MATC Matters

MATC has been selected to host a cohort of eight students from Egypt for 21 months beginning this August. We are currently looking for faculty, staff or community members who would like to serve as short‑term host families and mentor families for these students.

While the students will live in private housing for the duration of their stay, we are looking for volunteers who can serve as host families for the first week that they arrive before they move into their apartments. This would likely be the week of August 9‑16. Please let me know if you are interested in doing so and please share this message with others in the community that might have interest.

We also are looking for individuals who can serve as ongoing mentors for these students during their longer stay in Madison. Mentors would serve as a resource when students had questions about life in the Madison area or help finding resources to answer their questions. Mentors also would be asked to commit to meeting with students approximately once a month to show them around the city or introduce them to aspects of Wisconsin life.

There is a small budget of up to $30/month to support mentors’ activities with students and a similar one‑time stipend for short‑term host families. Per grant requirements, mentors and hosts are subject to a criminal background check before participation.

These students will be in Madison through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs (ECA) and Community Colleges for International Development (CCID). Eight students will participate, four in Tourism and four in Information Technology. The students have been selected in cooperation with the Egyptian Government, ECA, CCID and regional partners.

To volunteer or for more information, please contact:
Geoff Bradshaw, Ph.D., International Education coordinator
(608) 246‑6165