Language Centers Left in Financial Limbo

[Harold F. Schiffman]

http://chronicle.com/weekly/v52/i44/44a02202.htm
>>From the issue dated July 7, 2006


Language Centers Left in Financial Limbo
By KELLY FIELD

As the new fiscal year for many colleges begins this month, federally
supported centers that offer foreign-language and international-studies
programs on dozens of campuses are still waiting to hear whether they will
receive funds for the next four years. The delay in the awarding of
millions of dollars in grants for programs that have been designated as
National Resource Centers or Language Resource Centers under Title VI of
the Higher Education Act has paralyzed those centers. They rely on the
federal money to hire instructors, pay administrative staff members, and
train teachers in surrounding areas.

"We're all sitting around wondering what to do because we don't know what
our budgets will be," said Gilbert W. Merkx, vice provost for
international affairs at Duke University. "We're on hold." Every four
years, the Education Department announces which institutions will be
designated as National Resource Centers and Language Resource Centers,
ensuring them federal funds for the next four years. Typically it awards
the grants in April or May, say the directors of those centers. A
department spokeswoman blamed the delay on Hurricanes Katrina and Rita,
which tied up the agency through the fall and led it to push back
grant-application deadlines for colleges in the affected areas. The
department has until September 30 to make the grants, she noted, adding
that they were awaiting final approval and would probably be announced in
the next few weeks.

In the 2006 fiscal year, the department awarded grants totaling
$33.4-million to 134 centers. The bulk of the money $28.6-million went to
120 National Resource Centers, which provide research and instruction in
foreign languages and international studies, as well as outreach to
secondary and elementary schools, businesses, and government and
nongovernmental organizations. Individual grants typically range from
$200,000 to $300,000 per year. Language Resource Centers conduct research,
train teachers, and develop curricula and tests in languages that are not
commonly taught.

http://chronicle.com
Section: Government & Politics
Volume 52, Issue 44, Page A22