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Lucia A Keegan  11/08/2006 02:48:47 PM  From  DB/Inbox:  Lucia A Keegan

Cable 
Text:                                                                      
                                                                           
      
UNCLAS        PARIS 07284

SIPDIS
cxparis:
    ACTION: UNESCO
    INFO:   POL ECON AMBU AMB AMBO DCM SCI

DISSEMINATION: UNESCOX
CHARGE: PROG

APPROVED: AMB:LVOLIVER
DRAFTED: DCM: AKOSS
CLEARED: PA:JROLLAND

VZCZCFRI844
RR RUEHC RUCNSCO
DE RUEHFR #7284 3120943
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 080943Z NOV 06
FM AMEMBASSY PARIS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2942
INFO RUCNSCO/UNESCO COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS PARIS 007284 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: UNESCO KPAO SCUL EAID
SUBJECT:  USUNESCO - FULBRIGHT SYMPOSIUM 
¶1. SUMMARY: Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and 
Cultural Affairs, Dina Habib Powell, gave remarks at the Closing 
Plenary Session of the Fulbright New Century Scholar (NCS) Symposium 
in at UNESCO headquarters in Paris on October 24, 2006. The Director 
 
General of UNESCO Koichiro Matsuura, U.S. Ambassador to UNESCO 
Louise Oliver and U.S. Ambassador to France Craig Stapleton also 
spoke at the conference, where thirty-one Fulbright New Century 
Scholars from 22 countries gathered to present their recommendations 
on improving higher education systems worldwide.  END SUMMARY 
 
¶2. In an indication of American commitment to global higher 
education, Assistant Secretary Powell announced that the State 
Department would continue its financing for another year of inquiry 
into the issues of access and equity - the first time that the work 
of a cohort of New Century Scholars has been extended beyond the 
original yearlong mandate. Assistant Secretary Powell also announced 
the creation of two new U.S. initiatives: an International Fulbright 
Science and Technology Award, and an International Fusion Arts 
Exchange Program.  Both programs will enable young people from 
different countries to come together for academic exchange at 
American universities.  After speaking at the closing session, 
Assistant Secretary Powell met privately with the Director General 
to discuss education issues in more detail, and hosted a lunch for 
the scholars at UNESCO as well. 
 
¶3. At the final Plenary session at UNESCO headquarters the scholars 
discussed problems confronting higher education around the world - 
including corruption, discrimination, and the rising cost of 
education - and each of the working groups laid out a series of 
recommendations for how such threats could be minimized.  Their 
proposals include creating national or regional evaluation bodies to 
examine both the academic quality and physical infrastructure of 
universities, developing curricula that reflect social problems, 
setting clear standards for student and faculty conduct, 
establishing mechanisms to ensure that low-income students have 
access to higher education, and defining "reasonable" conditions for 
foreign students to secure visas and study permits. 
 
¶4. The closing plenary session was hosted by the U.S. Department of 
State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, The French 
Fulbright Commission and the U.S. Permanent Mission to UNESCO, with 
the help and cooperation of UNESCO staff at all levels of the 
planning.  All UNESCO ambassadors were invited to the session, and 
many of them attended. 
 
¶5. COMMENT: Holding the closing plenary session at UNESCO provided 
an opportunity to showcase USG efforts and policy in the realm of 
higher education to a UNESCO audience.  On a practical level, the US 
Mission was able to broaden its contact base and develop more 
cooperative relationships with the Education Sector and the Bureau 
of Public Information. Several scholars noted that the program had 
provided perspective-widening opportunities.  A press release was 
sent out to a wide base of US and UNESCO media contacts, and the 
event was covered by the Chronicle of Higher Education, whose 
journalist conducted in-depth interviews with several NCS scholars 
and Deputy Assistant Secretary Tom Farrell, and published a feature 
on the symposium on October 25, 2006.  END COMMENT 
 
¶6. This cable was approved by Assistant Secretary Powell's office. 
 
OLIVER