Gadsden State Community College welcomed two new international students as part of the U.S. Department of State’s Global Undergraduate Exchange Program in Eurasia & Central Asia known as Global UGRAD. Joining the Gadsden State Community College family are Ruslan Jumajanov from Kazakhstan and Artem Starostenko from Russia.

The Global UGRAD Program aims to advance youth leadership and promote mutual understanding by providing either one semester or one year of non-degree U.S. study to undergraduates from 12 countries of the former Soviet Union. In addition to their academic studies, Global UGRAD students perform community service, explore American traditions through the unique Cultural Passport to America Program, and engage in professional development activities. The program is highly competitive, averaging over 2,500 applications per year with an acceptance rate of less than three percent.

The program is a part of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and is administered by the International Research & Exchanges Board (IREX). The ECA fosters mutual understanding between the U.S. and other countries to promote friendly, sympathetic and peaceful relations as mandated the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchanges Act of 1961.  Since 1992, nearly 4,000 participants have completed the program, increasing diversity on hundreds of campuses throughout the continental United States, Alaska, and Hawaii.

For more information regarding the Global UGRAD program at Gadsden State, contact Faith Dobbs at 256-549-8446.