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THE ROTARY FOUNDATION
The Rotary Foundation is a not-for-profit
corporation that supports the efforts of Rotary International to
achieve world understanding and peace through international
humanitarian, educational, and cultural exchange programs.
The Foundation's Humanitarian Programs fund international
Rotary club and district projects designed to improve the quality
of life. Providing health care, clean water, food, education, and
housing are a few of the basic goals that these projects work
toward -- primarily in the developing world. One of the key
humanitarian programs is PolioPlus,
which seeks to eradicate the polio virus worldwide by the year
2000.
Through its Educational
Programs the Foundation provides funding for about 1200
students to study abroad each year. Grants are also awarded to
university teachers to teach in developing countries and for
exchanges of business and professional people. In all cases,
recipients are expected to act as ambassadors of goodwill,
furthering international understanding and promoting friendly
relations between their host and sponsoring countries. Former
participants in the Foundation's educational programs often
continue their affiliation with Rotary as Foundation
Alumni.
The Rotary Foundation is supported
solely by voluntary contributions from Rotarians and friends of the
Foundation who share its vision of a better world. Contributions to
the Foundation's Annual Programs Fund are invested for three years,
with interest being used to cover all administrative costs. Fully
100 percent of every dollar donated goes directly to humanitarian
and educational program expenditures three years later. Gifts to
the Foundation's Permanent Fund are invested, with only the
earnings being used to support programs(See Foundation Support.).
The Rotary Foundation is governed by
13 Trustees -- four of whom are past RI Presidents -- who were
appointed by the current President of RI and confirmed by the Board
of Directors.
The Foundation was conceived as an
endowment fund in 1917 by Rotary's sixth president, Arch C. Klumph,
"for the purpose of doing good in the world." Although
The Rotary Foundation was formally established in 1928, significant
contributions were not received until 1947, when the death of
Rotary founder Paul Harris generated an outpouring of support.
Since that time, The Foundation's nine programs have been
established, and cumulative contributions have reached about US$825
million
Foundation Support
The Rotary Foundation is supported
solely by voluntary contributions from Rotarians and friends of the
Foundation who share its vision of a better world. The financial
support the Foundation receives today will help secure many better
tomorrows for people all over the world, assisted through the
Foundation's many humanitarian and educational programs.
Humanitarian Grants
Programs
The Rotary Foundation's Humanitarian
Programs support a wide range of international service activities,
from exploratory missions through finished projects. Humanitarian
grants are used by Rotary clubs and districts worldwide to combat
hunger, disease, ignorance, and poverty. Designed to bring clubs
together in an international partnership, these six programs also
foster and nurture an understanding between different cultures.
Educational Programs
The Rotary Foundation Educational
Programs promote international understanding through scholarships,
grants and cultural exchanges.
The Ambassadorial
Scholarships program sponsors more than 1,200 scholars each
year to study in a country other than their own. It is the largest
and most international privately sponsored scholarship program in
the world.
The Foundation's Group Study Exchange (GSE) program
sponsors international exchanges of teams of non-Rotarian men and
women in the early stages of their business and professional
careers. Participants spend four to six weeks studying the
institutions and culture of the host country while exchanging
vocational information with the local representatives of their
particular professions.
Rotary Grants for University Teachers are awarded to university or college faculty
members to teach in a developing nation for three to ten months.
These grants enable teachers to share their expertise in a part of
the world where it is most needed.
Participants in the Foundation's
educational programs often continue their affiliation with Rotary
long after they've returned home as Foundation
Alumni.
Ambassadorial
Scholarships
The Rotary Foundation's oldest and
best-known program is Ambassadorial Scholarships, established in
1947. Since that time, nearly 30,000 young people from 100 nations
have studied abroad under its auspices. The primary objective of
the scholarships program is to promote international understanding
as the scholars are expected to serve as ambassadors of goodwill
during the term of their scholarships. Three types of scholarships
are currently available:
- Academic-Year Ambassadorial
Scholarship. Candidates may be of any age as long as they have
completed two years of university study or appropriate
professional experience prior to the commencement of the
scholarship. This award provides funding for transportation,
tuition, fees, room and board and limited language training (as
assigned by The Rotary Foundation) up to a specified financial
limit for one academic year of full-time study in another
country. In 1999-2000, no award will exceed US$23,000.
- Multi-Year Ambassadorial
Scholarship. Either a two- or three-year award, this scholarship
is intended to help defray the costs of degree-oriented study in
another country. This scholarship provides a flat grant of
US$11,000 per year. Eligibility requirements for Multi-Year
Ambassadorial Scholarships are the same as those for
Academic-Year Ambassadorial Scholarships, with the additional
requirement that a candidate must be committed to the pursuit of
specific academic degree.
- Cultural Ambassadorial
Scholarship. This scholarship may be either a three- or
six-month award for intensive language training and cultural
immersion in another country. Applications will be considered
for candidates interested in studying Arabic, English, French,
German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin Chinese,
Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swahili or Swedish.
Eligibility requirements for Cultural Ambassadorial Scholarships
are the same as those for Academic-Year Ambassadorial
Scholarship, with the additional requirement that candidates
have at least one year of university level training or
equivalent experience in their proposed language. This award
provides tuition and fees, reasonable room and board (usually
homestay accommodations) and the cost of round-trip
transportation up to a designated limit.
Group Study Exchange
Since its inception in 1965, the
Group Study Exchange program has provided grants for countless
teams of men and women in the early stages of their business and
professional careers to travel abroad and share vocational
information with the representatives of their respective
professions in another country. Team members spend four to six
weeks studying the host country's institutions, economy, and
culture, while observing how their own professions are practiced
abroad. More than 500 exchanges between paired Rotary districts
occur each year, advancing the program's ultimate goal of promoting
international understanding and goodwill.
Rotary districts select teams
comprising four non-Rotarians and one Rotarian leader, engaged in
different businesses and professions. Each of two paired districts
sends and receives a team for a four- to six-week study program.
Pairings are usually determined by The Rotary Foundation's trustees
to ensure wide geographical distribution, but exchanges can also be
arranged by the participating districts.
While visiting abroad, GSE team
members follow a carefully planned itinerary, including visits to
government and cultural institutions, schools, religious and
historic sites and other points of interest. In addition, each
member spends at least five days studying and observing the
practice of his or her profession in the host district.
The Foundation grant funds
round-trip air transportation for each team member. Rotarians
provide lodging in their homes, meals, and group travel, allowing
the opportunity for participants to become acquainted with the
customs and culture of the people in their host district.
ELIGIBILITY
Applicants must be employed
full-time, with a minimum of two-years experience, in a recognized
business or profession. In addition, candidates should have some
proficiency in the language of the country to which they intend to
travel, must be exemplary in their business or professional
conduct, enthusiastic about their vocations, and capable of
deriving maximum educational value from the program. After their
study abroad, participants are expected to speak about their
experiences at Rotary meetings and other civic functions.
Rotary
Grants for University Teachers
"I open my apartment twice a
month and invite all my students to visit, talk, and have a
picnic on the floor. They come and are so pleased that a
professor is interested enough to open his apartment and want to
know what they think... They have requested that we have class
on those occasions, can you believe that, class on
Sunday?...This is teaching heaven!"
--Dr. Mel Weissman, 1998-99 Grant for University Teachers
recipient, on teaching in Russia
Grants for University Teachers
provides funds to higher education faculty to travel abroad to
teach at colleges or universities in developing countries. The
program is intended to build international understanding and foster
development, while strengthening higher education in these regions.
The subjects taught must be relevant to the needs of the local
population and contribute to the areas' socio-economic development.
A total of 40 grants have been awarded to university teachers for
service in 24 countries in 1998-99.
Developing countries are currently
defined as countries with a per capita GNP of US$6,375 or less. The
list of those designated as low-income
countries is fairly extensive.
Types of grants
Districts may elect to award a grant
of US$10,000 for three to five months of service or a grant of
US$20,000 for six to ten months of service. Funding may be used for
living expenses, round-trip transportation and for other expenses
related to teaching and research in the host country.
Eligibility
- Applicants must hold (or if
retired, have held) a full-time college or university
appointment at any rank for three or more years
- The subject(s) taught must have
practical use to the host country.
- The proposed host institution must
be located in a low-income country.
- The applicant’s home and host
countries must contain at least one Rotary club. (Currently,
there are Rotary clubs in more than 155 countries.)
- Application must be made through a
local Rotary club in the applicant’s legal or permanent
residence, or place of full-time employment.
- Applicants must be proficient in
the language of their prospective host country.
- Applicants may be either Rotarians
or non-Rotarians.
How to apply
The availability and types of
University Teacher grants are determined by each Rotary district
and vary from year to year. Applicants should contact their local
Rotary club or district to determine the availability of grants for
the current year and to request an application. The deadline to
apply for 1999-2000 grants has already passed; the deadlines for
2000-2001 awards will be set by the individual clubs between March
and August 1999. Not all districts will offer University Teacher
Grants. If you are informed that the district is not offering
Grants for University Teacher, you may wish to inquire again next
year.
For answers to specific questions
about the Grants for University Teachers program, you may contact
our Educational
Programs staff.
1998-99 Rotary Low Income Countries and Geographical Areas*
(as of October 1998)
Albania |
Grenada |
Pakistan |
Algeria |
Guadeloupe |
Palau |
Angola |
Guatemala |
Panama |
Armenia |
Guinea |
Papua New Guinea |
Bahrain |
Guinea-Bissau |
Paraguay |
Bangladesh |
Guyana |
Peru |
Barbados |
Haiti |
Philippines |
Belarus |
Honduras |
Poland |
Belize |
Hungary |
Romania |
Benin |
India |
Russian Federation |
Bolivia |
Indonesia |
Rwanda |
Botswana |
Isle of Man |
St. Kitts &
Nevis |
Brazil |
Jamaica |
St. Lucia |
Bulgaria |
Jordan |
St. Vincent/
Grenadines |
Burkina Faso |
Kazakhstan |
São Tomé &
Principe |
Burundi |
Kenya |
Samoa |
Cambodia |
Latvia |
Senegal |
Cameroon |
Lebanon |
Serbia |
Cape Verde |
Lesotho |
Sierra Leone |
Central African Rep. |
Lithuania |
Slovak Rep. |
Chad |
Macedonia, FYR |
Solomon Islands |
Chile |
Madagascar |
South Africa |
Colombia |
Malawi |
Sri Lanka |
Comoros |
Malaysia |
Sudan |
Congo, Rep |
Mali |
Suriname |
Congo, Dem. Rep |
Malta |
Swaziland |
Costa Rica |
Mauritania |
Tanzania |
Côte d'Ivoire |
Mauritius |
Thailand |
Croatia |
Mayotte |
Togo |
Czech Republic |
Mexico |
Tonga |
Djibouti |
Micronesia, Fed.
Sts. |
Trinidad &
Tobago |
Dominica |
Moldova |
Tunisia |
Dominican Republic |
Mongolia |
Turkey |
Ecuador |
Morocco |
Uganda |
Egypt |
Mozambique |
Ukraine |
El Salvador |
Namibia |
Uruguay |
Eritrea |
Nepal |
Vanuatu |
Estonia |
Nicaragua |
Venezuela |
Ethiopia |
Niger |
Zambia |
Fiji |
Nigeria |
Zimbabwe |
Gabon |
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Gambia |
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Georgia |
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Ghana |
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Gibraltar |
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*per World Bank Atlas, GNP per
capita is estimated from $3116 to $9635
Return to Grants for University Teachers
* per World Bank Atlas, GNP per
capita is estimated from $3116 to $9635 1998-99 Rotary Low Income
Countries and Geographical Areas 22 June 1998
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