It's a Fulbright Friday!

Advising Corner

RECOMMENDATION FORM FOR THE FULBRIGHT ENGLISH TEACHING ASSISTANT (ETA) GRANT

The English Teaching Assistant application requires three recommendations. If you are applying for an ETA grant, please ask the recommenders very soon if you have not done so already. The three recommenders will complete a short-answer electronic form.

QUESTIONS

To identify recommenders you will invite, consider the questions they will be asked to address - 750 characters each:

• Based on your observation of and experience with the applicant, comment on their ability to adapt to the host country.
• In your view, how has this applicant demonstrated qualities associated with teaching or mentoring?
• Based on your observation, how might the applicant engage with the community in the host country? This can include students, faculty, and community members among others.
• Based on your observation, comment on the applicant's ability to represent the U.S. abroad and be a cultural ambassador.
• Please comment on any other factors which you believe may have a bearing on the applicant's potential to have a successful experience abroad as a Fulbright ETA (comments regarding academic and/or personal experience, maturity, adaptability and flexibility are welcome).

ADVICE

• Reach out to recommenders as soon as possible to give them enough time to complete the recommendation forms by Georgetown's September 1 deadline. (The three recommendations are required by September 1 at 12 PM NOON ET.)
• If possible, schedule a meeting with the recommenders to go over your goals for the Fulbright grant year related to teaching and living in the host country. This discussion will likely be helpful to them before they begin completing the forms.
• The three recommenders you identify should be individuals who, collectively, can best address the prompts in the form.
• Note: Fulbright does not allow members of your family to write recommendations.
• Note: Fulbright encourages that one ETA recommendation, at a minimum, be from someone who is not a professor, such as coaches or work supervisors.
• Tip: In the "Personal message to recommender" (image below from the application portal), be sure to thank the recommender and language evaluator, while noting, "This recommendation or language evaluation is due no later than September 1, 2026, at 12 PM NOON ET."

More From Fulbright:

• FOR YOU: Review the "Recommendations" section of Fulbright's ETA "Application Components" webpage for more guidance and requirements.
• FOR RECOMMENDERS: Provide recommenders with the instructions webpage, which includes a link to a sample .pdf ETA recommendation form.

Fulbright Information Sessions

Georgetown Fulbrighter Spotlight

Nathalie Marver-Kwon (SFS'25)

Research - South Korea

From Nathalie Marver-Kwon (SFS'25) - "My research here is about barriers to integration into Korean society for Russian-speaking Korean immigrants from the former Soviet Union (people known as Koryo Saram). Mostly I interview private citizens, teachers, and community leaders about cultural and language differences in schools and other shared spaces between Russian-speaking and Korean-speaking Koreans."

Application Suggestion: "If your research includes human subject interviews, it will require IRB (Institutional Review Board) approval from your affiliate university. Be sure to connect with the IRB office at your [host] university early on to find out the application procedures and to what extent your affiliate supervisors will need to guide you through it. This can help demonstrate your commitment to your research in your application and to your affiliates, but also will help you receive research approval more quickly once your grant starts."

(Photo: Marver-Kwon presenting research at a Yonsei University conference)

(Note: If you will be a Georgetown University student during the Fulbright grant, you will need to contact the Georgetown University Institutional Review Board (IRB) if your research project involves human participants. The Georgetown IRB process will be in addition to the process required in the host country and by the host institution. If you will have graduated from your Georgetown program by the grant start date [that is, no longer a Georgetown University student during the Fulbright grant], Georgetown's IRB would not review your research project. But you will still need to follow the research ethics laws and policies of the host country and institution. In either case, the Georgetown IRB website has helpful resources to review.)

It's a Fulbright Friday!