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 Corporate Sponsored Scholarship/Fellowship AwardsForeign Nationals, click here to begin the application process by filing out the NCI application. To become a corporate sponsor, contact our office directly at: 202-263-2968, or via e-mail: mocrosby@usanci.org Introduction: The National Council for Innovation Scholarship/Fellowship program administers corporate sponsored talent searches. The talent searches result in scholarships/fellowships designed to encourage academically talented, but financially needy, foreign national women and minority students to be innovative in areas of national interest. The program reflects the national need to substantially increase the number of highly skilled foreign national scientists and engineers in the U.S. *This scholarship/fellowship program was created based on the National Science Foundation’s Scholarship/Fellowship program and the Intel Scholarship Talent Search. Program Description: The program emphasizes the importance of recruiting foreign national women and minority students to science and engineering disciplines, mentoring and supporting these students through degree completion, and partnering with employers to facilitate student career placement in the science, technology, engineering & mathematics (“STEM”) workforce. The National Council for Innovation will support the goals of the program including, but not limited to: • Increased U.S. retention of foreign national women and minority students to degree achievement; Students to be awarded scholarships/fellowships must demonstrate academic talent and financial need. In addition, they must be non-US citizens, women and/or minorities, or refugees. Refer to Section: Scholarship/Fellowship Recipients for details. It is expected that scholarship/fellowship recipients will achieve at least three of the following by the end of the award period: • Receive a baccalaureate or graduate degree in one of the STEM disciplines; Background: At the Aspen Ideas Festival in July 2006, Colon Powell, Former Secretary of State announced “You don’t have to come here anymore. We are in a marketplace, and if we don’t provide the services, they’ll go elsewhere.” According to recent studies such as the “Fact Brief” conducted by the Institute for the Study of International Migration at the Georgetown University, foreign student enrollment in the science and engineering have decreased significantly since 2001. The Office of Immigration Statistics reports that there has been a steady decline in the number of F-1 visa issued to students beginning from a peak year in 2001 with 688,970.00 students on F-1. The National Science Foundation has conducted their own study about the enrollment of foreign students in math and science and has concluded that enrollment in graduate programs has dropped for the third straight year. Finally, the National Academies of Sciences has published a report discussing ways in which the US can support is science and technology workforce. Among their recommendations, is the idea that the U.S. should focus on developing, recruiting and retaining top students from abroad. The United States is affected by the decline in high quality foreign nationals in the following ways: (1) the best in the brightest who have historically contributed so strongly to the research and innovation in the United States take their ideas elsewhere; (2) universities loose money because most foreign students pay full tuition; and (3) there is a significant decrease in U.S. soft power. The American Chemical Society has made a statement addressing its concerns about the harm to scientific progress that has occurred and will be occurring if we continue to loose the world’s talent. "Knowing that scientific advances drive economic growth and that half of all graduate students in the physical sciences and engineering come from other nations, international scientists and engineers have been essential to the nation’s research enterprise and prosperity. In addition to their contributions to scientific knowledge, industrial innovation and public health, these scientists and engineers have been critical to the technological advances that determine military strength. Increased State department restrictions are delaying and preventing outstanding young international students from receiving student F-1 visas, which could harm science and engineering education. " Upon the recommendations published in a report on the findings of a forum convened by the University of California, Irvine and The Merage Foundations, The National Council for Innovation is establishing a major scholarship opportunity for foreign nationals in science, technology, engineering & mathematics. Project Implementation and Management: The sponsoring corporation will be able to add or amend some criteria for selection of the candidates. The corporation will have the right to affix their corporate seal on any solicitation material or any NCI publications, (electronic or other), regarding the talent search. In addition, the corporation will be able to advertise and credit themselves for the talent search via their website or through any other means. The corporation is not legally required to promote NCI in any way. The corporation should recognize however, that the National Council for Innovation is solely responsible for oversight of the award recipient. NCI is able to promote the corporation’s talent search via their website or through any other means. In addition, the award recipient has no obligation to the corporation what so ever. The project will be managed by a program director whose duties will include, but are not limited to: (1) recruitment of students; (2) solicitation of corporate sponsors; (3) oversight of student support services; and (4) oversight of student performance. The program director will be in charge of ensuring that the student is maintaining eligibility requirements for the scholarship by: (1) collecting quarterly progress from the alien’s university of attendance; and (2) consulting at the first of the month with the student’s faculty advisor concerning his/her academic progress. The scholarship/fellowship will be co-payable to the institution and the recipient in two equal amount installments. The first will be in August; the second will be in November. Should the student violate the terms of the financial award, the award will be terminated on the last calendar day of the semester. The student next in rank for the scholarship award, as determined by the NCI scholarship committee, will be notified. NCI will make every effort for the new student to begin study the proceeding semester. Student Selection Process: Student applications will be evaluated by NCI’s scholarship committee. After reviewing the application documents, the committee will select the eligible scholarship candidates, as well as alternatives and create a list. The list will be sent to the related universities/colleges informing them of the student’s candidacy for the financial award. Selection will be made based on innovation potential or ability through grade point average, class ranking, creativity, motivation, and leadership. Additional heavily considered factors are musical/special talents, and background (familial or other experience). Eligibility Criteria: • a non-citizen of the United States, nationals of the United States (as defined in section 101(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act), aliens admitted as refugees under section 207 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, or aliens lawfully admitted to the United States; Applicants are not required to have been accepted to an institution at the time of consideration for the NCI’s financial award, but they must have already applied. Award Information: The number of the awards will depend on the number of sponsors. The size of the award will be determined by the cost-of-attendance at each institution. Cost-of-attendance is defined as: the total amount it will cost a student to go to school, including tuition and fees; on-campus room and board (or a housing and food allowance for off-campus students); relocation costs (travel from overseas); allowances for books, supplies, transportation, loan fees, dependent care, costs related to a disability; and miscellaneous expenses. Award Stipulations: Students who are selected will be given the award for the duration of their study considering they maintain their eligibility by: Talent Development and Support Services for Award Recipients: Students selected for the awards will receive a variety of support services to encourage them to meet their potential and to increase their wellness while studying in the United States. Visa Processing All award recipients will receive visa assessment, processing and support during their award period. The services will be provided as a donation by a leading law firm in Washington, D.C., Immigration Solutions Group, PLLC, (www.immigrationsolutions.com) The visa services will extend to after graduation should the student obtain an employment sponsor or eligibility for a non-employment, non-family based visa. Employment Opportunities and Networking All award recipients will receive professional networking and career information. Click here to begin the application process by filing out the NCI application. To become a corporate sponsor, contact our office directly at: 202-263-2968, or via e-mail: mocrosby@usanci.org
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