International public policy program involves 17 Texas universities

Funded by a $381,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Defense National Security Education Program, the project will support students who are interested in obtaining graduate degrees while acquiring advanced language training and extensive overseas experience.

To qualify for the three-year program, a student must demonstrate proficiency in one of a dozen languages of Asia, the Middle East, Eastern Europe/Russia, or Latin America.

Students can be funded for up to one year of professional public affairs fieldwork in a foreign country and may be able to earn as many as three master's degrees simultaneously (or two master's degrees and a certificate from a foreign university). The program also provides funding for students interested in pursuing a doctoral degree.

According to LBJ School Professor David J. Eaton, the project's principal investigator, the program will enable graduates to enter American governmental institutions and be productive immediately.

"With many competing career paths available today for the 'best and brightest' students, American universities have a difficult time encouraging students to develop fluent foreign language skills, knowledge of other cultures, and professional competence in areas responsive to U.S. national needs," he said. "This international affairs program will attract some of the strongest graduate students in the nation to Texas public policy programs and yield civil servants who can be valuable to federal agencies upon graduation."

The consortium is made up of the public affairs programs that participate in the Texas International Educational Consortium. These include programs at The University of Texas institutions in Austin, Arlington, Dallas, El Paso, San Antonio, and Tyler; Angelo State University; Lamar University; Midwestern State University; Southwest Texas State University; Sul Ross University; Texas A&M University institutions in College Station and Corpus Christi; Texas Southern University; Texas Tech University; the University of Houston (Houston branch); and the University of North Texas.

Foreign universities cooperating in this effort include schools in Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, Chile, the Czech Republic, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Morocco, Poland, Russia, and Turkey.

For information contact Sheila Cavanagh, Center for Environmental Resource Management in Latin America, 512/232-2176.