KU News Release

LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas is the national site for an orientation program for 68 junior faculty members from the Balkans and former Soviet republics. They will be on campus through Jan. 9.

At the request of the U.S. State Department, KU’s International Programs is coordinating the four-day Junior Faculty Development Program orientation, which will help the fellows acclimate to the United States and the American higher education system before they go to their host institutions for the semester. Orientation activities include presentations about intercultural conflict, U.S. higher education and American society. Participants will meet with KU faculty, staff and students and attend social activities.

Sponsored by the U.S. State Department, the Junior Faculty Development Program increases access to academic resources and new educational perspectives and promotes the development of a growing network of academics in the United States and the countries represented. Staff members from the American Councils for International Education, which coordinates the program, will participate in the orientation, along with KU faculty and staff. Karene Grad from the State Department’s Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs will attend the orientation Jan. 7 and 8.

Following the orientation session, four fellows will stay at KU to work with faculty in the School of Architecture, Design and Planning and the departments of English, psychology and political science.

KU has hosted fellows since the Junior Faculty Development Program began in 1991. This month’s orientation is KU’s fourth time to host fellows. KU’s Applied English Center hosted 18 fellows a month before orientation for language and culture instruction. It is the fifth year the center has provided that part of the program.