Texas State Among Winners Of 100K Strong, Americas Innovation Fund

 

Texas State University has been named one of the winners of the 100,000 Strong in the Americas Innovation Fund at the Summit of the Americas in Panama City, Panama.

 

The announcement was made by United States Secretary of State John Kerry.

 

All higher educational institutions in the Western Hemisphere were eligible to apply. Less than eight percent of proposals were funded. Texas State’s entry was a project headed by Michael O’Malley, chair of the Department of Counseling, Leadership, Adult Education and School Psychology in the College of Education and co-authored by Tanya Long, doctoral research assistant in school improvement.

 

O’Malley and Long’s Project Leadership and Educational Action Resource Network (LEARN), will create study abroad opportunities for Texas State doctoral students that engage them in cultural immersion and international fieldwork, and advance their skills in international educational research. Specifically, Project LEARN-Chile will design and implement a seminar course for 12 doctoral students to conduct field research in Santiago de Chile in education and the social sciences. Delivered in partnership with Universidad Alberto Hurtado, the Jesuit University of Chile, the project will utilize a service-learning model to facilitate students’ learning from Chilean colleagues and educational organizations. The project will also generate research and partnerships that benefit Chilean educational systems.

 

Texas State was the only university from Texas selected in the competition.

 

The goal of 100,000 Strong in the Americas, President Barak Obama’s signature education initiative in the Western Hemisphere, is to increase the number of U.S. higher education students studying in the Western Hemisphere to 100,000, and the number of students from Latin America and the Caribbean studying in the U.S. to 100,000 by the year 2020. The initiative enhances hemispheric competitiveness, increases prosperity and prepares a more globally competent workforce.

 

For more information about Project LEARN-Chile, visit www.projectlearn.wp.txstate.edu.

For further information on the 100,000 Strong in the Americas initiative, visit www.100kstrongamericas.org.