UO awarded $100K grant for student internships in Asia

EUGENE, Ore. (Sept. 20, 2012) -- The UO Center for Asian and Pacific Studies has received nearly $100,000 from the Freeman Foundation to support internship opportunities in Asia for UO students.  The Freeman Foundation invited approximately 60 U.S. colleges and universities to apply to this new grant program and funded 11 successful proposals. 

The Freeman Foundation program seeks to expand opportunities for U.S. students to work overseas as part of their undergraduate and graduate studies.  The grants aim to deepen the capacity of select institutions to provide financial assistance to student interns and to encourage alumni to assist in the placement of interns.  By awarding stipends to students with financial need, the UO will be able to offer more qualified students the opportunities for professional experience abroad.

“This timely award builds on two previous grants from the Freeman Foundation over the past decade that have enabled 75 UO students to study in Asia," explained Jeffrey Hanes, director of the Center for Asian and Pacific Studies.  "With this new grant to support student internships specifically, we extend the range of overseas opportunities available to our talented students, offering highly qualified interns with much-needed financial support.”

The grant will provide living stipends and/or travel funds to students participating in the Oregon University System’s International Education, Experience and Employment (IE3) programs, as well as other UO internship programs managed independently by individual faculty, departments and academic programs.

“This latest grant from the Freeman Foundation is testimony to the UO’s leadership in Asian Studies, and to the remarkable efforts by the Center for Asian and Pacific Studies to build a wide and accessible bridge to Asia for all UO students,” said Dennis Galvan, vice provost for International Affairs at the UO.

About the University of Oregon

The University of Oregon is among the 108 institutions chosen from 4,633 U.S. universities for top-tier designation of "Very High Research Activity" in the 2010 Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. The UO also is one of two Pacific Northwest members of the Association of American Universities.

CONTACT: Lori O’Hollaren, UO Center for Asian and Pacific Studies, 541-346-1521, loholl@uoregon.edu

LINK:Center for Asian and Pacific Studies, http://caps.uoregon.edu

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