KU faculty urged to encourage students to apply for Fulbright scholarship

A three-member delegation of the United States Consulate General in Karachi during a visit to Karachi University on Thursday discussed student and faculty exchange and scholarship programs with high-ups of the varsity.

Cultural Affairs Officer Christina Tribble, Cultural Attaché Cameron Thomas-Shah and Cultural Affairs Manager Ali Chauhan met KU Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Khalid Mahmood Iraqi, Registrar Professor Dr Saleem Shahzad, deans of all faculties, student adviser, campus adviser, in-charge, directorate of the admission committee, in-charge students financial aid office, director distance education program at the VC Secretariat.

The visitors informed the KU faculty that through the scholarship and exchange program opportunities, the US government wanted to promote mutual understanding with their partners.

They shed light on the different scholarship programs being offered at the American universities. They also expressed how US exchange and scholarship programs helped in achieving dreams of students and talked at length about the programs offered by the US government through various platforms.

They asked the KU faculty to encourage students to avail the opportunity by applying for the Fulbright scholarship program, which, they said, it was open at the moment.

They said officials of the US Educational Foundation Pakistan would soon visit the KU and meet the students to educate them about the Fulbright, UGRAD and other scholarship programs, while the US Consulate General Karachi would make sure that the university partnership program would be established with Karachi University at the earliest.

Christina Tribble said seminars and workshops should be conducted to create awareness among the students regarding the scholarship programs being offered in the United States of America.

Cameron Thomas-Shah said that the faculty training and exchange program, online courses, virtual programs, a series of dialogue with students and faculty members, collaboration with Pakistani and American researchers were possible as it would bring them closer and would help in clearing the misconception if such things were present there.

They said the US government was working to improve the situation in Sindh and Balochistan in various sectors, including education from grass-roots to higher education levels. The visitors also talked about developing community-based programs along with teachers training programs.

They added that a good number of KU students would avail the US scholarship programs. They mentioned that there was a need to strengthen the interfaith culture and hoped that the KU academician would play a vital role in this regard.

Earlier, KU VC Professor Dr Khalid Iraqi gave a brief introduction of the departments, research institutions and progress of Karachi University while other participates shared their roles and responsibilities.

Professor Iraqi acknowledged that the US government through its various platforms was working tirelessly to improve standards of education in the developing countries, including Pakistan.

“There are a lot of opportunities available for Pakistani students to get US scholarship programs. We just need to create awareness regarding the programs and their eligibility criteria so that maximum students could avail the chance to continue their studies in America.”

He hoped that the KU faculty would be benefited from the university partnership program. He also shared their experiences with students at Karachi University. Later, Cultural Affairs Officer Christina Tribble and Cultural Attaché Cameron Thomas-Shah planted saplings in the lawn in front of the new administration building.