Fulbright Colombia Annual Report 2021

2021

Fulbright Colombia Annual Report 1

FULBRIGHT COLOMBIA ANNUAL REPORT 2021 COMMISSION FOR EDUCATIONAL EXCHANGE BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND COLOMBIA © Reproduction in whole or in part is prohibited without permission of the commission.

DIANA PAOLA BASTO CASTRO Executive Director ADRIANA PRIETO Program Director JHOSEP DÍAZ Administrative and Financial Director LUISA FERNANDA COSSIO Head of Communications COLIN ANDREWS Text translation VALENTINA VELÁSQUEZ Text revision MARGARITA OSPINA Design and Layout This document was created by the Fulbright Colombia Commission, therefore it does not represent the opinions of the Government of the United States of America, of the Government of Colombia, nor of the partner entities.

April 2022

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Table of contents 2021: A Year of Achievements in Fulbright Colombia P.9

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Fulbright Portfolio 2021 P.16

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5 6 7

Educational Advising P.26

Fellows by Nationality Grantees by Type of Study Postgraduate Scholarships Research and Teaching Grants History of Colombian Grantees History of U.S. Grantees Top 20 Universities with Fulbright Grantees

Broad Mandate: Expanding the Scope of the Fulbright Program in Colombia P.20

Fulbrighters: a Community that Grows Stronger P.22

Fulbright Colombia: Closer to Colombians in 2021 P.27

2021 Financial Statements P.29

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Letter from the Executive Director Diana Basto Castro

Executive Director Fulbright Colombia Commission

Despite the challenges that the pandemic continues to present, we finished 2021 with many great accomplishments. In January of 2021 we became the first Commission in the Western Hemisphere, and one of the first in the world, to reactivate academic mobility for US Fulbright Scholars. Despite the third Covid wave, which, compared to the prior two waves, was much more severe in terms of cases and deaths, and despite weeks of intense social protests that shook Colombia, we were able to guarantee the wellbeing and security of our grantees thanks to our capacity for innovation and resiliency. In the first semester of 2021, we were able to successfully support the academic mobility of 42 US grantees and 25 Colombian grantees who had been selected for research and teaching programs in the fall of 2020 and had, to that point, not been able to participate in their grant activities.

This year we supported a total of 165 grantees, of which 82 were American and 83 were Colombian. This marked a 35% increase in the amount of scholarships offered compared to the previous year, mostly on account of the reactivation of programas for US grantees.

In terms of financial contributions from our partners, the budget from fiscal year 2021 totaled USD $7,914,000. This budget was made possible through the contributions from the United States State Department, US universities, the Colombian Government (including the Colombian Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, ICETEX, and the Colombian Ministry of Education), USAID, and Colombian Universities.

Our successful navigation through the uncertainty and the challenges of 2021 was made possible thanks to Fulbright Colombia’s committed, innovative, flexible and resilient team. Fortunately, throughout 2021, the commission was able to maintain the salaries and benefits of its employees and additionally, improvements to some positions and new hires were made, generating employment in Colombia. The stability within the professional team’s composition has made a tremendous impact on the quality of our management system and the services provided by the commission.

Without a doubt, 2021 has been a challenging year, but we continue advancing in our commitment to building bridges and to fostering networks between the United States and Colombia. 2021 was the 75th anniversary of the Fulbright program in the world, and despite the challenges brought upon humanity by the pandemic, our program continues to serve as a beacon for the strengthening of democracy and social mobility through the development of high level human capital.

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Board of Directors

Orna T. Blum

Public Affairs Counselor of the U.S. Embassy in Colombia

Andrew Crawford

Associate Professor of Biology from la Universidad de los Andes

Carolyn Turpin

Cultural Attaché of the U.S. Embassy in Colombia

Nicolás Uribe Rueda

Executive President of Cámara de Comercio de Bogotá

Catalina Albarracín

Director of Cultural Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Colombia

Rafael Puyana

Fedesarrollo Associate Researcher

Strategic Partners

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FULBRIGHT TEAM EXECUTIVE DIRECTION

Executive Director

Head of Organizational Development

Head of Legal Affairs

Doctoral Intern

PROGRAM DIRECTION

Programs Director

Graduate Program Officer

Educational Adviser

English Teaching Programs Officer

Program Support

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Graduate Program Officer

Research and Teaching Programs Officer

Program Support

Program Support

Program Support

Program Intern

ADMINISTRATIVE AND FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATION

Administrative and Financial Director

Accountant

Accounting Support

Financial Officer

Financial Support

Logistics, IT and Administrative Officer

Administrative and Logistics Assistant

PUBLIC AFFAIRS

Head of Communications

Graphic Design Intern

Head of Alumni Relations

Alumni Intern

Communications Intern

FRIENDS OF FULBRIGHT FOUNDATION

Director of Educational Innovation

Educational Testing Leader

Educational Projects Leader

Technical Support

Administrative and Accounting Support

Professional Support Cooperation Route

Project Support

Legal Intern

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ICONTEC Certificate In 2021, the Comission successfully completed an ICONTEC follow up audit, with 0 new findings and consistent evidence of continuous improvement, which allowed us to maintain the certification granted since May 17, 2019 to the Quality Management System of the Fulbright Commission in Colombia, under the Colombian Technical Standard ISO 9001:2015

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2021: A Year of Achievements in Fulbright Colombia

In January of 2021, the Colombia Fulbright Commission resumed Fulbright programs for US Grantees after one year of suspension due to the pandemic. Meanwhile, for Colombian grantees academic mobility was never suspended. As part of the 2021 cohort 83 Colombians, taking part in graduate, research and teaching programs, participated in in-person activities in the United States.

Atlántico:1 Sucre:1 Córdoba:2

Magdalena:1

Atlántico:5 Sucre:1

Bolivar:4

Córdoba:1

Santander:2 Antioquia:10

Magdalena:1 Cesar:1 Bolivar:4 Santander:8

Casanare:1

Caldas:1 Risaralda:1 Quindío:1

Cundinamarca:4 Bogotá:41

Valle del Cauca:7 Tolima:2

Antioquia:13 Boyacá:2

Risaralda:1

Cundinamarca:1

Quindío:1

Bogotá:29

Valle del Cauca:8 Tolima:2

Cauca:2 Nariño:2

Meta:2

Huila:2

scholarship in the United States

U.S. Grantees by region

Who will carry out their scholarship in Colombia

Despite the difficult moments that Colombia went through this year (the third wave of COVID-19 and a social movement throughout the country), 82 US grantees from the 2021 were able to arrive in Colombia to participate in their program in cities across the country.

There are 3 main programs through which US grantees participated: the English Teaching Assistantship or “ETA” program (39 grantees), the US Specialist Program (13 grantees) and the US Scholar program (13 grantees). These grantees undertook important academic activities in English teaching and research that contributed to the internationalization of our educational system

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293 former fellows supported selection processes (academic evaluation, selection committees and interviews) of our Fulbrighters (Colombians and Americans) 248 evaluators

(170 postgraduate degrees; 66 Research and Teaching and 12 FLTA)

40 interviewers

5 former Colombian scholars, supported the Scholarship Evaluation Committee for U.S. grantees

2 in the first semester of 2021 (U.S. Student and ETAs)

3 in the second half of 2021: U.S. Scholar.

In terms of financial contributions, the budget provided for the fiscal year 2021 was:

US $7.914.000 US $1.293.000 Provided by the US government

US $6.277.000

Provided by the Colombian government

However, if we take into account the contributions given by US universities (in terms of tuition waivers granted and other financial contributions):

The budget totaled US $19.117.000

US $344.000

From universities in Colombia

US $6.653.000 from Colombia US $12.464.000 from the United States

The contributions of the Colombian government were the results of the agreements signed between the Comisión Fulbright Colombia and Colombia Científica, Ministerio de Ciencia, SENA, ICETEX, Ministerio de Educación, Ministerio de Cultura and USAID.

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Budget Budget 2021

Funding Distribution

Comparison of distributions 2012-2021 Total Contributions 2013-2022 USD

Data: October 29, 2021

Total Contributions 2020

Total Contributions + Leveraged 2020

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Achievements Fulbright Colombia was one of the few commissions worldwide to successfully restart the programs for U.S. grantees (beginning in January 2021).

Despite the pandemic, in 2021 Fulbright Colombia achieved:

38% Increase in

FY 2021 negotiations with Colombian partners secured:

50 SCHOLARSHIPS for Colombians to complete doctoral and master's degrees in the United States as part of the 2022 cohort

the number of grantees compared to the 2020 cohort.

including scholarships for

A total of 165 grantees were part of the 2021 cohort

83 Colombians

Afro-Colombian communities

Indigenous communities

People with disabilities

82 U.S. Grantees

74% of U.S. grantees were deferred from the 2020 cohort, mainly due to high rates of deferred grantees in the ETA and Specialist program.

62% of the nominees for the 2022 cohort are first-generation students.

For the first time, we held our Fulbright 2021 Award Ceremony

completely virtually 75 ACTIVE GRANTEES

Grantees attended from their homes and in the company of their families

More than 1,700 people attended the three days of celebratory events

Content related to this ceremony reached more than 36.000 people

Participated in the Mentoring Program, which connected their knowledge and experience with the new Fulbrighters, supporting them with recommendations to minimize the impact of culture shock upon arrival in the United States and Colombia

In 2021, Fulbright Colombia achieved an average tuition waiver of

92% 80% 12

For Colombians who started their Ph.D programs at US universities In tuition exceptions for Colombians who started their master’s programs

Translated into current US dollars, this represents an annual average of

US$ 34.840 for Doctoral programs

US$ 27.972 for masters programs

The Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Program successfully restarted in July 2021 with 39 recipients.

We have strengthened our financial strategy and thanks to the reactivation of the economy in terms of mobility, we are progressively recovering from the impact of the first year of the pandemic on the program figures. The Commission was able to maintain the necessary funds to continue operating and awarding scholarships.

Thanks to our communications strategy, we were able to guarantee a higher number of applications to the programs offered in the Commission's 2021 portfolio, as well as greater participation in the various events, fairs, workshops and talks that were held throughout the year, most of them virtually and through our social networks.

Adriana Pulido

received the Fulbright Recognition of Excellence Award 2021. This year, the award ceremony was held in conjunction with the U.S. Embassy in a face-to-face ceremony with a reduced number of attendees in order to properly respond to the COVID guidelines.

The Fulbright Colombia Commission continued to implement the Integrated Management System that guarantees the ISO 9001:2015 quality certificate granted by ICONTEC.

The organization guaranteed the well-being of its work team through the implementation of quality remote work, in the midst of the pandemic.

Fulbright Colombia, through its internal policy and the management of its resources, managed to:

Maintain the same number of employees, despite the economic crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition, it allowed the implementation of general improvements in the salary scale, in the designation of positions and promoted new hiring to generate employment in the country

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The Comission and COVID-19 For the Commission, the health and safety of our Fulbright participants has been our top priority. Throughout the year, the Commission worked tirelessly to ensure participants have a safe and successful experience through the implementation of different actions, like:

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3 The guarantee on the part of the host institutions in Colombia to offer possibilities for the development of academic activities with some degree of face-to-face attendance

Ongoing monitoring of COVID conditions in host cities. The Commission periodically consults the indications of the national and local government, as well as reports on the number of infections and ICU occupancy.

This information is shared before and during the fellows' stay so that they can take appropriate measures to reduce the risk of infection

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The Commision established a contingency budget in case of any emergency related with COVID

Each grantee was assigned a member of the staff in order to monitor their arrival and to guide them in any challenge that may occur during their stay in Colombia. This permanent communication was key to assure the wellness of the grantees At the same time in each host city, the Commission identified Fulbright Alumni as local contacts for the U.S. grantees to help them with important information related with COVID: health centers, health specialists, test takers, etc.

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As part of the monitoring, the grantees filled out a weekly form where they reported their health conditions and any possible symptoms related to COVID.

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Fulbright Portfolio 2021

For the Colombia Fulbright Commission, 2021 started with two important challenges in the implementation of its portfolio. The first challenge was the restarting of Fulbright Programs for US grantees and the research and teaching programs for Colombians grantees, who had been nominated before March of 2020 but whose programs were suspended because of the pandemic. In total there were 42 US grantees (9 Scholars, 29 Specialist y 4 Distinguished Award in Teaching) and 25 Colombian grantees (16 visiting scholars, 8 visiting researchers y 1 Hubert H. Humphrey) who were ultimately able to participate in their programs.

The second challenge was the selection and mobility of the 210 nominees who constituted the 2021 cohort. In the first and second trimester of the year, there was an increase in the number of covid cases and there were also multiple social protests across Colombia that affected the final number of Fulbright participants from the 2021 cohort, which was reduced to 165. Nevertheless, the 2021 cohort increased 38% compared to the 2020 cohort, mainly due to reactivation of programs for US grantees, which in 2020 had dropped to 29 participants and in 2021 bounced back to 82 participants. The programs for Colombians supported 92 grantees in 2020 and 83 in 2021. Details of the programs that constituted the 2021 cohort can be found below.

The Fulbright Program for Graduate Studies Fulbright Colombia’s Graduate Studies grants are meant to support Colombian citizens who are willing to pursue a full master’s degree or a PhD program in the United States. In 2021, a total number of 63 grants for graduate studies were awarded.

63% PhD programs

37% masters programs

The average tuition waiver obtained by the cohort was 87%. On the other hand, 63% of the cohort were placed in universities that fall within the top 100 universities in the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU).

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Research and Teaching Programs A total number of 102 research and teaching grants were awarded in 2021 representing an increase of 77% compared with the 2020 cohort that only had 59 grantees. Of these grants, 82% were awarded to U.S. grantees from the following programs:

13 U.S. Specialists

13 U.S. Scholars

39 English Teaching Assistants

6 Distinguished Award in Teaching

7 U.S. Student Researchers

4 DDRA

The Colombian grantees are:

7 Visiting Scholars

8 Visiting Researchers

1 Hubert H. Humphrey

4 Foreign Language Teaching Assistant

The main cause of the increase in the research and teaching grants is the resumption of the Student and the DDRA Programs after not having grantees in 2020. Meanwhile, the grants offered to Colombian citizens compared to 2020 was lower, due to the reduction in financial contributions from local partners, especially for the Visiting Scholar Program that had a reduction of 35%.

The scholarship offerings within Fulbright Colombia´s portfolio are made possible thanks to the alliances that the Commission conducts with different partners. In 2021, the partners that participated were

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Partner

Minciencias

Ministry of National Education

Fulbright program The Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation has been an ally with the Fulbright Commission for more than 25 years. supporting PhD studies for Colombian citizens in the United States. For the 2021 cohort Minciencias co financed 40 grants, but only 37 accepted and started their studies in fall.

This Ministry has been supporting the Afro Colombian Leadership Program for the last 10 years, which contributes toward training at the masters and doctoral levels. Of the 3 nominees offered grants in 2021, 2 started studies in fall and one was deferred to 2022. This program is also co-financed by USAID and its objective is to contribute to closing the gap in quality of high education studies in Colombia.

The Ministry also supported in 2021, 5 grants of the FLTA program and 30 of the ETA program as part of the implementation of the National Strategy of Bilingualism to improve the English level in our Universities.

USAID

ICETEX

In 2021, USAID supported the afro colombian leadership program and the indigenous leadership program for masters and doctoral studies.

In 2021, ICETEX co-financed the last cohort of the Pasaporte a la Ciencia program that selected 20 professionals to study in the United States at the master level in one of the 5 prioritized challenges established by the national government in the Colombia Cientifica Strategy.

ICETEX also supported the mobility of US grantees from the Fulbright Programs like US Specialist (8 grants), US Student (39 ETA and 7 researchers) and US Scholars (6) in 2021.

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Mincultura

The Ministry of Culture restored their sponsorship of the graduate program that finances 3 professionals in 2021 to study a master degree in the United States.

SENA

For the second time, SENA co-financed the ETA program in 2021. Thanks to this support 9 grantees were placed in different cities in Colombia. In 2021 SENA also co-financed on grantee from the US Specialist Program.

Higher Education Institutions

With the support of the Ministry of Education and ICETEX, 13 higher education institutions co-financed 30 ETAs in 2021, as part of their strategy of reinforcing English teaching. The institutions were: Fundación Universitaria Compensar, Fundación Universitaria del área Andina, Institución Universitaria Colombo Americana: UNICA, Fundación Universitaria Empresarial de la Cámara de Comercio, Universidad Antonio Nariño, Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia, Universidad de Boyacá, Universidad del Norte, Universidad EAN, Universidad ECCI, Universidad Industrial de Santander, Universidad Nacional de Colombia and Universidad Santo Tomás de Villavicencio.

Universidad del Norte

In 2021, the University del Norte co-financed one US Scholar.

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Broad Mandate: Expanding the Scope of the Fulbright Program in Colombia

Broad Mandate strategies seek to expand the scope of the Fulbright mission through programs that go beyond the traditional (graduate, research and teaching grants), and allow Fulbright to achieve a greater impact in different regions of the country, and develop new projects and activities oriented towards inclusion, diversity and equity. This is possible through new cooperative relationships that respond to the needs of the current Colombian context in secondary, higher and tertiary education, and lifelong learning.

Thanks to these alliances and new innovative strategies, the Fulbright Program in Colombia contributes to educational cooperation between Colombia and the United States, and to the strengthening of the Colombian educational system, through three strategic lines: Transformation of Teaching Practices, University Internationalization and XXI Century Skills.

In 2021, the Broad Mandate programs allowed us to impact more than 1,000 people through the following programs:

TVET Technical and Vocational Education and Training Vocabulary Program Along with the National Learning Service, SENA, and North Carolina State University, the program, which impacted nearly 500 Instructors, was focused on building specific vocabulary in specific technical areas: Hospitality and Tourism; Parks and Recreation; Service Industry, hotels and restaurants; Call Centers, BPO, Customer Service, Telephone Etiquette, Phone Sales, and Support; Trade, Sales, Retail, Business, Marketing, Negotiations and Programming & Software Development, Computer Sciences, and Electrical Support.

Semilleros Fulbright Colombia In 2021, Semilleros Fulbright impacted 30 undergraduate students from Universidad Nacional de Colombia, belonging to Afro-Colombian and indigenous communities, victims of the armed conflict, border municipalities and best high school graduates from poor municipalities. The program aims at helping students to expand their academic, professional and personal skills, and empower them to continue their higher education through 3 strategies: English training, Fulbright Mentorship Program and study visit to the U.S. In conjunction with the National University of Colombia and with the support of the Centro Colombo Americano Medellín and the community of Fulbrighters, the program will continue its implementation in 2022.

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Ruta de Cooperación Científica y Movilidad Internacional With the objective of supporting the research internationalization policies of 16 Colombian universities invited to participate, this program generated in 2021 a medium-term strategy of international cooperation and active collaboration with the United States. In 2021, the program had 3 strategies: strengthening English as a second language; promoting inbound and outbound mobility, and training programs aimed at different key actors in Colombian Universities.

These programs were: Higher Education Internationalization Program (implemented in partnership with UC Davis and addressed to International affairs offices), Management Skills for Contemporary University Leaders (implemented in partnership with University of New Mexico) and Writing Skills for Successful Scholars (will be implemented in partnership with Texas International Education Consortium - TIEC)

Online Professional Development Course for High School and Primary STEM-Ed Teachers in Colombia The program, designed and implemented by North Carolina State University, provided training to 53 teachers from the Education Secretary of Bogotá.

The Teacher Training Program provided fundamental practices for teaching STEM areas using English as a medium of instruction, and shared hands-on tools and activities for teaching STEM subjects. Throughout the program, the teachers developed an individualized action plan to implement in their Educational Institution, and strengthened their English Language skills.

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Fulbrighters: a Community that Grows Stronger

Cátedras Fulbright Colombia Cátedras Fulbright is a community building, knowledge transfer and outreach strategy that aims to promote the analysis of relevant topics in Colombia, focusing on diverse regions within the country. The Cátedras create dialogue between academics and experts from different disciplines and public and private sectors both from the U.S. and Colombia.

In 2021, the Commission was able to successfully hold four Cátedras by switching to a virtual participation modality. The following are the Cátedras that took place in 2021.

Catedra Fulbright- Challenges faced by women in public spaces: Lessons, knowledge and ways to face the setbacks caused by COVID 19.

As part o the 75 year anniversary celebration of the Fulbright Program, this event sought to build and share knowledge around legal and practical tools that allow women to identify, anticipate and face challenges posed to women in public spaces in Colombia Date: June 1-2, 2021 Attendance: 2.739 assistants between synchronous and asynchronous.

Cátedra Fulbright- Cities and Information: Use and exploitation of information in a planet of knowledge cities.

In alliance with Universidad del Rosario.

The main objective of this Cátedra was to open a space for academics to interact with organizations with expertise in urban management, and join in a dialogue about information technologies on urban metrics.

Date: June 16-17, 2021 Attendance: 1.540 assistants between synchronous and asynchronous.

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Catedra Fulbright- La paz territorial: Territorial development for inclusion and equity In alliance with Universidad Nacional de Colombia (La Paz Campus) The main objective of this Catedra was to explore the development, challenges, and opportunities with a territorial approach in a post-agreement scenario.

Date: August 11-12, 2021 Attendance: 4.681 assistants between synchronous and asynchronous

Catedra Human Genomics and Ancestry in Colombia Applications in personalized medicine and precision public health.

In alliance with Universidad de los Andes and Georgia Institute of Technology.

The main objective of this Catedra was to disseminate the knowledge gained in human genomics applied to human health in Colombia Date: August 20, 2021 Attendance: 5.521 assistants between synchronous and asynchronous.

Mentor Programs The Mentor Program is a accompaniment program offered to Fulbright grantees who are about to start their studies in the US and Colombia.

63 Colombian grantees from the 2021 cohort received support from 39 active grantees, through the Mentors program. These mentors connected their knowledge and experience with the new Fulbrighters to make their stay in the United States the best possible adventure.

In 2021, for the first time, this program included the accompaniment of Colombian Fulbrighters to US Fulbrighters who began their stays in Colombia. In this sense, 60 American grantees received the accompaniment from 36 Colombian grandees at the beginning of their stay in the country.

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Fulbright Award of excellence for Alumni The winner of the 2021 Fulbright Award of excellence for Alumni, nominated by the Fulbright Community and selected by the Fulbright Colombia Board of Directors, was Adriana María Pulido Camargo, a former Fulbright Saldarriaga Concha Program Grantee, from the 2011 cohort. On this occasion, the delivery of this recognition took place in the residence of the United States Ambassador in Colombia and also had the participation of Soraya Montoya, Executive Director of the Saldarriaga Concha Foundation and members of the Board of Directors of the Fulbright Colombia Commission. Adriana Pulido was selected for her professional achievements and her representation of the values ​​of leadership, service, and academic excellence that the Fulbright Program promotes around the world.

Featured Activities Fulbright Lectures - SENA: In 2021 The Fulbright Colombia Commission developed an International Cooperation agreement with the National Apprenticeship Service (SENA) that aimed to support the continuous professional development for instructors and apprentices and contribute to the work carried out by SENA in more than 117 training centers throughout the country.

Between July and November 2021, 20 Fulbright Lectures were held with the participation of more than 930 people. The attendees who participated in this initiative were able to receive information on education, research, interculturality, virtual teaching, among other topics.

Some of the featured sessions were:

Development of conversation labs in technical english by Ángela Patricia Velásquez

the main objective of this session was to offer SENA bilingualism instructors and professional’s tools and methodologies for the development of English conversation laboratories for specific purposes in a virtual and face-to-face way.

English reading comprehension strategies (Saber T&T approach)

by Rigoberto Castillo

The main objective of this session was to Share with SENA learners strategies to strengthen reading comprehension in English with a focus on the Saber T & T-tests.

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Teaching interculturality from the curriculums by Luz Karime Calle the main objective of this session was to share with SENA instructors and professionals good practices for the promotion and teaching of interculturality through vocational-technical training and project-based learning.

Featured activities Fulbright Lectures- SED: In 2021 The Fulbright Commission developed an agreement with the Secretary of Education of Bogotá (SED) in which Fulbright developed virtual sessions, each lasting 90 minutes, focused on issues identified by the Secretary as high priorities for teachers, principals and senior educational authorities.

Between May and November 2021, 6 Fulbright Lectures were held and had a participation of more than 4,616 spectators (combining the synchronous and asynchronous attendees).

The attendees who participated in this initiative were able to receive information on science teaching, educational innovations, among others.

Featured sessions Innovation as an opportunity for educational change by María Isabel Ramírez

the main objective of this session focused on the way in which education can be innovated by offering tools and good practices.

Fulbrighter Week This new space is dedicated to all Fulbrighters according to their specific grant stage (nominees, active grantees, finishing grantees, former Fulbrights). In the different sessions, the Commission addressed a variety of topics to help grantees navigate their experience with the Fulbright grant.

The first session that was held in April 2021 was attended by 137 Fulbrighters. Among the topics that were included in this event were: returning to Colombia, mental health, support from the Public Affairs area of ​​the Fulbright Colombia Commission.

The second version of this event was held in September 2021 and was attended by 182 Fulbrighters. The topics that were discussed on this occasion were: loan forgiveness regarding the Fulbright Minciencias grant, validation of a degree with the Ministry of Education, Colombia as an academic destination, academic diplomacy and reverse cultural shock

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Educational Advising

The Fulbright Commission in Colombia provides educational advisory services, which, in 2021, included activities such as:

Personalized guidance was offered to nominees of the different graduate programs in preparation for their university placement process

Each nominee engaged in a virtual learning space that oriented them to graduate level admission to American universities. Among the resources available in this virtual format were video tutorials, reference material, question and answer forums, and work assignments for improving admissions essays and resumes. Additionally, live virtual sessions were held to resolve questions and concerns on different topics, an average of 38 people participated in each session and, in total. Finally, individual meetings were held with each nominee to create an individual work plan and provide specialized guidance on how to improve their profile when applying to graduate programs.

Another educational advising service offered was the contact email account to answer questions from the general public related to the call for applications and the Fulbright´s portfolio of programs offered during 2021

More than 3,000 people received advice through this means. Additionally, at least 16 pre-recorded videos were shared with the public on topics related to the selection process, such as: preparing required documents, soliciting letters of recommendation, writing essays, taking English exams, and so on. Finally, more than 50 webinars with Colombian educational institutions were held, during which information about the programs available in 2021, application requirements, call dates and procedures to apply were presented.

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Fulbright Colombia: Closer to Colombians in 2021

More than 2.500 publications in all our dissemination channels

(social networks, web notes, mass mailings and instant messaging content)

We participated in

54 international

virtual educational fairs and events

in Colombia and the region, such as: QS Grad School Tour, Access Masters, fairs and events in multiple universities, with close to 2,300 attendees

656 articles

in national, regional and university media

mentioned Fulbright Colombia

increased 317% compared to 2020 Of these, more than 50% were in high-impact media, such as El Tiempo, El Espectador, ADN, CM& and Caracol Noticias.

During 2021, we designed and launched a

new website with an innovative design, intuitive, easy to navigate and accessible through all electronic devices. This web platform which is the

main communication channel had around

Web articles: 143 Press: 19 Radio: 480 Television: 14 26

1.000 daily visits and close to 32.000 monthly visits.

Total followers dated december 31, 2021

37.529

(Increased 9% over 2020)

24.577

(Increased 6% over 2020)

8.332

(Increased 6% over 2020)

12.690

(Increased 46% over 2020)

3.310

(Increased 27% over 2020)

Total publications dated december 31, 2021

Total reach during 2021

2.888.743

409

users (Increased 28% over 2020)

1.492.442

1.165

users (Increased 1% over 2020)

148

users reached (Increased 39% over 2020)

426.014

400.316

138

127

users reached (Increased 25% over 2020)

315.202 users watched our videos

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2021 Financial Statements

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Fulbright Colombia Annual Report 2021

2021