The West Virginia University Office of International Programs has awarded a total of $10,500 in Global Educational Opportunities (GEO) grants for the 2003 academic year. Initiated in 1992, the awards enable undergraduate and graduate students to pursue international study, research and training experiences.

Winners will be honored Monday, April 14, at the annual GEO Grants Award Dinner in the Rhododendron Room of the WVU Mountainlair. The students will study in 12 different countries, including Australia, England, France, Germany, Guatemala, Italy, Mexico, Peoples Republic of China, Scotland, Spain, Trinidad Tobago and Wales.

This year the awards will enable 16 WVU students11 undergraduate students and five graduate studentsto study abroad in a foreign country. Fourteen of the 16 GEO Grants winners are from the West Virginia towns of Beckley, Bridgeport, Crosslands, Fairmont, Ivydale, Morgantown, Walkersville and Wheeling. The other winners are from Oakland, Md., and Lucas, Ohio.

Two WVU endowments contribute to the success of this grant program: the Ralph and Dora Nelson International Study Travel Endowment and the W. Gerald and Carolyn E. Blaney Endowment. Additional funds are provided by the WVU Office of International Programs.

The winners represent these WVU colleges: Eberly College of Arts and Sciences (ECAS); the Davis College of Agriculture, Forestry, and Consumer Sciences (DCAFCS); the School of Medicine, Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center (SM-HSC); and College of Business and Economics (B&E).

The GEO award amounts vary in amounts of $500, $750 and $1,000. The awarded amount depends on factors such as type of program and financial aid needs. Grants defray international travel expenses for research and training for long term or semester programs, and costs of short term and summer programs.

For information, contact the Office of International Programs, 304-293-6955 (ext. 2). Names of 2003 GEO Grant awardees follow and appear below and on the WVU -OIP Web page at /www.wvu.edu/~intlprog .

* WVU 2003 GEO Grants Winners

*Undergraduate Students (Short Term)

• Heather Treadway , an interior design major from BeckleySummer Program American Intercontinental University, London, Agriculture

• Ashley Lawson , an English and womens studies major from BridgeportArcadia University Program, Edinburgh, Scotland

• Leigh Ann Craig , a pre-biology major from WalkersvilleSummer Program to Santander, Spain

• Blaire Nuzum , an environmental policy and public relations major from FairmontSummer Program to Vendee, France

Undergraduate Students (Long Term)

• DeAnna Griffin , a social work major from Morgantown WVU Exchange: University of Guanajuato, Mexico

• Adelheid Schaupp , a history major from Morgantown WVU Exchange: Otto-Friedrich University

• Asani Wilson , a pre-biology major from MorgantownSemester Program at University of Edinburgh

• Toby Garbutt , a history major from Morgantown WVU Exchange: University of Wales, Cardiff

• Carly Ferguson , a foreign languages major from Morgantown WVU Exchange: University of Guanajuato, Mexico

• Aimee Pheonix , a landscape architecture major from Crosslands WVU Exchange: Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Australia

• Lauren Pizza , a finance and accounting major from IvydaleSemester Program Paderno, Italy

Graduate Students (Short Term)

• Aaron Provance , family medicine medical student from MorgantownSummer International Medicine in Guatemala

• Natalie Ball , an industrial relations major from WheelingSummer Business and Economics Program to China

• William McBee , a family medicine medical student from MorgantownSummer International Medicine in Guatemala

• Misty Rodeheaver , a history major from Oakland, Md.Language Program in Tubingen, Germany Research and TrainingCynthia Burskey, an agricultural education major from Lucas, OhioStudy in agriculture at East Caribbean Institution in Trinidad-Tobago