Susan Boser, associate professor of sociology, has been selected for a 2012–2013 Fulbright scholarship for teaching and research in Nepal.
Boser will work from August to December at Tribhuven University in Kirtipur, Nepal, teaching a graduate course in qualitative research methods for the Department of Anthropology and Sociology and collaborating with the department on curriculum development.
Boser said her research examines Nepal's political transformation, "focusing on social dynamics regarding governmental infrastructure development as they pertain to voice and participation of various stakeholder groups."
Boser has been at IUP since 2002 and has served in several faculty and administrative roles, including as interim associate provost for academic programs and planning, as the provost's associate, as a dean's associate in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, as a dean's associate in the School of Graduate Studies and Research and as coordinator for the Ph.D. program in administration and leadership studies.
Before coming to IUP, she was an instructor at Cornell University. She also has served in leadership roles at facilities offering drug and alcohol treatment services and family-preservation programs. She worked with the Salamanca City Schools in New York and the Seneca Nation of Indians to evaluate programs promoting literacy.
She was the project director for the Southern Tier Special Regional Needs Project in Bath, N.Y., where she worked to determine the feasibility of a multicounty, integrated Medicaid managed care system for behavioral health services under local, multi-sectored governance.
She has also held consulting roles for the University of Kuwait and for Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning on program review and accreditation and university assessment plans.
In addition to her Fulbright award, Boser has been recognized with an award for meritorious service from the IUP department of sociology, the Outstanding University Professor Award from IUP's Pan-Hellenic Greek leadership association and a special citation from New York Gov. George Pataki for providing leadership in innovation in addressing critical problems in health and human services in New York on behalf of the Southern Tier Regional Special Needs Project. She was selected for membership in IUP's Phi Kappa Phi honor society and is a member of Kappa Omicron Nu national human ecology honor society.
She has been a volunteer facilitator for the Westmoreland County Municipal Authority's public forum on Marcellus shale drilling at Beaver Run Reservoir and has volunteered as a consultant for Fayette County Human Services Council, the Allegany County (New York) Department of Public Health and Educate the Children Inc., an international nongovernmental organization that supports and funds literacy development in Nepal.
Boser is the 62nd IUP recipient of a Fulbright scholarship.
The Fulbright program, established in 1946, is an international exchange program sponsored by the United States government. Approximately 116,900 Americans have been selected to participate in the program since its inception. The organization offers about 8,000 new grants on an annual basis.