### UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FACULTY EXCHANGE PROGRAM  *In Agricultural Economics and Marketing, Agribusiness, and Agrarian Law* 

### Program Description 

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Faculty Exchange
Program (FEP), managed by the Foreign Agricultural Service,
International Cooperation and Development, Food Industries Division,
Professional Development Program (FAS/ICD/FID/PDP), was created in 1994
to bring qualified agricultural educators from progressive agricultural
institutions of higher learning in Eurasia to the United States for 5
months to increase their knowledge of, and ability to teach,
agricultural economics and marketing, agribusiness, and agrarian law in
a market-based economy.

The goal of the program is to promote the development of sound
agricultural policy and effective and competitive agricultural marketing
and business systems in Eurasia. The objectives of the Faculty Exchange
Program are to:

1\. Increase the number of adults in Eurasia who understand the market
economy by improving the quantity and quality of academic and adult
education programs in agricultural economics and marketing,
agribusiness, and agrarian law;

2\. Develop the ability and confidence of participating faculty to
evaluate and revise curriculum and courses through the application of
basic principles of learning and curriculum development; and,

3\. Establish enduring US-Eurasia institutional relationships that will
catalyze and support curriculum development, course revision, and
faculty strengthening in the areas of agricultural economics,
agribusiness, and agrarian law.\
\
Increasing the number of adults in Eurasia who understand how a market
economy works, increasing the number of people who can teach and create
educational materials on market economics, and increasing the number of
people with the mind set to adapt to a market economy is critical to the
formulation and implementation of sound policy and the continuing
development of a competitive market system in Eurasia. Long-term faculty
development programs of this type can significantly assist the
transition of Eurasian countries to a market economy.

This year the FEP is accepting applications for a 5-month program. We
anticipate that the program will begin in July 2004. Individual
candidate and university administrative interviews are tentatively
planned to take place in March and April 2004.\
Requirements:\
• Applicants should be teaching at the university level and have a
background in agricultural economics and marketing, agribusiness, or
related areas.\
• Applicants must be proficient in oral and written English. All aspects
of the program will take place in English; interpreters will not be
used.\
• Applicants must be in good health and, if accepted, will be required
to have a physical exam prior to traveling to the US.\
• The applicant's university must be willing to continue to pay the
salary of the participant while they take part in the program and to
guarantee continued employment upon return of the participant.\
• Upon completion of the US portion of the program, the applicant must
be willing to return to their university to teach for a minimum of 2
years.

The FEP is not a degree-granting program. Rather it builds upon a
participant\'s current academic knowledge, professional training, and
experience so that they will be a more competent instructor of
agricultural economics subjects in a market-based economy. It equips
participants in revising and improving their current courses and in
introducing new subjects to assist in the development of the agriculture
and agribusiness sectors of the country. The FEP is intended to increase
the validity and overall usefulness of a university's academic and adult
education programs.

FEP participants will develop a deep conceptual understanding of how US
agricultural markets, enterprises, and legal systems operate. The
learning experiences for FEP participants will be planned and conducted
in collaboration with US agricultural colleges and conducted in English.
These experiences will be tailored to participants\' individual subject
interests and training needs within the broad objectives of the program.
Class work and classroom observation will be included. Each participant
will be expected to observe and Astudy@ a minimum of three courses in
subject areas that they wish to revise or introduce upon return to their
home university. Each participant must be able to present and explain
the curricula and teaching programs of their university and each
participant must bring a copy of the university's curricula. Review,
comparison, and revision of course curricula will be an important part
of the program.

Other activities will include one-on-one meetings with a supervising
professor and small group discussions on a variety of subjects; exposure
to teaching methodologies and assessment techniques used in the US
higher education system; course and curricula revision and development
for academic and adult education; study of, and visits to, private
agribusiness enterprises and markets to understand and experience
firsthand the principles and practices of management, marketing, and
finance; and short internships or practical experiences with an
agribusiness or other private or government entity involved in the US
agricultural system. Each participant will also learn about the use of
the Internet in distance education programs.

The FEP is results-oriented. Each participant is expected to develop or
revise at least three course outlines for introduction upon return to
their home institution at the end of the program. Participants will
collect the background materials and information necessary to teach the
new or revised courses during their stay in the US. We also expect each
participant to develop and adapt ideas for change and redesign of
curricula, teaching methods and materials, and adult and extension
education.

Each year, participants are invited to submit articles for a
non-peer-reviewed publication entitled Lessons in Agricultural
Economics, Agribusiness, and Agrarian Law. It is a compilation of papers
from the FEP participants relating what they have learned while in the
US and how these principles or practices could be adapted or applied in
their own countries. The publication is distributed to universities in
their respective countries to be used for reference or as a supplemental
teaching tool in the classroom.

The FEP provides follow-up support to participants when they return to
their home institutions. Funds are reserved for US university faculty
visits to participants= universities to assist further in curricula
reform and course development. Former participants have continued to
maintain contact with the US universities where they were trained and US
professors have continued to provide course outlines, critiques, and
other valuable information by post, fax, and Internet. We are
particularly interested in applicants from Eurasian universities
interested in establishing long-term relationships with US universities.

To participate in the FEP, the applicant and the applicant=s university
must be committed to reforming their educational programs, curricula,
and course content in support of a sustained movement towards a market
economy. The applicant=s university must be willing to continue to pay
the salary of the participant while they take part in the program and to
guarantee continued employment upon return of the participant. The
applicant must be willing to return to their institution to teach for a
minimum of 2 years upon completion of the US portion of the program.

Applicants must be in good health and are required to have a physical
exam prior to traveling to the US. If invited to participate in the FEP,
the USDA will provide a form to be completed by a physician certifying
that the participant is in good health. The USDA will provide emergency
medical insurance only, which will not cover pre-existing or chronic
medical conditions, medication, eyeglasses, or dental work. If there is
a medical emergency, the participant is responsible for paying a
percentage of any bill.

If selected to participate, FEP will pay round trip airfare to the US
from the participant\'s country=s capital city, program fees, book
allowance, emergency medical insurance, and a stipend to cover food,
lodging, and incidental expenses for the duration of the program.\
Participants are expected to work productively throughout the program
and to concentrate fully on their agreed-upon objectives. Any
unwillingness to do so can result in the early termination of the
program.

Applicants should please complete the application in English. We will
only accept applications for the program that are completed in English.
(However, the applicant\'s rector or dean, vice rector or vice dean, and
department head can complete and sign their sections in their native
language, if desired, with an English translation attached. We have
translated the program description and the application form into Russian
so that people other than applicants, who may not speak English, will be
able to understand what the Faculty Exchange Program is meant to achieve
and what an universities responsibilities are if they choose to
recommend a candidate for the program. We will not accept any
applications for the program that are not completed in English.)

The applicant\'s training objectives and their university
administration\'s expectations of them upon return should be discussed
and agreed upon prior to the interviews.

For Bulgaria and Serbia, applications should be submitted to the USDA
Agricultural Affairs Office at the addresses below by 23 January 2004.
Interviews with applicants and their university administrators are
tentatively scheduled to take place in February 2004. Final selection of
participants will be made by a committee at the Foreign Agricultural
Service, Food Industries Division, Professional Development Program in
Washington, DC. The Office of Agricultural Affairs at the US Embassy in
the applicant\'s country will notify those selected and assist in making
arrangements for visas, airplane tickets, and other logistics.

For all other countries, applications should be submitted to the USDA
Agricultural Affairs Office at the addresses below by 27 February 2004.
Interviews with applicants and their university administrators are
tentatively scheduled to take place in March and April 2004. Final
selection of participants will be made by a committee at the Foreign
Agricultural Service, Food Industries Division, Professional Development
Program in Washington, DC. The Office of Agricultural Affairs at the US
Embassy in the applicant\'s country will notify those selected and
assist in making arrangements for visas, airplane tickets, and other
logistics.

  -------------------------------- --------------------------------------
  ***In Russia: Tatyana            ***In the United States: Edward
  Romanova***\                     Gerard***\
  Cochran Program Assistant U.S.   Faculty Exchange Program
  Embassy-Agricultural Section     USDA/FAS/ICD/FID/PDP/Stop 1\
  Novinskiy Bul\'var 19/23\        085 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W.\
  Moscow, Russia 121099\           Washington DC 20250-1085\
  Telephone: 728-5222, 728-5000\   Telephone: (202) 690-1983\
  Fax: 728-5069, 728-5238\         Fax: (202) 690-0349\
  Internet: agmoscow@fas.usda.gov  Internet: gerard@fas.usda.gov
  AgMoscow@corbina.ru              

  ***In Ukraine:***\               ***In Kazakhstan: Alexander Simon,***\
  Svetlana Yariga\                 Agricultural Specialist Office of
  Administrative Assistant\        Agricultural Affairs USAID CAR Park
  Artyoma Business Center\         Place Building Wing B 41 Kazbek be
  US Embassy\                      St., Almaty 480100, Kazakstan\
  Agricultural Affairs Office\     Telephone: 50-76-16\
  4, Hlyubochitska St.\            Fax: 50-18-94\
  Kyiv, 04050, Ukraine\            Internet: agalmaty@nursat.kz
  Office 380.44.490.4005\          
  Fax 380.44.490.4110\             
  agkiev@yahoo.com                 

  ***In Uzbekistan: Nizam          **Bulgaria**\
  Yuldashbaev***\                  Ventsislav Marinov\
  Agricultural Specialist Foreign  Foreign Agricultural Service\
  Agricultural Service U.S.        US Embassy\
  Embassy 82, Chilanzarskaya       National Palace of Culture\
  Street Tashkent,\                1 Bulgaria Square, 5th Floor\
  7000115, Uzbekistan\             Sofia 1414, Bulgaria\
  Telephone: 120-54-50, 120-54-47\ Office 359.2.963.1247\
  Fax: 120-63-35\                  Fax 359.2.986.9550\
  Internet: agtash@lycos.com       vmarinov@techno-link.com

  **Kyrgyzstan**\                  **Serbia & Montenegro**\
  Janae Cooley or Kanybek          Darko Lojen\
  Baizakov\                        Foreign Agricultural Service\
  U.S. Embassy Bishkek\            US Embassy Belgrade/AGRI\
  Office 996.312.551.241\          Kneza Milosa 50\
  Fax 996.312.551.264\             11000 Belgrade, Serbia\
  CooleyJE@state.gov\              Office 11.306.4801\
  bayzakovkix@state.gov\           Mobile 63.243.150\
  \                                Fax 11.306.4922\
  **Uzbekistan**\                  lojend@amembbelgrade.org\
  Nizam Yuldashbaev\               darko.lojen.usda.gov
  Agricultural Specialist\         
  Foreign Agricultural Service\    
  US Embassy\                      
  82, Chilanzarskaya Street\       
  Tashkent, 700115, Uzbekistan\    
  Office 120.54.50, 120.54.47\     
  Fax 120.63.35\                   
  Nizam.yuldashbaev@usda.gov       
  -------------------------------- --------------------------------------

ALL FACULTY EXCHANGE PROGRAM APPLICANTS PLEASE TAKE NOTE OF THE
PROGRAMS\' ENGLISH REQUIREMENT

Please note that all applicants to the United States Department of
Agriculture Faculty Exchange Program must complete their application in
ENGLISH. We have translated the program description and the application
form into Russian so that people other than applicants, who may not
speak English, will be able to understand what the Faculty Exchange
Program is meant to achieve and what an institutes\' responsibilities
are if they choose to recommend a candidate for the program. We will not
accept any applications for the program that are not completed in
English. Thank you for your attention to this English requirement.