Bulgarian grantees in the following

categories and fields: six scholars in computer

science, plant physiology, ethnomusicology,

economics and political science; one Civil Society

research scholar in urban planning; one Hubert

Humphrey specialist in public health; six graduate

students in education, law, technology management,

art management, and molecular biology; one non-

degree doctoral researcher in textile design.

The scholars and the civil society researcher were

awarded three-to-five month grants to prestigious US

universities, research centers and non-governmental

organizations: Virginia Polytechnic Institute,

University of Rochester, Carnegie Mellon University,

University of California, University of Illinois at

Urbana-Champaign, and University of Texas at Austin.

All but one returned to Bulgaria and continued their

academic activities. Dr. Stanislav Panev (computer

science) transferred his visa sponsorship to the US

host university Carnegie Mellon to complete his

research. His Bulgarian home institution and the

Bulgarian Fulbright Commission did not object, given

the relevance of his work to the research group in

Technical University, Sofia, and the close ties he has

maintained with his colleagues there.

The visiting scholars’ final reports express satisfaction

with the Fulbright experience, especially in terms of

academic achievement and professional networking.

The Fulbright experience had direct beneficial

effect on their career prospects. Dr. Kiril Avramov

and Dr. Paskal Zhelev were promoted to higher

administrative positions in their home institutions of

New Bulgarian University and University of National

and World Economy; they are both responsible for

the international co-operation of their respective

universities and are actively involved in the Fulbright

community. In addition, Dr. Avramov is emerging as

one of the leading political analysts with constant

presence in national Bulgarian media. Prof. Iliya Denev

(plant pathology) of Plovdiv University also continues

co-operation with the Fulbright Commission in

publicizing the Fulbright opportunities. Dr. Dimitar

Valchev, a prominent young scholar in the field

of food technologies, presented an exceptionally

interesting lecture during the second Fulbright

Open Lectures, and is ready to co-operate with the

Commission on further educational activities.

Bulgarian Grantees in AY 15-16 and AY 16-17

Dr. Kiril Avramov and Dr. Dimitar Valchev present the outcomes of their Fulbright research to a

Bulgarian audience


Our Hubert Humphrey grantee, lawyer Maria Sharkova,

stood out throughout her grant period in the US and

upon return. She became one of the publicity figures

of the Hubert Humphrey recruitment campaign.

With a number of articles and interviews about the

program, with her own expert achievements in the

field of health law, Ms. Sharkova expanded the impact

of her exchange. Her presentation during the Open

Lectures event was truly thought-provoking.

Of the seven graduate students and visiting researchers,

three have returned to Bulgaria after completing

their programs successfully. The graduates in law

and the researcher in textile design are pleased with

their studies and networking opportunities. Two of

the returnees (a Harvard law graduate and a textile

artist) already shared impressions and results of their

Fulbright visit and demonstrated the enriching aspect

of their programs. The students, who are still studying

in the US are making good progress, and should also

complete their programs smoothly.

Throughout the year under review we enjoyed very

productive co-operation with the IIE Foreign Fulbright

Department in the graduate students’ placement

process. The material dimension of this co-operation

is tuition waivers and institutional cost-sharing in the

amount of $122,000. Our work with the CIES has

been seamless as well; it is worth mentioning that

Bulgarian scholars are really pleased with the support

they received in the US. We would like to thank

Matthew Taylor and the Hubert Humphrey Team

from IIE, as well as Rachel Koepsel from CIES for their

support and cooperation.

The publicity campaign for the AY 2016-2017

competition resulted in 52 applications: 36 for

graduate study grants, 15 in the senior scholar

category, and 1 for the Hubert Humphrey Fellowship.

This number shows a slight decrease from the

previous year (61), but it remains stable and reflects

the normal patterns of applicant activity.

The competitive selection process resulted in

the nominations of five senior scholars, seven

graduate students, two visiting researchers, and

one Hubert Humphrey Fellow. The five selected

scholars represented a variety of fields: teaching

English as a foreign language, sociology, literature,

engineering and chemistry. Their host destinations in

the US include: Cornell University, Georgia Institute

of Technology, University of Massachusetts at

Amherst, University of Illinois at Chicago, Texas State

University-San Marcos. The Hubert Humphrey fellow

in journalism, a renowned young reporter, is currently

working at Arizona State University. Unfortunately,

the chemistry specialist had to suspend temporarily

his visit for health reasons in the family, but we

expect him to resume grant activities in June 2017 to

complete his term.

In the student category, seven students were approved

and are currently enrolled in Master’s programs in

public policy, film studies, law, archeology, economics,

and literary theory. Our graduate students were

admitted to top universities with financial support:

Harvard University (2), Stanford University, New York

Film Academy - LA, Brandeis University, George

Washington University, The University of Maryland-

College Park. Our six-month non-degree study grants

Maria Sharkova talks about the importance of a

systemic approach to avoiding medical errors

Medea Yankova explains the role of color in

the art of textile


Pre-departure Orientation for Bulgarian Citizens

2017-18 Outreach Campaign: National Defense

Academy, New Bulgarian University, South

Western University

were awarded to doctoral students, working on

their Ph.D. theses in law and literary theory, hosted

by Florida International University and New York

University, respectively. The joint scholarship with

Thanks to Scandinavia Institute was awarded for a

10th consecutive year. The grantee is enrolled in a

master’s program in law (personal data protection) at

Stanford University.

On June 17, 2016, the Fulbright Commission staff

conducted a one-day orientation for the departing

Bulgarian grantees. Participating in the program

were Commission staff members, US Embassy

Public Affairs Officer and Consul General, Bulgarian

Fulbright alumni, and US Fulbright grantees. The

meeting was a frank and friendly exchange of advice

and ideas and a team building opportunity for the

new group of Fulbrighters before their departure to

the US.

The grants competition for AY 2017-18 was

announced in November 2015, with a deadline in May

2016. The Commission staff publicized the program

as extensively and effectively as possible, using all

available means and media: our website, social media

(YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn); the press,

radio and television spots and interviews, posters,

outreach and consultations. Executive director

Angela Rodel and Program Officer Maria Kostova

completed an extensive publicity tour and visited

major academic, professional and non-governmental

institutions, as well as educational and career fairs.

The campaign included presentations for “Teach for

Bulgaria,” Careers in Bulgaria Forum, Job Fair at the

University of National and World Economy, ABLE,

National Career Days, Job Tiger, Forum for Doctoral

Students at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences,

Technical University Internships Fair. The recruitment

effort and search for talent spread all over Bulgaria,

information sessions and on-site consultations were

offered in most major higher education institutions:

National Defense Academy “G.S. Rakovsky,” Varna

Economics University, Naval Academy - Varna, Sofia

University, Sofia University - Business School, New

Bulgarian University, Technical University , Bulgarian

Academy of Sciences, Southwestern University

- Blagoevgrad, American University in Bulgaria -

Blagoevgrad, Veliko Turnovo University, University of

Rousse, and Trakia University – Stara Zagora.


As a result of the intensive media and outreach

campaign, the Commission received a total number

of 65 applications: 32 for graduate study grants, 29 in

the senior scholar category, and four for the Hubert

Humphrey Fellowship. The number of applications

this year marked a record high participation for

the Visiting Scholar category, twice as much as the

previous year and the best yield of applications in

the past 10 years. The number of graduate student

applicants remained stable. The number of Hubert

Humphrey applicants increased due to the later

submission deadline (September 1), and the targeted

recruitment campaign: including preparing special

leaflets and publicity materials for the competition. To

boost the interest in the Civil Society Scholarship, we

specifically targeted members of NGOs, publishing

adverts in the Bulgarian NGO portal and preparing

special leaflets. In effect, five applications were

received in this category.

The interviewing committees nominated five

principal and three alternate candidates for graduate

study programs in film studies, law, psychology,

economics, transport engineering and computer

science; seven principals and two alternate

candidates for senior scholar grants in theatre,

immunology, linguistics, music, immunobiology,

physics, AIDS research, economics and archeology;

two principal and one alternate candidates for

the Visiting Researcher category in organizational

psychology, history and sociology; one principal

and one alternate candidate in the Civil Society

category in public relations and community murals;

two principal candidates for the Hubert Humphrey

award in prevention and treatment of addictions,

and human rights. Due to the increased number of

applicants and their high professional qualities, with

the help of ECA funding, both alternate scholars

were promoted to principal status. They will have

the chance to do research in the US for a period

of three months. This leads to a record number of

Bulgarian scholars in AY 2017-18.

On November 4, 2016, the Fulbright Commission

held the “Fulbright Open Lectures” event for a

second time. This interdisciplinary format is aimed

at popularizing the academic and cultural impact

of the Fulbright Program for Bulgarian citizens.

Presentations were delivered in Bulgarian and tailored

to a broader, more diverse audience. Ten Bulgarian

Fulbright alumni presented the results of their studies

in the US in inspired, informed and expert lectures.

Topics varied from health law, cyber security and

political science to theology, entrepreneurship and

business, food technologies, ethics and textile design.

Over 45 Fulbright alumni, academics and graduate

students from BG institutions attended the event.

The evening ended with a cocktail party that gave a

chance for exchange of ideas and lively discussions.

The first reactions from the conference participants

and attendees are overwhelmingly positive. Video

recordings of the intellectually stimulating talks will be

uploaded to our YouTube channel, website and social

media as program promotion and a recruitment tool.

BiT television interviewed ED Angela Rodel and two

conference participants live about the event and the

Fulbright program, which contributes to our visibility,

accessibility and positive presence in the Bulgarian

media.

(Link to BiT report http://www.bitelevision.com/

otkriti-lektsii-na-fulbrajt-za-vtora-godina/)

Open Lectures Event


Bulgarian Grantees’ Accomplishments in AY 15-16

In the period under review, Bulgarian alumni and

grantees demonstrated their talent and knowledge,

acquired during the Fulbright exchange. Their

achievements include book and article publications,

presence in the media, participation in conferences

and in professional expert groups. With their active

involvement in the social and intellectual life of

Bulgaria, the Fulbright alumni bring the message of

empathy, cultural and academic exchange to broader

audiences.

Upon her return form the US, Maria Sharkova,

Hubert Humphrey fellow for AY 2015-16, became

the CEO of the National Consultative Center for

Medical Law. This NGO works in the field of medical

law, public health and health policy; alone or in

cooperation with other NGOs, it promotes patient

safety, mediation in healthcare and good practices

in healthcare facilities.

Ms. Sharkova took part in two high-profile conferences:

• The Annual Conference for Healthcare

Innovations, organised by Iconomedia and

Capital, where she talked about “Conflict

Management in Healthcare Settings: Hospital

Ombudsman and Mediator”

• The Forth Bioethics Conference, where she

presented a report on “New Practices and

Protocols in Responding to Adverse Events in

Hospitals.”

Maria continued sharing her expertise through a

column in the website medicalnews.com: “Medicine

and Law,” through her blog and articles for Mediapool.

bg and Capital, as well as through lectures at

seminars for physicians, midwifes, hospital managers

and lawyers. Her latest project is participation as a

main lecturer of a one-day seminar on “Medical

Law, Patients Rights and Medical Malpractice” for

members of the Bar.

Maria Sharkova at the Annual Conference for Healthcare Innovations, organised by Iconomedia and

Capital (Photo credit: Nadezhda Chipeva, Capital)


Prof. Petya Osenova, 2009-10 Fulbright scholar,

published a book based on her research in computer

linguistics at Stanford University. The book is called

Grammatical Modeling of the Bulgarian Language

and contributes to Dr. Osenova’s professorship title,

awarded in morphology, syntax and corpus linguistics.

We are truly glad that the Foreword mentions special

thanks to the Fulbright Commission. Apart from hard

copies, the book is also available at: http://www.

bultreebank.org/petya/GramModOsenova2016.pdf.

The prestigious publishing house Routledge has

just published Prof. Plamen Makariev’s monograph

The Public Legitimacy of Minority Claims: A Central/

Eastern European Perspective, London and New

York, Routledge, 2016. An important part of this

study was conducted in Washington D.C. during his

Fulbright visit in 2012. He has kind ly mentioned this

in the book’s Preface.

Prof. Petya

Ossenova’s

New Book

Prof. Miroslav

Mateev’s

New Book

Prof. Plamen

Makariev’s

New Book

Prof.

Temenuzhka

Seizova’s

New Book

After 12 years spent at the American University in

Bulgaria as senior faculty member Prof. Miroslav

Mateev, 2001 Fulbright scholar, is now the Acting

Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs of the

American University in the Emirates, Dubai. Recently

he published his new research textbook titled:

Mergers and Acquisitions in Europe: Comparative

Analysis of the UK and Continental Europe. The

book was released by Lambert Academic Publishing

in September, 2016.

Prof. Temenuzhka Seizova-Nankova from Shumen

University, Fulbright scholar in 2008-09 at Ohio

State University published a 340-page monograph

entitled Lexicogrammar of V_hand(s) Collocations.

A Corpus-driven Analysis. The edition is issued by

Konstantin Preslavsky University Press.


Dr. Kiril Avramov, 2015-16 Fulbright scholar,

was appointed as a Vice-Rector for Research and

International Affairs at the New Bulgarian University

(NBU). Following his stay at the Center for Russian,

East European and Eurasian Studies at University

of Texas-Austin, in January 2016 Dr. Avramov

completed an Erasmus + exchange, as a visiting

lecturer at the Aleksanteri Institute, University of

Helsinki (Finland), where he delivered an intensive

course titled “Profiles and Patterns of Populism in

South Eastern Europe.”

(See:https://weboodi.helsinki.fi/hy/opettaptied.jsp?

html=1&OpetTap=111335866&Kieli=6 ).

Dr. Stefka Kancheva from Veliko Turnovo University

continues building on her 2013 Fulbright experience

with a wide variety of academic activities in 2015-

16, including three publications on cultural heritage

preservation and theology, editing scientific editions

and organizing international conferences, such as

the 2016 conference on “Digital Preservation and

Presentation of Cultural and Scientific Heritage.”

Our 2014-15 Fulbright visiting researcher in

comparative literature, Katerina Kokinova was

awarded her Ph.D. in Slavic Literatures from Sofia

University (Feb. 25th, 2016) for the dissertation: “The

Self-Reflection in V. Nabokov’s and W. Gombrowicz’s

works.“ Dr. Kokinova also participated in literary

conferences with papers such as: “Writing the

Reader, or How to Read Instructions?”at the Authorial

Instructions in XX c. Slavic Metafiction, 47th ASEEES

Convention, Philadelphia, Nov. 19th-22nd 2015, and

“Fulbright Metafiction” at the First Fulbright Open

Lectures, Sofia, Oct. 30, 2015.

In 2015-2016 Prof. Zornitsa Popova worked on

predicting impacts of climate uncertainties on crop

yield and crop water requirements. She proved that

experimental corn yields could correlate strongly

with Vegetation Health indices during the critical

period of crop development; Vegetation Health

(VH) indices can be used as indicators of corn yield

at field scale; built statistical models and studied

their performance for North-West Bulgarian plains;

defined variability of maize crop water requirements

for evapotranspiration and irrigation in time and space

under different technologies; developed precise

irrigation scheduling water saving options adapted to

present weather conditions using field observation

data and 54-year climate data series. The obtained

results will contribute to developing an early warning

and drought management system. In the process of

research Prof. Popova published a significant number

of articles, and participated in academic conferences.

We are glad to report that our alumni keep sharing

with the Fulbright Commission and community

information about concerts, book premiers and

presentations, which reflect their post-grant

development.

Prof. Zornitsa

Popova

during

conference

participation


Over the past year, the Bulgarian Fulbright

Commission has raised the profile of its

grant-related activities, organizing a number

of events highlighting the Commission’s work and its

new location. Such activities bring information about

the Fulbright to new audiences and help extend our

network of partners and potential candidates.

On March 16, 2016, the Bulgarian Fulbright

Commission in partnership with Columbia

University’s School of International and Public

Affairs (SIPA) marked both institutions’ 70th

anniversary with a public discussion entitled “The

Refugee Crossroads: Europe’s Crisis, International

Best Practices and Bulgaria’s Role in Humanitarian

Assistance.” The event opened with comments by

Dr. Philip Gounev, a Ron Brown and SIPA alumnus

who is currently Deputy Minister of the Interior

and whose portfolio includes refugee and migrant

issues. Dr. Gounev’s remarks were followed by the

keynote presentation by SIPA Davis Fellow and

Fulbright alumna (Bulgaria 1999-2000) Dr. Robin

Brooks, which was entitled “Europe’s Migrant

Crisis?” The third speaker was Hubert H. Humphrey

fellow Diliana Markova, a human rights lawyer

who spent the latter half of her HHH fellowship at

Refugees International in New York, reporting on

UN policy development regarding refugees and

internationally displaced persons. Finally, members

of Dr. Brooks’ SIPA research-consultant team which

had been working with the Bulgarian State Agency

for Refugees to develop policy recommendations

gave a short presentation of European best

practices with regards to the refugee crisis, noting

effective methods certain countries had developed

to meet the ongoing needs of arriving migrants. The

Grant-Related Activities

“The Refugee Crossroads: Europe’s Crisis, International Best Practices and Bulgaria’s Role in

Humanitarian Assistance” - a discussion initiated and organized by the Bulgarian Fulbright Commission

in partnership with Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs


formal presentations were followed by a lively open

discussion and Q&A session with the audience,

which consisted of representatives of the local NGO

sector, government agencies including the UNHCR

and the European Commission, academics and

concerned citizens. The conversation was recorded

and is now available on the Fulbright Bulgaria

Youtube channel.

The Bulgarian-American Fulbright Commission was

proud to be a sponsor of “Beyond the Borders,”

the 10th Joint Meeting of the Bulgarian Academy

of Sciences and the US-based Bulgarian Studies

Association. The meeting was held June 27-29,

2016, at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences in Sofia.

Nearly fifty Bulgarian and international scholars

gave papers on topics related to Bulgarian studies,

from literature and linguistics to music to history

and political science. Both Bulgarian and American

Fulbright alumni were among the lectors taking

part. The BAS-BSA joint meetings began in 1973 at

the University of Wisconsin, and have taken place

approximately every four years, alternating between

the United States and Bulgaria. Previous host cities

include Varna, Smolyan and Blagoevgrad. This forum

offers an excellent opportunity for Bulgarianists from

diverse fields to share their research and network

with colleagues from a wide range of disciplines.

On September 27, 2016, the Bulgarian-American

Fulbright Commission for Educational Exchange

held a ceremony for the official opening of its new

office on Vitosha Boulevard in Sofia. Ambassador

Eric Rubin took part in the ceremony and gave

a short speech highlighting the international

importance of the Fulbright educational exchange

programs. Angela Rodel, Executive Director of the

Commission, expressed gratitude to former Minister

Todor Tanev and his team for their active support

for the provision of the necessary office space by

the Bulgarian side and read a greeting address by

Meglena Kuneva, current Bulgarian Minister of

Education and Science. Professor Boyan Dobrev of

the National Art Academy presented his new work, a

2.2 x 6 meter wall mural in the new Fulbright board

room, which represents the Fulbright exchange

program as a “spiritual bridge” between cultures. The

mural was created using the “TATTOOWALL” digital

printing method, which is being applied for the first

time in Bulgaria, and was a gift to the Commission

by the professor, who is a two-time alumnus of the

Fulbright program.

Official opening of the Commission’s new

office with Prof. Boyan Dobrev (left), HE US

Ambassador Eric Rubin, and ED Angela Rodel

Official

opening

of the

Commission’s

new office


EducationUSA advising is a major component of

the Bulgarian Fulbright Commission’s non-grant

activities. It is an effective and time-tested instrument

of promoting the EducationUSA brand, the strengths

of the U.S. educational system and the Fulbright

program in Bulgaria by providing up-to-date

information and competent guidance on educational

opportunities in the U.S., admission procedures

at U.S. universities, financial aid, testing, language

training, the annual Fulbright and other competitions,

etc. The Fulbright EducationUSA Advising Center has

acquired an even greater importance in the context

of Bulgaria’s integration with the European Union

and the still strong competition from European

universities. It offers regular individual advising

sessions Monday through Friday as well as monthly

group advising sessions. Annually, the center services

over 14,000 inquirers.

Center Statistics

Although the number of in-person users of the

services offered by the Fulbright EducationUSA

Advising Center in Sofia has dropped by 3.3% during

the period under review (14,767 total contacts), the

advising center has continued to expand its outreach

all across Bulgaria and particularly in the underserved

regions and has seen an increase in social-media-

based consultations. In FY 2015, the number of social

media users was 8,331 whereas in FY 2016 it reached

19,207. A total of 1,920 individuals visited the advising

center for one-to-one consultation sessions, 2,260

individuals enquired by phone, 2,390 were consulted

by email, 1,410 visitors used the EducationUSA library

at the advising center, and 6,787 individuals attended

the EducationUSA outreach events.

Undergraduate Admissions and Scholarships,

AY2016-2020

In 2016, 15 twelfth-graders, participants in the

EducationUSA Program of the Fulbright Advising

Center in Bulgaria, have been accepted to U.S.

universities and colleges with a total scholarship

amount of $3,379,564 USD ($844,891 x 4 years).

Students will be enrolled in the following colleges and

universities: Adelphi University, NY; Bard College, NY;

Brandeis University, Boston, MA; California Institute

of the Arts, CA; Case Western Reserve University,

Cleveland, OH; Drew University, NJ; Drexel University,

PA; Fordham University, NY; Ithaca College, NY;

Loyola Marymount University, CA; New York Film

Academic Advising

EducationUSA presentation at “Geo Milev” English Language School, Burgas


Academy (NYFA LA), CA; NYU, Shanghai, CHINA; Pace

University, NY; Princeton University, NJ; Ramapo

College, NJ; Randolph College, VA; Stetson University,

FL; Temple University, PA; University of Miami, FL;

University of Richmond, VA; USC School of Cinematic

Arts (USC SCA), CA; and Vassar College, NY. They

will be studying Acting/Drama, Biology/Molecular

Biology, Business Administration, Creative Writing,

Economics, Engineering/Biomedical Engineering/

Electrical Engineering, Film and TV production,

International Relations/Studies, and Physics.

One of the Fulbright EducationUSA Virtual Advising

Program participants has been admitted on a full-

ride scholarship at the Benjamin Franklin Summer

Institute and one more program participant has been

awarded the prestigious YES scholarship to attend a

U.S. high school for one academic year.

Visits to American Spaces

During and around the 16th annual International

Education Week in Bulgaria (November 16-20, 2015)

the educational adviser Snejana Teneva visited the

American Spaces in the cities of Sofia, Plovdiv, Ruse,

Pleven, Burgas and Haskovo, giving presentations and

engaging in productive discussions about educational

opportunities in the U.S. with over 400 high school

students as well as teachers, administrators, parents

and librarians.

Visits to Secondary Schools and Local Universities

Executive Director Angela Rodel and Program

Officers Iliana Dimitrova and Rada Kaneva visited

the 29 high schools hosting ETAs. In addition,

EducationUSA Adviser Snezhana Teneva presented

the main benefits of studying in the U.S. at the

following secondary schools: 2nd ELS, SOFIA, “Geo

Milev” English Language School, BURGAS, “Acad.

Nikola Obreshkov” High School of Science and

Mathematics, BURGAS, “Baba Tonka” High School of

Mathematics, RUSE, “Geo Milev” ELS, RUSE, “Romain

Rolland” Foreign Language School, STARA ZAGORA,

Sofia High School of Mathematics, SOFIA, and 2nd

ELS, SOFIA.

Outreach activities also included meetings of the

EducationUSA adviser with over 130 students at the

American University in Bulgaria to consult them on

U.S. graduate study opportunities.

Monthly Group Advising Sessions at the

American Corner, Sofia City Library

In our continued desire to reach out to as

many Bulgarian students, parents, teachers and

administrators interested in study opportunities in the

U.S. as possible, the EducationUSA Advising Center

offered a series of monthly public lectures on the

U.S. undergraduate and graduate application process

based on Your 5 Steps to U.S. Study. The lectures are

conducted on Saturdays, once or twice per month, at

the American Corner at Sofia City Library.

Virtual Group Advising Program

The EducationUSA advising center implements an

innovative virtual educational group advising program

which prepares high school students from all over

the country to successfully apply for admission with

financial aid to fully accredited U.S. colleges and

universities. The program is run in partnership with the

American English Teaching Assistants, the American

Spaces, Fulbright students/scholars, and others. It

has both a virtual and in-person component and

was developed by the adviser to make educational

advising available to students beyond Sofia. Currently

the advising program has had very good results. This

past year, there were 503 students in the program:

114 twelfth graders, 206 eleventh graders, 110 tenth

graders, 60 ninth graders and 12 eighth graders.

Twenty-four of the twelfth graders were admitted to

U.S. universities with almost $3.4 million in financial aid.

At REAC Cheryl Francisconi’s suggestion, the adviser

shared the program model and best practices with

other EducationUSA advisers from Europe and Eurasia.

Also, on the basis of the virtual group advising

program, Bulgaria qualified for the Opportunity

Funds (OF) Program which provides small grants to

highly competitive academically talented students

who are economically disadvantaged. OF students


must be actively involved in a cohort advising

program and working closely with an EducationUSA

adviser. Since we have already a cohort program in

place, the Opportunity Funds program successfully

complements our efforts.

Weekly Individual Consultations at the American

Corner, Sofia City Library

During the period under review, the EducationUSA

Advising Center continued to offer free of charge

weekly consultations at the American Corner in Sofia.

Promotion of the EducationUSA Brand at National

and International Education/Career Fairs

In FY2016, over 5,000 students and professionals

visited the Fulbright EducationUSA stand at the

following national and international education and

career fairs: Integral World Education Fair in Sofia;

Sofia University Golden Apple Career Fair; Education

Beyond Borders Fair in Sofia; Career Days at the

University of National and World Economy and the

Technical University of Sofia; Vision for Education

Study, Work, Travel Fair in the cities of Sofia and

Plovdiv; JobTiger Career Days in the IT Sector in

Sofia; SRT U.S. University Fair at the American College

of Sofia and the American University in Bulgaria, and

QS World Grad School Tour in Sofia.

In addition, EducationUSA Adviser Snejana Teneva

delivered presentations on Undergraduate and

Graduate Study in the US, and Fulbright Grants for

Bulgarian Citizens in the US for academic year

2017-18 at the Education Beyond Borders Fair, the

American University in Bulgaria and Inegral World

Education Fair.

U.S. Institutional Representatives

During the period under review, the EducationUSA

Advising Center in Sofia was visited by representatives

of eight U.S. institutions of higher education:

New York University, NY; Babson College, MA;

Stanford University, CA; New York University Abu

Dhabi (NYUAD), United Arab Emirates; University of

San Francisco, Economics Graduate Programs, CA;

Bentley University, Graduate School of Business,

MA; Yale-NUS College, Singapore; Concord

University, WV. They presented their institutions,

the US application process and the opportunities

for international students at American colleges and

universities at the Fulbright EducationUSA Advising

Center, Radison Blu Grand Hotel, American College

of Sofia, Sofia High School of Mathematics, First

English Language School of Sofia, 91 German

Language High School, and the Anglo-American

School of Sofia.

Use of Social Media

During FY2016, the EducationUSA Advising Center

has greatly improved and expanded communication

with prospective students using social networks and

social media. Students in Bulgaria are active users of

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other social media.

In order to reach out to them, we are keeping our

social media presence up to date (EducationUSA

Facebook and Twitter pages, an EducationUSA

YouTube channel and a blog). Other efficient tools

utilized for educational advising in Bulgaria include

the Fulbright Commission’s website, email marketing

and Skype sessions. The expansion of contacts is

evidenced by the high number of individuals that

have been reached out to:

l EducationUSA Bulgaria Blog: 11,194 blog page

views (32 posts)

l EducationUSA Bulgaria YouTube: 6,350 video

views (99 subscribers)

l EducationUSA Bulgaria Facebook: 1,078 current

Facebook profile friends

l EducationUSA Bulgaria Twitter: 156 Twitter

followers

l EducationUSA Bulgaria LinkedIn: 331 connections

l Skype: 99 contacts


Hundreds of Bulgarian students visited the

CollegeWeekLive site and attended the virtual

international college fairs to explore colleges and

universities in the U.S., chat with admissions reps

and current college students, get personal questions

answered and gain advice on test prep, essay writing,

college search, financial aid, and more relevant topics

from experts.

MOOCs are another excellent resource for Bulgarian

students who plan to attend a US higher education

institution. They use them as an unofficial source of

academic orientations to help them better understand

what is ahead and figure out where to apply. MOOCs

also give students a sense of their preparedness for

stepping into this type of coursework.

ECA/A/S/A and U.S. Embassy Grants

In FY 2016 the Commission received a grant of

$21,600 from ECA/A/S/A and an additional financial

assistance of $5,000 from the U.S. Embassy in Sofia

to help the activities of the EducationUSA Advising

Center and launch an Opportunity Funds program

in Bulgaria. As a result, the Bulgarian Fulbright

Commission has further broadened its network of

contacts all over Bulgaria. Our attention was focused

on three target audiences: university students,

high school students, and representatives of ethnic

minorities. The funds were used for participation

in national and international education fairs,

adviser’s travel, purchase of books, promotional

items and publicity materials. The EducationUSA

Advising Center, in close cooperation with Regional

Educational Advising Coordinator Cheryl Francisconi,

has launched an Opportunity Funds program in

Bulgaria beginning in February 2016. From numerous

applicants, twelve eleventh-graders from all across

the country were selected to take part in the first

phase of the program, which covers the cost of

test preparation, testing fees, and translation of

application documents, and also provides support

for creating CVs and writing admissions essays, and

guidance in selecting universities to which to apply.

If successfully admitted to US universities with full

financial aid, these students will go on to the next

phase of Opportunity Funds during the 2017-2018

school year, which covers visa fees as well as travel

and relocation to the US.

The Bulgarian Fulbright Commission greatly

appreciates the financial support from ECA/A/S/A

and is strongly motivated to continue to work for the

further improvement of educational advising and the

promotion of U.S. education in Bulgaria.

Training for EducationUSA Opportunity Funds Students


1. Angela Rodel, Executive Director of the Bulgarian Fulbright Commission, participated in the following

international events:

l Participation in the NAFSA Conference and meetings with ECA and Fulbright representatives, May

2016;

l Two presentations given at the “Crossing Borders for Global Partnerships: European Fulbright

Conference 2016,” with ECA, State Department, and Fulbright representatives, in Helsinki, Finland,

June 2016;

l Presentations on contemporary Bulgarian literature in translation at the Bulgarian Cultural Institute

in London and at University College London School of Slavic and East European Studies (Oct

2015).

2. EducationUSA adviser Snezhana Teneva participated in the 2016 EducationUSA Forum in Washington,

DC, August 2016.

3. Program officer for Bulgarian grantees Maria Kostova participated in the UK College Day in London,

September, 2016.

Participation in International Events


General Factors Impacting the ProgramOngoing Economic Crisis The economic crisis continued to negatively impact

the Bulgarian economy and all spheres of socio-

political and cultural life, especially education. The

general standards of living have remained low and

Bulgaria continues to be the poorest country in the

European Union.

Inadequate funding in education continues to erode

the quality of teaching and learning. A great number

of university faculty are looking for professional

realization abroad or outside the educational sector;

the declining educational standards cause the best

and the brightest to seek study opportunities at

foreign universities; the low birth rate and the high

emigration rate are demographic factors that also

account for the decreasing number of potential

students. Since the state funding of universities

is determined on the basis of enrollment figures,

Bulgarian universities are engaged in strong

competition for students that inevitably leads to

lowering of admission requirements.

Educational Opportunities in EuropeEuropean education continues to attract Bulgarian

undergraduate and graduate students because

of: affordable tuition fees, geographic proximity,

inexpensive travel, no visa problems, and prospects

for employment after completion of studies.

Between 30,000 and 80,000 is the number of the

Bulgarian students abroad according to unofficial

data by the Association of Private Universities. The

most popular destinations for Bulgarian students

are: Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, Spain,

Austria, and France, although if anecdotal evidence

is to be believed, the Brexit vote has apparently

deterred some students from applying to university

in the UK.

European colleges and universities continue to

aggressively advertise their programs through periodic

educational fairs, visits of their representatives to

Bulgarian schools and universities, and extensive

information on the Internet.

Rising Cost of US EducationThe tuition in most US universities continues to

increase. Financial aid, teaching assistantships and job

opportunities on campus are still limited, especially

for international students. These factors tend to

discourage Bulgarian students from applying to US

universities and to divert them to Europe. Since 2010

the number of Bulgarians studying at US colleges and

universities has decreased steadily: in 2010/11 - 1,957,

in 2011/2012 - 1,694; in 2012/13 - 1,473; in 2013/14 -

1,252, and in 2014/15 - 1,171. According to the latest

Open Doors data in 2015/16, the number of Bulgarian

students in the US has further dropped to 1,016,

which is a 13.2% decrease from the previous year.

By contrast, the number of international students in

the US surpassed one million for the first time during

2015/16 and reached 1,043,839 students which is an

increase of 7% from the previous year. The number of

students from Europe in the US in 2015/16 increased

by 1.4% to 91,915 students.

Due to financial restrictions, more and more US

universities require guarantees of financial support

for the second year from the Bulgarian Fulbright

students as a condition for admission or partial

financial assistance. This is posing a serious challenge

to the grant budget of the Fulbright Commission and

requires urgent efforts to identify additional resources

or else decrease the number of grants.


Support from the America for Bulgaria FoundationOver the last seven years the Bulgarian Fulbright

Commission has established very productive

cooperation with the America for Bulgaria Foundation,

increasing the number of ETAs from 2 to 30 between

2009 and 2015, with 30 ETAs being supported per

year in AY2014-15, AY2015-16 and AY2016-17. This

past year, we negotiated a new contract with ABF

to support 30 ETAs in Bulgaria annually for AY2017-

2020 for a total amount of $1,290,000 (or $430,000

per year); the slight reduction in the total funding

as compared to the previous grant comes at the

sponsor’s request that we reduce the monthly

stipend amount from $1,000 to $800 since all ETAs

are now provided free housing by their host school.

Although the administration of the ETA project

places more responsibility and effort on the Fulbright

staff, we highly appreciate ABF support because the

results of the Fulbright presence at the host schools

are more than visible and highly motivating. It is

worth noting that largely because of the increased

number of ETAs Bulgaria is now on the list of the 25

most popular destinations in Europe for US students.

Also, the number of applicants to the Bulgarian ETA

program continues to grow every year, testifying to

the visibility of this program not only in Bulgaria, but

also in the US.

We strongly hope that our relationship with ABF will

continue and further expand after the conclusion of

the current three-year grant, because it substantially

helps the ongoing reform in Bulgarian school and

university education. The Fulbright board and

executive director have been actively lobbying ABF

representatives and board members to garner their

support for the long-term extension of the ETA

program in Bulgaria.

Support from the US EmbassyThis year the Commission received a $16,000

(28,000 BGN) grant from the US Embassy as co-

sponsorship for the organization of a training

workshop for the AY 2016-17 ETAs in Sofia, 01-10

Sept 2016. The new group of 33 English language

teachers received intensive professional training

and Bulgarian language instruction.

An amount of $3,000 was added to the FY

2015 $15,000 grant from the US Embassy

to support the activities of BEST, a Fulbright

legacy organization in Bulgaria. The additional

funds were given to support the travel of four

Bulgarian BEST participants and their coach to

Salt Lake City, UT, to represent Bulgaria at the

United States National Speech and Debate

Association Tournament in June of 2016.

The Commission is highly appreciative of the

commitment of PAO Brian Stimmler and CAO

Tammy Paltchikov, whose support was crucial

for the success of both of these projects.

In 2016 the Commission received a $5,000

grant from the US Embassy to support the

newly launched Opportunity funds program of

EducationUSA in Bulgaria.

]The US Embassy provided also a grant of

$10,000 for the project of the US Fulbright

specialist Scott Waring at AUBG “Capacity

Building in Study Abroad Program Development.”

Support from ContourGlobal

CompanyAs a result of the fundraising campaign of the

Fulbright Commission this year we received a

grant from ContourGlobal to the amount of

$15,520 to host an ETA in Galabovo.

Support from Thanks to Scandinavia InstituteIn FY2016 the Commission received $20,000 from

the Thanks to Scandinavia Institute to support one

Bulgarian Fulbright graduate student.

We greatly appreciate the assistance of our US

partners and hope that our cooperation will continue

in spite of financial constraints.

Administration, Budget, Fund-Raising, Income-Generating Activities

In FY 2016 the total Commission budget amounted to $1,388,052, including:

l $619,492 funding from ECA/US Department of State ($599,492 FY16 allocation and $20,000

end-of-year FY16 funds);

l $140,000 funding from the Bulgarian government;

l $454,000 grant from America for Bulgaria Foundation to support 30 English Teaching Assistants

in language schools in Bulgaria;

l $15,520 grant from ContourGlobal Company to support one English Teaching Assistant in the

town of Galabovo;

l $45,600 EducationUSA grants for advising and Opportunity Funds program ( $21,600 FY16

funding and $24,000 end-of-year FY16 funds) ;

l $16,000 (28,000 BGN) US Embassy grant for training and cultural orientation of AY2016-17 ETAs;

l $10,000 US Embassy grant for an US Fulbright specialist;

l $5,000 US Embassy grant to support the FY16 Opportunity Funds program;

l $20,000 support from the Thanks to Scandinavia Institute for a joint grant to a Bulgarian

graduate student established in 2007;

l $62,440 left-over funds.

$619,492

$140,000

$454,000

$45,600

$16,000

$10,000$20,000

$62,440

$5,000

$15,520


Conclusion

As the report above has discussed in detail,

during FY2016, the Bulgarian Fulbright

Commission managed to implement its

program plan. AY2015-2016 saw an extremely strong

group of grantees, especially the US scholars, US

graduate students, Bulgarian graduate students and

ETAs. Thanks to our extensive recruitment efforts,

the response by Bulgarian scholars to the AY2017-

18 campaign was extremely impressive in terms of

quality and quantity, with a record number of scholars

applying. While this year, thanks to new campaign

and advertising strategies implemented over the past

two years, we were able to attract more candidates

to certain under-subscribed grant categories (US

students – 14 applicants; Hubert Humphrey – five

applicants; Visiting Researchers – three applicants)

we will continue to devise new ways of attracting

diverse and high-quality candidates for both the US

and Bulgarian competitions.

ED Angela Rodel continued the ongoing recruitment

campaign aimed at US graduate students, which

are typically the least numerous and weakest US

candidate pool – she posted announcements about

the AY2017-18 competition to numerous list-servs

and professional associations the Commission had

actively targeted the previous year (Byzantine Study

Association of North America, American Institute

of Archaeology, Society for Ethnomusicology,

H-Soyuz, H-Turk, H-EarlySlavic, etc); sent dozens

of targeted, personal emails to American academics

in various SEE-related fields with steady streams

of graduate students in need of field research

opportunities; designed and printed posters and

flyers advertising the AY2017-18 campaign to

distribute at NAFSA and to send to the ten largest

Russian and East European Studies centers in the US.

Also, noting the heightening interest in art history

and archeology-related projects by US students,

the Bulgarian Fulbright Commission has designed a

new grant in partnership with the Balkan Heritage

Foundation, an NGO that runs summer field schools

attended by hundreds of US students, aimed at

students interested in Bulgaria’s archeological

and cultural heritage that would combine field-

school experience followed by close mentorship

by Bulgarian scholars over their academic year in

Bulgaria.


Fundraising remains a challenge in Bulgaria, as

there is not a strong tradition of philanthropy and

giving back. However, we have made some progress

in securing our first corporate sponsorship: the

American energy company ContourGlobal gave the

Bulgarian Fulbright Commission a $15,520 grant to

sponsor an ETA in Galabovo, where their power plant

is located. Nina Matsumoto arrived in Galabovo in

September 2016 and has been doing an excellent job

at the Professional School of Energy and Electrical

Engineering, according to the school principal, her

mentor teacher and our ContourGlobal liaison,

thus we hope this partnership will be continued in

coming years. We also hope to use it as a model to

inspire other international companies in Bulgaria to

support ETAs and other Fulbright programming in

the country.

In conclusion, I would like to sincerely thank

all members of the Fulbright staff for their

professionalism, responsibility and dedication to the

Fulbright program. I would also like to express my

gratitude to the Fulbright Commission Board for their

help, cooperation and commitment to the Fulbright

goals. Their contribution of time, support and

guidance are crucial for the successful administration

of the program.

The Bulgarian Fulbright Commission deeply

appreciates ECA’s support for the Fulbright program

in Bulgaria, the efficiency and commitment of its

officers, especially Scott Righetti, and all our partners

and colleagues from CIES and IIE.

Angela Rodel

Executive Director

The Bulgarian-American Commission for Educational Exchange

would like to thank its sponsors for their generous support:

Appendix 1 Bulgarian Media Coverage of Fulbright Activities

Timothy Rice:

http://bit.ly/2jHrLzM

Colby Fleming:

http://bit.ly/2iY6UEW

Reid Furubayashi and BEST students:

http://bit.ly/2jz7ah3

http://tinyurl.com/hwcy3lh

Kaitlyn Alkass:

http://tinyurl.com/z3cwpmn

Anna Fuselier:

http://tinyurl.com/jj637kt

Claire Manning

http://bit.ly/2j0YzCG

Angela Rodel:

http://tinyurl.com/z4tzj4b

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30L9_u1Aq9s

http://www.bitelevision.com/andzhela-rodel-za-

stipendiite-na-fulbrajt-2016-2017-g/

http://kultura.bg/web/анджела-родел-българката-от-америка / http://www.monitor.bg/a/view/Анджела-Родел-и-мелодията-на-превода/

BLOGS:

Natalie Vieira:

https://natalietakesbulgaria.wordpress.com/

Molly O’Keefe:

http://churchesandraspberries.tumblr.com

Montana Rogers:

https://montanarogersinbulgaria.wordpress.

com/2015/08/20/summer-life-in-bulgaria/

Erin Speltz:

https://erininbulgaria.wordpress.com/

2015/08/31/the-week-before-the-real-work-

begins/

McKinley Alden:

https://ohdanubeboy.wordpress.com/2015/09/25/

september-25th/

Alex Bransford:

http://bransfordinbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/09/

lakes-and-lessons.html?spref=fb

Moriah Kent:

http://globalgirlgone.weebly.com/

Colby Fleming:

https://postcommunistcolby.wordpress.com/

Rachel Susser

https://susserflute.wordpress.com/


Bulgarian-American Commission for Educational Exchange

12 Vitosha Blvd, 5th floor, 1000 Sofia, Bulgaria

+359 2 981 85 67

+359 2 980 82 11

[email protected]

www.fulbright.bg

annual program report - fulbright6 bulgarianamerican commission for educational exchange grant...

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