AUSTIN, Texas — St. Edward’s University is proud to be named a Fulbright HSI Leader in the inaugural year of this designation.  The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) is recognizing the noteworthy engagement that selected Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) have achieved with the Fulbright Program, the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program. 

St. Edward’s is one of 35 HSIs to receive this distinction nationally, and one of three in Texas. The other Fulbright HSI leaders in Texas are Texas Tech University and the University of Houston. 

“We are thrilled to be named a Fulbright HSI Leader in the inaugural year of the designation. It’s a confirmation of the great work that our Office of Fellowships does to support our gifted and talented Latinx students on their academic journeys,” said Interim Provost Marianne Ward-Peradoza. “St. Edward’s is founded on a global mindset, and the Fulbright program has given our students the opportunity to make a difference in communities around the world.”

Since 2008, 75 Fulbrights have been awarded to our students to teach and conduct research in 19 countries. St. Edward’s was named the nation’s top producer of U.S. Fulbright Students among master’s-granting institutions in 2018–2019 and in 2015–2016. 

Fulbright HSI Leader status has been conferred on this group of 35 HSIs, including St. Edward’s, because they have demonstrated noteworthy engagement with Fulbright exchange participants during the 2019–2021 academic years and have promoted Fulbright Program opportunities on campus. Fulbright HSI Leaders were announced today during an international plenary session at the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) annual conference.

This initiative is part of the U.S. State Department’s longstanding commitment to build diversity and inclusion within the Fulbright Program and within all the bureau’s international exchange programs. On July 28, 2021, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona released a “Joint Statement of Principles in Support of International Education,” which outlines the many benefits of international education and the need for “all Americans [...] to be equipped with global and cultural competencies.” The Fulbright HSI Leaders Initiative supports the goals of the Joint Statement, including the principle that U.S. participants in international exchanges should reflect the diversity of the United States.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Academic Programs Ethan Rosenzweig, speaking on behalf of ECA, which sponsors the Fulbright Program, congratulated and thanked the leadership of the designated institutions for recognizing the impact of the Fulbright Program, saying, “Thank you for creating a campus culture that celebrates the mission of Fulbright and international exchanges. Thank you for epitomizing the principle that mutual understanding between peoples of the United States and other countries will lead to a more just and peaceful society at home.” He also praised the faculty, staff and administrators on campus who recruit, advise and support future Fulbrighters throughout the application process, stating "your work epitomizes the values of why we all come to our jobs each and every day . . . to ensure our students have every opportunity to excel beyond goals they may not have believed were ever obtainable.“

Additional Background

In addition to our student Fulbright awards, St. Edward's faculty have also received the Fulbright Scholar award for advanced research and university lecturing abroad. To learn more about the Fulbright awards for students and faculty at St. Edward's University, contact Director of Fellowships Dina Guidubaldi.  

2021 marks the 75th Anniversary of the Fulbright Program. Celebrations throughout the year are highlighting the impressive accomplishments and legacy of the program and its alumni over its first 75 years, both in the United States and around the world. A dedicated 75th anniversary website showcases Fulbright alumni, partner countries and anniversary events.
 
The Fulbright Program was created to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. The primary source of funding for the Fulbright Program is an annual appropriation made by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
 
Fulbright is active in more than 160 countries worldwide and partners with participating governments, host institutions, corporations and foundations in foreign countries and in the United States. Many of these organizations also provide direct and indirect support. ECA sponsors the Fulbright program, and several nonprofit, cooperative partners implement and support the program on the bureau’s behalf. For further information about the Fulbright Program or the U.S. Department of State, please visit the Fulbright Program website or contact the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs Press Office by e-mail at ECA-Press@state.gov.

AUSTIN, Texas — St. Edward’s University was recognized today by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs for having produced the most Gilman recipients over the past 20 years in the small institution 20-year overall Top Producer category.

Since 2001, 75 St. Edward’s students have received Gilman awards. The Gilman competition is administered at St. Edward’s University through the Office of Fellowships.

The U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs is proud to announce the 20-year anniversary of the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program and its Top Producing Institutions over the past 20 years.  Throughout its 20-year history, the Department of State’s Gilman Program has reshaped study abroad to make it more accessible and inclusive for American students by providing scholarships to outstanding U.S. undergraduate students who, due to financial constraints, might not otherwise participate. Since the program’s inception in 2001, more than 34,000 Gilman Scholars from all U.S. states, Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories have studied or interned in more than 155 countries around the globe.   

Today at the Diversity Abroad conference, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Ethan Rosenzweig virtually announced the U.S. colleges and universities that have sent the most Gilman Scholars abroad over the past two decades. These institutions were recognized for their support of equity, diversity and accessibility in study abroad for American students through the Gilman Program. The State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, in collaboration with the Institute of International Education, compiles the lists, which are organized by institution size and degree-awarding category.

Based on 20 years of data, the top 20 institutions in four categories are being honored: small, medium, and large institutions and associate-awarding institutions. Colleges and universities in 27 states, plus D.C. and Puerto Rico, are represented, as well as 33 Minority Serving Institutions. 

As the recent Department of State and Department of Education Joint Statement of Principles in Support of International Education noted, “All Americans need to be equipped with global and cultural competencies to navigate the ever-changing landscapes of education, international business, scientific discovery and innovation, and the global economy.”

To learn more about the Gilman awards at St. Edward's University, contact Director of Fellowships Dina Guidubaldi. 

To learn more about the Gilman and Gilman-McCain Scholarships and how their diverse alumni are pursuing impactful careers in the government, nonprofit, and private sectors, contact eca-press@state.gov and visit www.gilmanscholarship.org.  The website includes a full list of the institutions by category, and additional information on the Gilman Program’s 20th anniversary.

The Office of Information Technology (OIT) is partnering with Living Security during Cyber Security Awareness Month (CSAM) to bring CyberEscape to St. Edward's University from October 18 to October 29.

CyberEscape is a virtual escape room where players will go head-to-head in a timed challenge to put their security awareness knowledge to the test. In this experience, you're a special agent trying to catch a stealthy inside threat before the timer runs out. Solve puzzles, hunt down information in your Evidence Locker and answer security challenge questions to score passcodes. Check out the trailer below for more details.

The logistics: Your team can have up to eight people on a team in the virtual escape room. You will have 60 minutes to beat the clock and defeat the insider threat. Your team will be automatically guided through the escape room. All you have to do is complete the puzzles before the timer runs out. The first person who enters the escape room will be the leader of the group. However, participants are encouraged to switch leaders for each exercise.

You will not need to connect through Zoom or any other video conferencing platform. The entire experience will live in your browser. All you will need to do is sign up for a session, use the access link sent to your email, and play!

You may sign up as many times as you like but only your first attempt will count towards the challenge.

How To Sign Up for a CyberEscape Session

Do you have your team of eight or less players? Great. Now it’s time to sign up for the escape room. See instructions on how to sign up below:

1. Each player must sign up individually. Make sure everyone on the team has this link: https://bit.ly/CyberEscape21.
2. In the "Register for CyberEscape" section, click on the Sign Up button that best fits your role (student or employee).
3. You will be prompted to provide your email address. You will only be able to sign up using your St. Edward's email address.
4. Once you enter your St. Edward's email address, you will be sent a one-time access code to the email you provided. You will be sent a one-time access code each time you log in.
5. Enter the one-time code that was sent to your email on the session scheduling page. Once your identity is authorized, you will be able to sign up for a session. 
6. Find a date and time on the calendar. You may have to use the arrows next to the month and year to navigate to available time slots. Red dots will indicate where there are sessions available. Find a date and time, and then click "Book."
7. Once you register, you will receive a confirmation email with a direct link to the session. We recommend adding the session to your Google Calendar for easier access, which you can do from your confirmation email.

A note about the available sessions: If your group has mixed roles (both students and employees) OR if you don't see an available time and date for your team(s) to sign up, send an email to support@stedwards.edu with the email subject "Request: CyberEscape Session," and an OIT staff member will create a session for your team(s). OIT staff can also create private sessions for your team, meaning only people who have the session link will be able to join.

Best Practices

• Join early. Upon joining the escape room session, you will be prompted first to check your audio and video. It's a good idea to join ten minutes earlier than the scheduled time to ensure you don't have any technical issues. Once the session has started, participants will not be able to sign up.
• Speaking of making sure everything is working properly, let's make sure you're using the right stuff. Living Security recommends only using either Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge browsers to join CyberEscape. If you're having trouble accessing the session (i.e., getting an error), you can try using other browsers. Please see the "Troubleshooting" section below if you are experiencing an error or glitch.
  • Also, make sure you are using the most updated version of your browser. Here's information on how to update your Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge browser.
  • You will have the best experience using a computer browser. We suggest avoiding using your phone browser.
• Communicate! This is a team-building exercise. You're in a race against the clock (not to mention an insider threat). The best way to get through the escape room before time runs out is to talk through the challenges.
• Take advantage of the accessibility features available in the virtual escape room by clicking on the button in the bottom right corner with the person icon, as shown below.

Prizes

We know what you really want to hear about: the prizes. The grand prizes for the top teams are a sense of accomplishment, a greater knowledge of cybersecurity and, of course, bragging rights.

No, not really. Check out the actual prizes below:

Students

The top four student teams will be entered in a raffle to win our grand prizes.

• Tier one raffle prize: one 2021 Apple 10.2-inch iPad (one winner)
• Tier two raffle prize: one pair of Beats Flex All-Day Wireless Earphones in Flame Blue per winner (three winners)

There will only be four grand prize winners. All students who participate will receive an OIT cybersecurity charm as a part of the Experience SEU charm program.

Employees (Staff/Faculty)

The top three employee teams will receive swag bags, which will include, but is not limited to:

• A "security blanket"
• OIT t-shirt
• "Not a password storage device" sticky note pad

Leaderboards

Keep an eye on the competition. Check out the Leaderboards throughout the challenge (October 18 to October 29) to see which team is in the lead — hopefully, it’s yours!

St. Edward’s Student Leaderboard

St. Edward’s Employee Leaderboard

Troubleshooting

If you are experiencing issues either getting access to the escape room or while you're in the escape room, try these troubleshooting steps to make sure you have an optimal experience with CyberEscape. 

Prerequisites: 

• Make sure you are connected to the internet and using the latest version of your browser. CyberEscape only supports Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge browsers.
• You can check your internet speed at fast.com — it should be at least 5 Mbps.
• Your browser may also need to allow access to your microphone and video camera.

If you're getting an error while trying to access the page, try the following steps:

• Refresh the page.
• Close the browser window and reopen it.
• Try an incognito window.
• Try a different browser.

If you're experiencing some kind of glitch or error while you are in the escape room, try the following steps:

• Refresh the page. You will not have to re-enter your credentials.
• Close the browser window and reopen it. By taking this step, you will have to re-enter your credentials. You will receive a new one-time passcode in your email.
• In the escape room, there is a live chat button in the bottom right corner of the screen. You can use this button to chat with Living Security live support during the escape room session, who will help you troubleshoot the issue.

Living Security also offers support articles for participants in their Support Garden. If you’re having technical difficulties with CyberEscape, contact Living Security support.

Questions about scheduling sessions or other CyberEscape details? Contact OIT.

AUSTIN, Texas — For the 3rd year in a row, St. Edward’s is named a top 10 university in U.S. News & World Report’s Best Regional Universities in the West for 2022.

“This is continuing acknowledgment that St. Edward’s educates the hearts and minds of our students by providing distinctive and innovative academic programs and integrated curricular, co-curricular, and extracurricular activities for student success and lifelong learning. Our alumni are taking on the world and leading full and rich lives beyond the Hilltop,” said Montserrat Fuentes, president of St. Edward’s University. “Our faculty and staff are dedicated to the Holy Cross mission providing transformational experiences for our students with a focus on social justice for all.”

St. Edward’s University also ranked among the top 10 in Best Regional Universities West for Veterans, Best Value Schools and Best Undergraduate Teaching. Additionally, the university was recognized as a top A-plus school for B students.

For 19 consecutive years, St. Edward’s has ranked in the U.S. News Best Colleges list. The methodology for the U.S. News ranking takes into account peer assessments, as well as criteria including class size, retention and alumni giving. 

The U.S. News ranking is one of several recognitions the university received this year. In May, Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society named St. Edward’s University to its Transfer Honor Roll for the fourth consecutive year and lauded the university's dynamic pathways created to support transfer students. St. Edward’s also continued a long tradition of Fulbright award recipients and McNair Scholars.

Read more about what makes St. Edward’s University a top 10 school for numerous years in a row.