Since 1984 when the College Board administered the first USBT program with funding from the U.S. Department of State, the program has contributed to the professional training of advisers, and fostered cultural and educational liaisons between the United States and more than 100 countries around the world.

The time to celebrate 25 years (1984-2009) of successful professional and educational exchange is coming. So get ready for an exciting and fun commemoration.

Your comments, suggestions and ideas are more than welcome. Please fell free to post them here.

Now you can post your "Campus Visits Reports". A section with campus visits is open in the forum now. Click here to go to Campus Visits section.

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Mevlüde Bakır, Educational Advisor, Commission for Educational Exchange between the United States and Turkey, Istanbul, Turkey.

I would like to express my thanks to Dorothy Mora, Program Officer for the East Asia and Pacific Region and Rachel Waldstein, Program Officer for the Europe and Middle East and North Africa Region for giving me the opportunity to attend U.S. Based Training Program (USBT). In addition, I would like to express my appreciation to the College Board members, especially to Carol Blythe, Janine Farhat, Deborah Hefferon, Stephanie Collier, and Christina Hum not only for setting up a very comprehensive program for us with every detail, but also for their support and encouragements at all phases of the program. As Senator J. William Fulbright stated, the main purpose of the Fulbright Commissions all around the world is “…to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries…” In the weeks of the USBT Program, I met and worked with twenty-five of my colleagues from different cultures, religions and educational backgrounds and diverse types of advising offices around the world. I believe that we all had a mutual understanding to improve our roles as educational advisors and at the same time built bridges of understanding between us. I gained new insights and new skills from the USBT Program and was able to improve myself both professionally and personally.

The USBT Program is designed for overseas educational advisors who have at least two years of working experience in education advising world. It is a three-week professional development experience, and composed of three parts: (a) Washington D.C Seminar Week, (b) Regional NAFSA Conference and (c) Campus Visits.

Washington D.C. Seminar Week included an overview of issues in international education and gave me a chance to discuss and review my knowledge of the U.S. higher education system in such areas as accreditation, degree equivalencies, visa regulations, current trends in graduate education and other important issues related to education. During the Washington Week, my colleagues and I had a chance to participate in a variety of panels to express our ideas and share knowledge. These panels included lectures, group discussions, workshops, brainstorming, and hands-on training, which gave me a different perspective to state my ideas and myself and be a more active speaker. The most important and functional part of the Washington Week was the Best Practice Presentation Sessions. My colleagues and I gave oral presentations about activities or procedures provided by our centers. These centers included Satellite Centers, American Councils, Binational Centers and Fulbright Commissions. These sessions allowed us to differentiate how each of these centers advise, and to learn what the short and long-term goals of each center were. As educational advisors, we aimed to increase the number of students who visit our centers and to interest them in study in the U.S. The sessions gave me new ideas for outreach activities that will best serve our advising centers in Turkey. Another important benefit of the sessions was the chance to discuss and learn more about the educational systems of other countries.

The USBT Program provided opportunities for the participants to improve their networking skills. Associations in U.S. Higher Education Mini-Fair was the first opportunity for networking. The mini-fair included associations such as the Association of American Colleges and Universities, the American Association of Community Colleges, the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, the American Council on Education and so on. By visiting the representatives of each association, we introduced our centers and ourselves. The session was designed to introduce some of the higher education experts and explain their duties and roles within in the U.S. education system.

The Department of State visit included information on Visa issues and SEVIS Updates, some new programs such as Opportunity Initiative Grant and various types of Fulbright Programs in the world. I met with officers from different branches like, Paul Hiemstra, Supervisor of Academic Exchange Specialties, Mary Bryant, American Corners Officer, Michael Kuban, Teacher Exchange Program Officer, and Susan Geary from the Department of Homeland Security. I also met Fulbright and Area Officers.  My colleagues from Macedonia and Kosovo and I conferred with Roxanne Cabral, of the Regional Public Diplomacy Officer Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs. We discussed Fulbright Programs in our home countries and how we run our advising centers. The most important keynote for this session was the new trend in the Department of State, which is “outreach”. The visit to the Department of State also gave me a chance to finally meet in person many colleagues I have heretofore only known through letters and emails.

The Educational Testing Service visit gave me a chance to have a better understanding of the services offered by the testing center. However, most of the USBT participants left the testing center with some unanswered questions. The information provided at the panel was not sufficient for us. Even though we were given the opportunity to send our questions in advance, we still needed more information regarding the problems with the new IBT TOEFL. There was a lot of information but there simply was insufficient time for USBT participants to explore all of it or have their many questions about the IBT TOEFL answered. In future, more time should be allowed so that participants are able to make the most of their time at ETS. Furthermore, attending the production and logistics tour helped me realize how many people were involved in the test preparation process. I learned how important the latest technology in every step of preparation along with careful planning and organization have made ETS successful over the years.

The first walk-in visit to an American university campus was to the American University in Washington D.C. The International Student Office held a reception for us to meet with international students and learn about their experiences through the admission process. There I met a female Turkish PhD student who had visited our Istanbul Office in the past. She was happy that, thanks to the help of our office, she had chosen the right university and academic program for her. The way she expressed her appreciation to me made me not only feel proud for her but also proud of our advising center. Visiting Princeton University, one of the Ivy League schools in the U.S. was a positive experience. Among all of the campuses that we visited during the program and apart from its academic excellence and various facilities for its students, Princeton University is the only institution protected its architectural harmony with its magnificent old buildings. The other campuses that we visited had a mixture of traditional and modern settings. Our tour guide answered all of our questions and made us truly feel part of university experience. Our last visit was to Gallaudet University, the world’s only institution for deaf and hard-of hearing students, was extremely fascinating for all of us.

The Regional NAFSA Conference in Madison, Wisconsin was the place where we improved our networking skills. With my colleagues from Barbados, Kazakhstan, Nepal, Peru, Saudi Arabia, and Thailand, I attended the NAFSA Region V Conference that included the schools from Wisconsin, Illinois, and Michigan. The panel on “EducationUSA Does Madison: Meet Your Advising Partners Abroad” was definitely helpful for international student recruitment. As the ambassadors of our countries at the NAFSA Region V Conference, my colleagues and I introduced our institutions, countries, education systems, recent student mobility, and education trends in our countries. We also talked with the representatives of the schools to co-operate and share expertise for the benefit of international exchange between the U.S. and our home countries. The EducationUSA booth not only gave us opportunity to provide face-to-face information to the representatives of the schools but also allowed us to explain what EducationUSA is and what our goals are. The conference was a good chance for me to make good contacts. After the USBT Program, I visited some schools through the contacts I made at the conference. During the conference, we visited University of Wisconsin-Madison campus and met with current international students.

The most helpful experience of the USBT Program was through Campus Visits. The campus visits were designed by taking into consideration of our previous visits to the United States, the campuses’ geographic characteristics and the most appropriate schools and academic programs for the students in our home countries. Our Campus Cluster Week included different types of institutions from Washington, the “Evergreen State” and Idaho, the “Gem State”. The schools we visited were, Spokane Falls Community College, Spokane Community College, Gonzaga University, Lewis Clark State University, University of Idaho and Washington State University. We named our group of USBT participants “Mileage Plus”, because we visited the most campuses in the shortest period of time. Compared to other campus cluster groups we were certainly the most traveled one. For almost seven days, our beloved tour guide, Paul Svaren, International Enrolment Manager from the Washington State University drove us from one campus to another. During our campus visits, we obtained information from many departments and from admission officers, faculty deans and members, and, most importantly, from the international students. The information provided at the sessions made me understand how admissions and international student offices operate on different campuses and what their expectations from the students were. Seeing the campus and surrounding area through the eyes of a student was a valuable experience. Staying at a U.S. academic institution certainly did consolidate and strengthen my advising ability and allow me to network with my U.S. counterparts and learn from their expertise. In addition, it also helped me become more familiar with the US educational system. Experiencing life as an insider rather than as an outsider will help me when advising students in future. In addition, attending a class at the Washington State University was an extremely positive experience. Our participation in the English Language Department illustrated how an English class functioned.

The final informative session of the USBT Program was the Campus Debriefing Meetings in Washington D.C. At this session, each of the campus cluster members shared their experiences and shared their impressions of the colleges and universities that were visited. Our impressions included highlights such as admissions processes, student services, the strongest academic fields or unique degree programs, financial aid or scholarship opportunities and what would it be like to be an international student studying there.

During the program, I did participate at a session for selected advisors called the Virtual Consulting Office Project (VCO). It is a network for EducationUSA advisers providing professional e-consulting services in different languages (English, Chinese, Arabic, Spanish and Russian) on study in the U.S. The VCO Project aims to serve people in regions where there is no advising center and for parents who do not have either sufficient English language skills or limited physical access to an advising center. By joining the project advisors will have a chance to become a part of a community of professionals in the advising world to study in the U.S., improve personal qualifications and practice his/her knowledge and skills by helping prospective students to find their study destinations in the U.S.

After the program, I had a chance to visit some more schools around Chicago and its vicinity, such as the University of Chicago, DePaul University, Illinois State University, and the University of Illinois/ Urbana-Champaign through the contacts I made at the NAFSA Region V Conference.  Thanks to these additional visits, I gained further information from each of these universities. I also participated in the International Student Festival at the University of Illinois/ Urbana-Champaign where I shared my experiences and thoughts with students from different parts of the world.

In conclusion, I can say that my participation in the USBT Program was a great opportunity for me. It was a “once in a life time experience” and a turning point in my professional life. Depending on how long we had been working as educational advisors, everybody’s expectations were different. Since I have been working as an educational advisor for nearly ten years, the program definitely filled the gaps where my knowledge was not sufficient. Furthermore, attending the program promoted continuity of practices and professionalism in my job. In our global society today, having an understanding and acceptance of the diversity in the world around us is a crucial part of living a successful and meaningful life. This is partly achieved by learning and welcoming the ideas, beliefs, and heritage of the many cultures of our world.  Throughout the USBT Program, I had wonderful opportunities to work with many people from different backgrounds, all the while polishing my social skills and gaining an increasing familiarity with the cultures and customs of the various people.

THE  2006USBT PROGRAM:  A HEAVY  MEAL  WITH MANY CONCENTRATED INGREDIENTS.

By: Josè Manuel Blanco
Educational Advisor ICPNA-CHICLAYO

According to the Ksema-kuntuhala, a Vedic cookbook from the 2nd century A.D., a pleasant atmosphere and a good mood are as important to proper digestion as the quality of the food. The conditions to create a relaxed atmosphere had been impeccably set up by the organizers of the training program: comfortable rooms with all the facilities that were required for the occasion, a well organized detailed schedule with what, who, when and where information about each activity taking place during the event, and, the most important ingredient, twenty five participants coming from different advising offices around the world who were in the best of moods to pick up whatever was offered by our generous hosts. For some of them, as well as for me, that was the first experience in the United States of America. 

A big meal is always preceded by an appetizer. Best Practice Power Point Presentations was the appetizer for the occasion. Every participant strove to do his or her best at making presentations on selected topics that characterized the centers where they worked. Some of the topics resulted extremely practical while others were informative. At the end, it became clear to me that none of us has the perfect recipe for the delicacy that our clients expect from us, but the combination of some ingredients such as creativity, proper use of technology and a good dose of networking can make our offer more appealing.

The ETS tour was also an important ingredient for the feast. As an overseas educational advisor I have to deal with international tests most of the time, but it never crossed my mind that there were so many people involved in the process. What I saw in Princeton, NJ, somehow reminded me of some scenes I had seen before in some television documentaries on the Second World War: an army of extremely organized people working frantically on specific tasks to produce goods for the front line on a large scale, taking advantage of the latest technologies for the purpose. The lesson that I learned from this visit was that careful planning and efficient organization of the work are vital for an institution to become successful.

The main dish of the banquet was introduced by a visit to Princeton University, one of the most popular universities in the USA, not only because of its academic excellence but because of the financial aid program it has for prospective graduate and undergraduate students. My first walk-in visit to a USA American university campus nevertheless, had taken place during the Best Practices Week, when some of the participants visited the American University in Washington DC. We also visited the University of Wisconsin. Something special about Princeton university is that it has maintained the architectural harmony of all its beautiful buildings, unlike many other universities we visited where traditional and modern constructions are mixed up for the benefit of functionality but at the expense of aesthetics. An atmosphere of peacefulness is perceived as one tours along Princeton university campus. Another thing that caught my attention was the way our tour guide, a graduate student at Princeton University, identified herself with her institution. She really loved her “Alma Mater” and the enthusiasm she showed when enumerating each and every one of the facilities that Princeton has to offer to its students was the best proof of it. I learned that many successful professionals who graduated at this university contribute to its funding once they get a job. That explains, in part, why financial disadvantage is not a problem for gifted candidates who apply to be admitted in this university.  Princeton prides itself that none of its students has to take out a loan to pay for his or her education. 

The Regional NAFSA in Madison, Wisconsin, came up as a side dish offering each of the advisers of the group an excellent opportunity not only to make themselves and their institutions known, but also to share their concerns and expectations with American university representatives. There were sessions “a la carte” too, for those interested in specific topics related to education in the USA. The Regional NAFSA taught me that many American universities know little - if anything- about Binational Centers in Latin America. Their representatives could hardly hide their astonishment when they heard that only in Peru there are more than 45,000 students enrolled at different English programs at the Binational Centers. It became evident that there is still much to be done in this regard.

Washington/Idaho Campus Week made a perfect main dish for the occasion. I would dare say that this was the most nutritious ingredient of the meal, although a little hard to digest at moments. For almost seven days we became privileged witnesses of what was going on behind the scenes. Our friendly tour guide drove us from one campus to other in accordance to a tight schedule that had been arranged in advance. Spokane Falls Community College, Spokane Community College, Gonzaga University, Lewis Clark State College, Idaho University and Washington State University were the institutions that my cluster, self-named “Mileage Plus”, visited.

 We were looking for first hand information and we were bombarded with first hand information that came from different fronts: the university staff, the admission committees and - the most precious one- the international students enrolled in each of the universities.  It goes without saying that all our meetings ran smoothly and most of them were informal. What did I learn from this part of the program?  Rather than learn, I would say verify. I verified that universities and community colleges in the USA are unique, that they do appreciate diversity and therefore they welcome international students, that they offer a wider variety of programs than any other universities in the world, that most of them are expensive but not discriminatory, that they have excellent facilities and high standards of excellence, that they need from us and we need from them if we really want to promote mutual understanding among all the people of the world. 

To be sincere, I do not think that those who designed the USBT program had in mind the idea of an exquisite banquet but they followed the pattern so faithfully that even a dessert was included in the menu. That was the Campus Debriefing in Washington DC, when all the clusters shared the information that they had gathered during the campus visits. The cake was crowned with a closing dinner that at moments tasted bitter and at moments sweet. Bitter because it was time to say good bye to twenty four colleagues with whom I have developed a friendship that might last for the rest of our lives, and sweet because, although at this stage of the program almost everybody was exhausted, we all had the feeling that our mission had been accomplished.

In conclusion, I would say that the USBT program resembles a nutritious food with a lot of professional and humanistic ingredients that provide overseas educational advisors with renewed energies to better develop their mission. The main lesson I learned from the program as a whole is that mutual understanding among twenty-five people from different cultural, religious and educational backgrounds is quite possible.

I strongly recommend the USBT program to overseas educational advisors with a voracious appetite for delicacies.

Virtual Consultancy Office project link added to 'Links' section.

The VCO project presents unique opportunity to share gained knowledge not only in the local offices, countries but for also for huge academic audience by presenting multilingual consulting service combined with presenting updated information  in various languages related to study in the USA and implementing of a cheap and effective mechanism of teaching beginning level advisers based on distance training method.