Peace Corps, College announce new Fellows Program

Peace Corps and Saint Michael’s College on July 5 announced the launch of a new Paul D. Coverdell Fellows program housed in the Applied Linguistics Department. The program offers graduate school scholarships to returned Peace Corps volunteers pursuing a Master of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. All program Fellows will complete internships in underserved American communities while they pursue their studies, allowing them to bring home and expand upon the skills they learned as volunteers.

Returned Peace Corps volunteers selected as Coverdell Fellows for the MATESOL program will be granted nine credits for the training and experience gained during their Peace Corps service.  In addition, they will receive a one-course tuition waiver valued at $1,770, and have their application and diploma fees waived.

Through their internships, Coverdell Fellows apply what they learn in the classroom to a professional setting. They gain valuable, hands-on experience that makes them more competitive in today’s job market while furthering the Peace Corps mission. By sharing their global perspective with the communities they serve, Fellows help fulfill Peace Corps’ Third Goal commitment to strengthen Americans’ understanding of the world and its people.

The Coverdell Fellows program will be coordinated by Professor Daniel W. Evans of the Applied Linguistics Department (ALD). Evans also served as coordinator of the Peace Corps Masters’ International Program that the ALD administered from 2001 until this year when the Peace Corps discontinued all Masters’ International programs.  “We are delighted to add Coverdell Fellows to our department’s options,” Evans said.  “For years, prospective Peace Corps volunteers have been wonderful additions to our MATESOL classes, and now by welcoming returning volunteers we’ll be able to continue our participation in the education of Peace Corps volunteers and to help them to make positive contributions to our local community.”

The college also offers a Peace Corps Prep program that provides course work and co-curricular experiences designed to prepare undergraduate students for future Peace Corps service. Since 1961, Saint Michael’s College has had 191 Peace Corps volunteers, with 10 students currently serving today

The Paul D. Coverdell Fellows Program began in 1985 at Teachers College, Columbia University and now includes more than 100 university partners across the country, from the District of Columbia to Hawaii. The program is reserved for students who have successfully completed Peace Corps service abroad. Since the inception of the program, more than 5,000 returned volunteers have participated and made a difference across the country. For more information, visit www.peacecorps.gov/fellows.

To learn more about the Coverdell Fellows Program at Saint Michael’s college, contact:

Dr. Daniel W. Evans
Associate Professor
(802) 654-2264
Devans@smcvt.edu