BridgeUSA Ukrainian Academic Fellows Leave FSU With Collaborative Relationships And Gratitude

On June 25, Florida State University became the first American university to host fellows from the BridgeUSA Ukrainian Academic Fellows program. After one month of working in partnership with FSU's Ukraine Task Force (UTF), the four Ukrainian fellows left Tallahassee enriched personally and professionally.

The BridgeUSA Ukrainian Academic Fellows Program builds links between Ukrainian and U.S. scholars for long-term collaboration in joint research, shared pedagogy, course development and publication. The program's long-term goal is to help Ukrainian universities educate and train professionals critical to the country's recovery and reconstruction through lasting, productive collaboration with U.S. institutions of higher education.

The program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, with additional funding provided by U.S. host institutions. It is administered by the American Councils for International Education.

"BridgeUSA was just a life-changing experience," said Dr. Nataliia Safonova, head of the department of English philology at Oles Honchar Dnipro National University. 

While at FSU and in the United States, the Ukrainian fellows met with FSU professors and staff. They participated in conversations about teacher training development, combating human trafficking, mental health care, trauma resiliency, intensive English language development, drone applications, CCTV, body security innovations and many other areas.

"All of these meetings were not like lectures from United States professors to Ukrainian colleagues," said Dr. Taras Panchenko, head of the computer science department at Taras Shevchenko National University. "It was a two-way conversation, a dialogue, a partnership, a cooperative dialogue. It wasn't just information from one direction."

"As a military person, it came unexpected, completely unexpected for me, the full range and scope of possibilities FSU can offer," said Dr. Adrii Balendr, a colonel and head of the language training and testing center at Bhodan Khmelnytskyy National Academy of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine.

The fellows also had numerous opportunities to talk with FSU students and community members about Russia's war on Ukraine. One of the goals of FSU's UTF is education and the Center for Global Engagement joined the UTF in that mission by hosting a panel discussion and International Coffee Hour.

"There were a lot of opportunities for us to explain about Ukraine and to speak about Ukraine with United States citizens and FSU students," said Panchenko.

The partnerships across campus were a testament to the university community's willingness to help the Ukrainian fellows. They were facilitated by the UTF and its director, Dr. Vilma Fuentes, who came on board in January.

"We all know words are cheap, so let's do something," said Panchenko. "FSU's Ukraine Task Force is exactly about this. It's real steps. The University and faculty really support Ukraine. It is very valuable. It's just amazing."

"The existence of FSU's Ukraine Task Force is amazing," said Safonova. "I never expected one of the leading U.S. universities would form a Ukrainian Task Force. The U.S. is a great country and the people here really care for us. It's just amazing."

Despite being in the USA for just a month, all four participants left feeling the BridgeUSA program will make a real difference not just after the war but while the invasion of Ukraine is ongoing.

"It was a huge and useful experience," said Dr. Andrii Roskalda, head of the digital economy and systems analysis department at the State University of Trade and Economics in Kyiv. "I really believe that our experience will help our country win the war."

"I have a dream that in 10 years when we rebuild our country after the war, we will have another type of program," said Safonova. “U.S. educators will come to my country to see the resilient people, those who survived.”

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