RIT Fulbright Educator Studies International Student Culture

Students from 100 different countries attend RIT, bringing with them their own customs and cultural dimensions. The cultural exchange that takes place is an important part of the educational experience for international and American students alike.

Catalina Novac, program coordinator of the International Student Services office, will experience some cultural exchange herself when she travels to Germany in April. She has been selected as one of 25 Fulbright educators to attend the three-week Fulbright Seminar for U.S. Administrators in International Education.

During her stay, she’ll visit several German universities in Berlin, Mannheim, Stuttgart and Baden Württemberg and meet with government officials at the Ministry of Education.

“I’ve always been fascinated by the cultural aspects of international exchange,” says Novac, herself an international member of RIT’s community. Originally from Romania, she joined RIT in 2002 after working at the University of Rochester for four years and at the U.S. Embassy in Bucharest, Romania, for seven years. Novac is pursuing a Ph.D. in human development at the University of Rochester.

While in Germany, Novac hopes to learn how international education is viewed in Europe and how universities there work with international students. Always striving to deepen her knowledge to apply to her field of work, she’s looking forward to seeing how her European counterparts handle the ins and outs of international education and its many cultural dimensions.

Founded in 1829, RIT is internationally recognized as a leader in computing, engineering, imaging, technology, fine and applied arts, and education for the deaf. RIT enrolls more than 15,500 students in 340 undergraduate and graduate programs. For the past decade, U.S. News & World Report has ranked RIT as one of the nation’s leading comprehensive universities.


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