Zakon o ratifikaciji Fulbrightovega programa izmenjave - Memoranduma o soglasju med Vlado Republike Slovenije in Vlado Združenih držav Amerike (BUSFPI)

The Government of the Republic of Slovenia (hereinafter, "the Government of RS") and the Government of the United States of America (hereinafter, "The Government of the USA") agree to the following terms for the exchange of graduate students, postdoctorial researchers and lecturers under the auspices of the Fulbright Program.

A bilateral Committee (hereinafter, "the Committee") shall be created to recommend action to the Government of RS and the Government of the USA on all matters pertaining to the proposed exchange program.

The Committee shall consist of the Undersecretary of the Foreign Ministry of the Republic of Slovenia for Cultural, Educational and Scientific Affairs and the Public Affairs Officer of the U. S. Embassy and four more members, two of whom shall be appointed by the Foreign Ministry of the Republic of Slovenia and two of whom shall be appointed by the U. S. Embassy. To assure that the Committee members bring a diversity of experience to their deliberations, one member from each side shall represent the university and scholarly community and one member from each side shall represent the private, nongovernmental sector. The Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Ambassador shall be honorary chairmen of the Committee.

The program shall be bilateral, providing for the exchange of an approximately equal number of grantees each year, equality to be determined on a grantee-month basis.

The Committee shall recommend actions that will provide for and guarantee the following:

1. The development of a comprehensive proposal detailing the scope of the program for the following United States fiscal year, the academic areas of concentration, the types of grants and similar general guidelines for approval by the respective governments;

2. The publishing of the annual announcement of the request for applications for Fulbright grants from citizens of Slovenia;

3. The receipt of applications from citizens of Slovenia that will assure that the competition is entirely open and that anyone can apply and compete on an equal footing;

4. The eligibility of submitted applications through non-partisan technical review;

5. The establishment each year of academic review panels for the purpose of evaluating the merits of each study, research and lecturing proposal for further consideration by interview panels and by the committee;

6. The establishment each year of panels to interview all persons whose applications have passed technical review; interview panels should consist, of four persons, representing the Government of RS and the Government of the USA, and the Slovene and U. S. academic communities. The panel each year shall establish a rating system for the interviews (for evaluation of candidates on criteria including. English language ability, quality and feasibility of proposed programs, applicability of each candidate's field to the needs of each country, and academic credentials/letters of reference of each candidate);

7. The presentation of a roster of rank-ordered principal and alternate candidates, based on the results of the interviews for the approval of the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board;

8. The review of applications from U. S. students, scholars and researchers seeking placement in Slovenia;

9. The placement in Slovene universities and academic research institutes of U. S. applicants for grants.

The financial obligations for the funding of the exchange program are agreed to be as follows:

1. Each Government shall be responsible for in country, local currency expenses including publicity, committee and academic review panel meetings, interview panel meetings, grantee orientation programs, and other local expenses.

2. The sending side shall cover travel costs for its grantees from their homes to the host institution in the host country.

3. The receiving side shall provide grantees with housing, local currency stipends, and medical insurance.

This memorandum shall be provisionally applied by the parties upon signature and shall enter into force when both parties have notified each other of the fulfillment of their respective internal legal requirements for its enforcement. It shall remain in force for a period of five years unless either party notifies in writing six months in advance of its intention to terminate the memorandum. The five year period may be extended for an additional period of five years by written agreement between the parties.

Signed in Ljubljana on December 8, 1993 in two copies written in Slovene and English languages. The texts are identical in both languages.