FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 4, 2016

For More Information:
Glenville State College
Public Relations Department
(304) 462-4115

GLENVILLE, WV - Glenville State College Assistant Professor of Spanish and Director of International Programs Dr. Megan Gibbons has been selected as a Fulbright scholar through the internationally recognized Fulbright Program.

With the support of the United States government and through binational partnerships with foreign governments, the Fulbright Program sponsors U.S. and foreign participants for exchanges in all areas of endeavor, including the sciences, business, academe, public service, government, and the arts and continues to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.

“I felt humbled and honored to be selected, since the Fulbright Program is recognized worldwide and has been instrumental in ensuring that Senator Fulbright’s legacy continues to be felt both within the U.S. and beyond its borders,” said Gibbons.

The Core Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program, which offers nearly 500 teaching/research awards in over 125 countries, requires applicants to submit a letter of invitation from an international university, a project statement, reference letters, and a select bibliography. The entire application process is managed by the Council for International Exchange of Scholars.

GSC Assistant Professor of Spanish Dr. Megan Gibbons will visit Spain in the spring of 2017 to complete research through the Fulbright Program

“My research is focused on GSC's COIL program with the University of Oviedo in Asturias, Spain. We first want to find out what intercultural skills/attitudes are possessed by all of the students before they participate in the COIL program. We then will look at which intercultural skills are developed/improved by the end of a COIL module, and more specifically, which COIL activities are most effective in developing these intercultural competencies. We also want to find out if the students who have more developed intercultural skills at the beginning of the COIL module benefit as much from the COIL module as the students who begin with less developed intercultural skills,” Gibbons explained.

COIL is an acronym for Collaborative Online International Learning and students in classes with COIL components get some of the benefits of studying abroad, without ever leaving their own campuses. The students usually connect through a video chatting program or online meeting software and exchange cultural and academic questions to learn more about one another as an introductory activity. Course content is then tailored to benefit both sets of students regardless of the area of study.

“Being able to be in Spain next spring will make data collection much easier, and it will allow me to be more involved with the day-to-day demands of the COIL modules for all of the teachers and professors involved in the project. It will also provide me the opportunity to offer COIL workshops for faculty at the University of Oviedo and to strengthen the existing ties between the two institutions,” she continued.

Gibbons, who has been at GSC for five years, is originally from Western Massachusetts but has lived throughout the United States and also in Italy, Panama, and Spain. She earned her Ph.D. in Hispanic Language and Literature from Boston University. In 2014 she received the Pete and Betsy Barr Professional Development Award at GSC and used the funds to attend the NAFSA: Association of International Educators Conference in San Diego that same year.

Additionally, Gibbons has taken the lead in sharing information about what other colleges and universities in the Mountain State need to know about COIL courses. She works closely with West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission’s Director of International Programs, Dr. Clark Egnor, to help educate faculty throughout the state about the COIL method and to facilitate the development of COIL modules.

“The COIL program has certainly provided me with professional development opportunities that have been unique and rewarding. I have traveled within the state of West Virginia, within the U.S. (New York and Ohio) and internationally (Mexico and Spain) in order to develop the College’s COIL program. The faculty and staff I have had the pleasure to meet and to work with along the way have made these trips all the more meaningful, and so my professional network has grown in unexpected ways for me due to my work with COIL. Many of the GSC students who have participated in COILed courses share similar accounts of making unexpected friends, unexpected discoveries about their culture as well as another culture, and unplanned course selections that reflect their increased interest in international affairs,” she said.

For more information about her Fulbright award, COIL courses at GSC, or International Programs at GSC, contact Gibbons at Megan.Gibbons@glenville.edu or (304) 462-6328.