Click here to see our holiday e-card.

It has been a great year for i-studentgroup and we would like to thank everyone who has been involved in the production of i-studentadvisor magazines and i-studentlife.

This is our last blog of 2010, but we will be back on January 4th to continue bringing you daily news and features about international education around the world. 2011 is going to be an exciting year for us at i-studentgroup, and therefore for our readers.

Here are some of the continued and new products and services we will be providing for students, counsellors and educators worldwide in the New Year:

• The magazines are all being re-designed and the new 2011 issues will be bigger, better and with more information than ever before. This has been implemented after listening to feedback from you, our readers

• A new issue of the New Zealand magazine will be out mid-year, after taking a year out

• The i-studentlife website will be re-launched with a brand new layout and new features, plus the usual entertaining blogs from international students around the globe about their experiences studying abroad

• We will continue to provide tailored information for individual students generated by the i-studentenquiry service, matching students with possible choices of international universities

Plus, representatives from i-studentgroup will be continuing to visit schools across the world, including Jordan early in the New Year, and also attending many more education fairs worldwide.

The i-studentadvisor editor, Paul McWilliams, says: “It’s been a great year. We hope that in 2011 we can continue to improve the magazines and other resources in line with what you, the reader, really want to see. I would also like to wish all our readers and contributors across the world a very happy holiday and a great new year.”

Please continue to let us know what you think of the i-studentadvisor magazines; we always welcome any feedback, good or bad.

Have a wonderful holiday season. See you in the new year!

With 10,000 members, NAFSA is the world’s largest non-profit professional association dedicated to international education. NAFSA’s board guides the work of the association, while hundreds of NAFSA members volunteer to serve in leadership positions, and thousands more advocate for international education.

The newly elected president and members of the NAFSA Board are:

NAFSA President and Chair 2011-2012
Meredith M. McQuaid, JD, University of Minnesota
Click here to read a brief biography.

NAFSA Vice President for Public Policy and Practice, 2011-2013
Sherif Barsoum, Vanderbilt University
Click here to read a brief biography.

Member, NAFSA Board of Directors, 2011-2013
Charles A. S. Bankart, University of Kansas
Click here to read a brief biography.

Member, NAFSA Board of Directors, 2011-2013
Lars Heikensten, PhD, European Court of Auditors
Click here to read a brief biography.

Member, NAFSA Board of Directors, 2011-2013
Mora McLean, JD, Africa-America Institute (AAI)
Click here to read a brief biography.

Member, NAFSA Board of Directors, 2011-2013
Jody K. Olsen, PhD, University of Maryland
Click here to read a brief biography.

Member, NAFSA Board of Directors, 2011-2013
Kavita Pandit, PhD, University of Georgia
Click here to read a brief biography.

Member, NAFSA Board of Directors, 2011-2013
Chunsheng Zhang, PhD, University of North Alabama
Click here to read a brief biography.

Press release courtesy of NAFSA: Association of International Educators.
 To view the original release, please click here.

Cameron R. Hume, the US ambassador to Indonesia, has hailed the plans as a means of empowering the Indonesian youth: “A country without a better higher-education system won’t be successful and satisfied in the 21st century… The best thing they can do to face the future is to have an informed, educated citizenry.”

Although the Indonesian government has allocated 20% of its budget to education, the majority of those funds are directed towards primary and secondary schools, leaving a lack of effective higher education for older students. The new US scheme will seek to improve standards through educational exchanges and university partnerships, with the hope that many Indonesian students – perhaps as many as double the current amount – will be able to study in the US.

A White House statement also added that the scheme will seek to improve both the capacity and quality of Indonesian higher education institutions,  as well as expand initiatives through the Community College Initiative Program, Fulbright, and access to English language courses.

The two nations have also announced plans to hold a joint higher education summit in the summer of 2011.

This year’s Fulbright Awards Programme offers an exciting new opportunity for research in the clinical or biomedical aspects of diabetes, or the social or economic issues faced by people living with the condition. Offered in partnership with Diabetes UK, the Fulbright-Diabetes UK Research Award offers a generous £75,000 to conduct research into the condition at any accredited US institution.

Penny Egan, the Fulbright Commission’s Executive Director, remarked on the Programme:

“The USA remains the destination of choice for many eager to further enhance their education.  A prestigious Fulbright Award does more. It opens doors and enriches the awardees affording a unique opportunity for those with ambition to immerse themselves in the world’s leading economy at a pivotal moment in its history. We are therefore delighted that once again we have been able to increase the number of awards that we can offer UK applicants.”

Michael Scott-Kline, Director of the Fulbright Awards Programme, adds:

“An award from Fulbright is more than just a grant. When I ask our alumni about what they valued most from their Fulbright experience, across the board they say it was the people they met. That is the real purpose of this programme – mutual exchange and mutual understanding between people – and I’m thrilled to say that this year we’ll have even more awards to give for exchanges to the United States.”

Further details about the Fulbright Awards and online applications can be found on the Fulbright Commission’s website: www.fulbright.co.uk.

The application deadline for awards in academic year 2011/12 is 31 May 2010. .