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Naugatuck Valley Community College has been awarded the honor of a Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence for the 2012-13 academic year. The Fulbright program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. Government.

Naugatuck Valley Community College is the first Connecticut community college to host a Scholar-in-Residence. The Fulbright program awards approximately 900 grants to Visiting Scholars each year from 130 countries worldwide.

The College hopes to have the name of this scholar by May.

“We are honored and very, very pleased to have this wonderful opportunity come to Naugatuck Valley,” said President Daisy Cocco De Filippis, Ph.D. “The College is committed to expanding global awareness within the increasingly diverse populations in Waterbury and Danbury. We will work within these communities to give our scholar as much local interaction as possible.”

Under President De Filippis, a Santo Domingo native and established author and literary critic of Dominican studies, the College has already begun the process of internationalization by offering a Latino in Science program, co-hosting the bi-annual Conference of the Dominican Studies Association and increasing the College’s outreach to minority students throughout the region.

With the addition of a Fulbright Scholar, the College intends to begin planning for an International Center for the Arts (ICA) at NVCC that would integrate and engage students in on-campus activities and community events that celebrate and further raise awareness of international culture.

Among his/her formal activities, the Scholar will teach two undergraduate special topics credit courses each semester, engage students in a long-term campus project and present at UConn Waterbury’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute and WestConn.

For more information on the Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence visit:http://www.cies.org/sir/

Naugatuck Valley Community College was established in 1992 with the merging of Waterbury State Technical College and Mattatuck Community College as a public, two-year, associate degree granting, co-educational, non-residential institution. Approximately 11,000 degree and 5,000 non-degree students enroll annually in over 100 accredited and non-credit lifelong learning programs at the College to fulfill their educational goals. NVCC is one of 17 institutions governed by the Connecticut Board of Regents for Higher Education. The College is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges and the Connecticut Board of Governors for Higher Education and several programs maintain specialized accreditations. The College is located on a 110-acre campus at 750 Chase Parkway, Waterbury, Connecticut, at exit 18 off Interstate 84 near the junction of Route 8 and in Danbury at 183 Main Street and WestConn. Visitnvcc.commnet.edu for more information.