Stockholm, 29 September 2010

Dear Member,

Earlier this year many of you stepped forward to generously offer your engagement in a new and worthwhile initiative of the American Club of Sweden, the Alma Mater Exchange, a true bridge-building initiative. For those of you who are new to the club or missed it previously, the purpose of the Alma Mater Exchange is to organize the invaluable resource that our membership represents concerning American colleges and universities in order to make it accessible to young (or not-so-young!) Swedes who could be interested in pursuing an education in the United States.

Following a day conference hosted by the U.S. Embassy in Stockholm with the objective of coordinating and focusing the efforts of various information sources concerning education in the U.S., the ACS Alma Mater Exchange is taking several new steps forward:

1.    The AMX at www.americanclub.se: During October we will be organizing the information concerning the colleges/universities and subjects of study represented within our Club at the AMX page of our web site, www.americanclub.se. From this page, anyone seeking to understand whether our membership can help them to further research their specific educational interests can learn more and contact us. No member will be exposed to direct enquiries, rather they will be sent to the AMX committee who will then approach members with experience matching the interests of the persons who have asked for assistance.
2.    The AMX at the SACO Student Fair, Stockholm Mässan, Älvsjö, 18-19 November 2010: The United States Embassyand the Fulbright Commission have secured a “Study in the US” booth for this annual fair making information about US colleges and universities available to Swedish students.  The booth will be used to provide general information on pursuing university study in the United States, and also as a space where any U.S. universities that wish to be represented can present their materials and engage with prospective students. If you can consider participating as an AMX volunteer to represent your alma mater for a limited period of time at this fair, please contact julie.lindahl@americanclub.se as soon as possible. AMX volunteers will be welcome to spend whatever time they wish to commit at the SACO college fair using the “Study in the U.S.” booth as a platform for engaging with prospective students.  In order to support your participation with material that students can view, we ask that you contact the admissions office of your alma mater to advise them of your willingness to provide volunteer representation at this college fair.  Please ask that office to mail you some brochures/materials to have available for prospective students as well as perhaps some points that they would like you to present to prospective students and maybe a “frequently asked questions” sheet to help you in your conversations.  If you cannot participate in person brochures and material are still appreciated and can be used by the Fulbright Commission.
 
In order to make it easier for the U.S. universities, the U.S. Embassy has graciously agreed to allow universities to mail a limited amount of materials to the Embassy using the diplomatic mail system.  This will allow universities to pay only U.S. postage.  You may tell universities to mail materials to:
 
Public Affairs Section
ATTN: Darcie Smith
American Embassy
5750 Stockholm Pl.
Washington, DC 20521-5750

Please contact me as soon as possible concerning your interest in participating in the SACO Student Fair.

All best,

Julie Lindahl
on behalf of your Board

exchanges@americanclub.se