ALO NewsBRIEFS 4:2

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Announcements

At the direction of USAID, we have been instructed to notify our partners and other interested parties that government regulations require all foreign nationals traveling to the United States under the exchange visitor program for activities sponsored fully or in part with U.S. Government funds to enter the United States on a J-1 visa (non-immigrant exchange visitor visa). This regulation applies to programs of any length. Obtaining a DS2019 form, which can involve new clearance procedures and should be started at least 6 weeks prior to submitting the DS2019 to the U.S. consulate in the host country, is a requirement for processing the J-1 visa. Obtaining the actual visa, moreover, is likely to involve an interview. The entire process may take up to three months. You should also be aware that, in certain countries, the visa process may take even longer given increased concerns for homeland security in the United States. For more information, check the U.S. Department of State information page.

The USAID solicitations web site is going through some signficant changes. Effective Monday March 17, 2003 all Request for Announcements (RFAs) and related uploads that have not expired were transferred to the government portal, FedGrants. Effective Monday, March 24, 2003 all Request for Proposals, Request for Quotations Over 25K, and Invitation for Bids are no longer posted on the USAID solicitation page. These solicitations are posted at the government contract portal, FedBizOpps.

Grants & Fellowships

NAFSA COOP and International Education Week 2003 grants The U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education have announced that International Education Week (IEW) 2003 will be held November 17-21, 2003. COOP is offering IEW Grants of up to $2,000 for activities that take place during IEW. Proposed projects for an IEW Grant must meet all the regular objectives of COOP and must be designed to raise campus and community awareness of international education and global issues during the designated IEW. The deadline for the 2003 IEW Grant competition is June 9, 2003. See the NAFSA COOP page for details.

Conferences & Seminars

The American Council on Education (ACE) will hold the ACE Advantage Workshop: Evaluating Distance Learning Courses for College Credit Recommendations on June 16-17, 2003 in Washington, DC. For more information, see the Advantage Workshop page.

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