For Prospective Visiting Scholars

The Boston College Center for International Higher Education (CIHE) is pleased to entertain requests for visiting scholar status with the Center for sojourns of any length of time up to one academic year. Prospective visitors must have completed their doctoral studies prior to visiting the Center. As of 2022, early career researchers are eligible to apply to the Hans de Wit Fellowship for Visiting Scholars to support three-month visits to CIHE. No other funding is available for visiting scholars, so all other scholars must be self-funded. Interested candidates must complete the formal application process, outlined below.

About the Program

Benefits

Visiting scholars associated with the Center are entitled to access the many academic resources of our university, including the extensive online and physical library holdings of Boston College. We view visiting scholars as an integral part of our community, so they are also involved in all of the Center’s regular events and other activities. As part of this, scholars are given permission to audit any course offered by the CIHE faculty (i.e. attend the class without gaining academic credit) and may also attend other courses within the department of Educational Leadership and Higher Education, the Lynch School, and the broader Boston College community, provided that the faculty member teaching the course approves.

Expectations

Visiting scholars are integrated members of the community of staff and graduate students at CIHE. Just as they derive benefits from their time at Boston College, they are expected to share their knowledge and expertise with the university community.

All scholars, regardless of background, are expected to share their research background in some capacity during their stay at Boston College. Scholars are asked to give a seminar as part of the CIHE visiting scholar seminar series, as well as to contribute where possible to the academic programs with which CIHE is affiliated.

Visiting scholars are also asked to submit at least one article to a CIHE publication (i.e. International Higher Education) during their stay. The ultimate publication of any contribution is, of course, subject to editorial review.

If and when scholars publish and/or present research that they developed in a substantive way during their sojourn at Boston College, the Center would be grateful to receive some acknowledgement for having hosted the scholar during the relevant research period.

Practical Matters

The Center has the capacity to host 2-3 scholars at any one time. Scholars are provided with a designated desk and printing privileges. Most scholars bring their own laptops, although in special cases, use of a desktop computer through the Center may be arranged.

Scholars are responsible for securing their own funding to support their sojourn; they are also responsible for handling all of the logistical matters related to their stay, including all arrangements related to travel and housing.

Housing Info

Boston College can provide support with visa documents, as needed. If the visiting scholar is a non-native speaker of English and will apply for a J1 Exchange Visitor visa, the Center is required to assess the scholar’s English language proficiency, in order to determine that the scholar can successfully participate in his or her program and function effectively on a daily basis. English language proficiency can be assessed by the Center through one of the following ways:

  1. The results of a recognized English language test (TOEFL or IELTS)
  2. Signed documentation from an academic institution or English language school, or
  3. An interview

How to Apply

Timeline

In order to be considered as a prospective visiting scholar, candidates must apply by April 1 (for Fall semester visits) or October 1 (for Spring semester visits). The Center does not accept visiting scholars who only wish to visit during the summer months (i.e. July and August).

Application Materials

A completed application includes the following:

  1. Completed Visiting Scholar Application Form
  2. A letter of interest, giving
    1. the rationale for wanting to spend time at the Center
    2. a detailed explanation of the planned research to be undertaken, and
    3. a description of the ways in which the scholar believes he/she can contribute to the intellectual life of the CIHE/BC community
  3. A current CV

Materials should be submitted by email to internationalhighered@bc.edu.

Applicants can expect to be invited for an interview with the Center leadership as part of the application process.

If approved by the Center, applicants’ materials are then passed to the Dean of the Lynch School of Education and Human Development, who in turn passes recommended applications along to the Office of the Provost. Final letters of invitation are issued to visiting scholars by the Provost. Scholars should expect that this approval process will take at least a month.

Fees

Please note that scholars requiring a visa will be asked to pay a one-time fee of $125 to the Office of International Students and Scholars for their support with the required visa paperwork.

For applicants applying for funding

Prospective visiting scholars applying for funding to support their stay who require an invitation letter from CIHE should submit their application materials at the time that the invitation letter is required. Following submission, applicants are encouraged to write to CIHE at internationalhighered@bc.edu with further information about their funding application. Approval for invitation letters follows the same internal process as outlined above, except that CIHE issues the invitation letter directly.

Scholars in this category will need to go through the formal approvals process at Boston College (i.e. via the Dean and the Provost) once funding is confirmed before they will be able to receive any visa-related documentation.

Further Information

Any questions about the visiting scholar program can be directed to Dr. Gerardo Blanco, Academic Director of CIHE.

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