Humphrey Fellowship Program

Alfred State
College, in conjunction with Cornell
University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, is
participating in the Humphrey Fellowship program, which brings to the United States
accomplished mid-level professionals from designated countries that have a wide
range of development needs. 

Institute of
International Education (IIE) and the State Department's Bureau of Educational
and Cultural Affairs recently announced a new initiative for the 2007-08
academic year to extend the international perspectives the Humphrey
Fellowship Program brings to the current 15 host universities to other
institutions of higher education and their local communities through an
"Associate Campus Partnership Program."  The initiative is
intended to create alliances between existing Humphrey host campuses and
colleges, universities, or community colleges that serve students who many not
have opportunities to work with international visitors, such as the Humphrey
Fellows.  IIE anticipates that these alliances will benefit both
institutions, as well as offer Humphrey Fellows opportunities to engage with
faculty, students, and Americans beyond those of their host campuses. (Funding
for the program is provided by the US Department of State and the program
is administered nationally by IIE.)

Alfred State
is the first "pilot" associate campus arrangement for the Hubert H. Humphrey
Fellowship Program currently hosted by Cornell University.  As a designated associate campus, Alfred
State is hosting individual and group visits by 2007-08 Humphrey Fellows and,
in partnership with the program staff at Cornell University, is arranging a
series of professional, social, and volunteer activities on campus and in the
rural Western New York and Northern Pennsylvania communities surrounding the
campus.  In addition, collaborative
activity will bring together faculty and staff resources from both
institutions, as well as from several other partner institutions representing
the public, private, and non-profit sectors, for exploratory discussions,
action research, and capacity building related to rural development in the
multi-county region of Western
New York State
and Northern Pennsylvania served by Alfred State. 

Alfred State
seems especially well positioned to advance the objectives of the Associate Campus initiative: 
the College has begun a major effort to strengthen its longstanding
academic programs in agriculture, emphasizing environmental and economic
sustainability and emerging market opportunities for sustainably produced
food.  The institution strengthening
program now under way offers Humphrey Fellows in the fields of agriculture,
environmental/natural resource management, and rural development (the fields
most commonly represented in the Cornell Humphrey Fellow cohort) an opportunity
to contribute in meaningful ways to the conceptualization, implementation and
management of applied agricultural research, extension and community
development programs by sharing their experience and perspectives with US
professionals and community stakeholders. 

Clearly, among the most important
reasons for this partnership is to enrich the Humphrey Fellowship
experience.  Fellows are keen observers
of American culture and have often commented that people in many upstate New York communities are
"different" from those they encounter in Ithaca.  The current Fellows enthusiastically endorse
the Affiliate Campus idea and have helped with initial conceptualization of the
Cornell-Alfred partnership.

Also, both Alfred State and Cornell
view the Associate Campus program as a potential catalyst for broadening and
deepening their existing collaboration, by drawing upon Cornell faculty and
extension staff resources to strengthen the capacity for teaching, applied
research, and outreach in agriculture and for assuming a more active role in
the community and rural development of the Western New
York and North Central Pennsylvania region.  

There is yet another benefit:  Humphrey Fellows represent a significant pool
of talent and experience for agricultural and rural development in New York State and across the region.  As the publicly supported Land Grant
University for the State of New York,
Cornell's mission includes not only teaching and research, but also
extension/outreach to citizens and their communities across the state. 

Group and individual visits to
Alfred will take place throughout the academic year.  While the Fellows are in the Alfred area,
time for informal interaction with students, faculty, staff, and local citizens
will be scheduled.  Also, as faculty of a
college of technology, Alfred faculty members enjoy strong networks with the
farm community and the broader set of organizations, both public and private sector, that comprise
the food and agriculture industry.  In
its affiliate campus role, Alfred will organize opportunities for Fellows to
interact with professional counterparts..

Several of the
Humphrey fellows, who first visited ASC en masse in August, returned earlier
this month to attend Ag Skills competitions, to meet with emeriti faculty from Alfred State,
and to be introduced to local farmers in areas of interest to the fellows.

Founded in 1978
in honor of the late senator and vice president, the Hubert H. Humphrey
Fellowship Program Fellows are nominated by US Embassies or Fulbright
Commissions, based on their potential for leadership and a demonstrated
commitment to public service in either the public or private sector. The
Program fosters an exchange of knowledge and mutual understanding, through
which the United States
joins in a significant partnership with developing countries. It is a very
prestigious program -- only about 150 participants are selected each year from
nearly 5,000 applicants worldwide.  Cornell hosts Fellows in the fields of
agriculture, environmental/natural resource management, and rural
development; 14 other leading US universities host Fellows in
other fields. The Humphrey Fellowship is a non-degree program.