ECC counselor Yamonte Cooper was recently awarded a 2014-2015 Fulbright U.S. scholar grant. Through this prestigious program, Cooper will participate in the 2014 Fulbright Seminar for U.S. Administrators in International Education in Berlin this fall.

The J. William Foreign Fulbright Scholarship Board awarded the grant that will include a group program in Berlin, followed by visits to different institutions in Germany. The program concludes with a three-day group visit to Mainz, where participants will meet with fellow university administrators who were in a similar program in France.

"The Fulbright Program will enable me to build upon my skillset and expertise to help students expand their potential on the international stage," Cooper said. In addition, my hope is to be able to offer the instructors and colleagues in the program the educational and career perspectives I’ve gathered from my students and in my own experience working and studying in the United States education system."

The two-week group seminar was awarded to 20 school administrators throughout the nation. The seminar provides attendants with an introduction to German higher education, as well as other engagements such as briefings, campus visits, and cultural events in Berlin. Participants will gain familiarity with changes in higher education, program designs, organizational structures, quality assurance procedures, and credit and degree expectations.

"The Fulbright Program will enable me to build upon my skillset and expertise to help students expand their potential on the international stage," Cooper said.

"My aspiration as a participant in the Fulbright program is to engage and build a repertoire with the program hosts so that we can have an ongoing exchange of information and ideas," Cooper added. "I would also share my knowledge of counseling and administering career assessment services to be a liaison for the host’s students, who are looking to pursue an education and career path in the United States."

As a Fulbright grantee, Cooper joins the ranks of the approximately 300,000 distinguished alumni who have participated in the program since its inception more than 60 years ago. Fulbright alumni have become heads of state, judges, ambassadors, cabinet ministers, CEOs, university presidents, journalists, artists, professors and teachers. They have been awarded 43 Nobel Prizes.

Cooper became part of the El Camino College faculty in 2010, following previous career experience at West Los Angeles College, Los Angeles City College, and Pasadena City College, where worked with students in EOP&S, the Career/Transfer Center, and community education. He has a doctorate in Educational Leadership with a concentration in Higher Education Administration from USC, a master’s degree in counseling and a bachelor’s degree in sociology, both from California State University, Northridge.

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