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Posted: 8/31/06

TAMIU Extending ‘International’ Reach to Egypt, China, Beyond

 

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Texas A&M International University (TAMIU) continues to strengthen its international offerings and will soon be delivering programs in Egypt and China.

Dr. Dan Jones, TAMIU provost and vice president for academic affairs, said the initiatives will feature programs offered by the University’s College of Business Administration.

“These opportunities for the University have grown from our involvement in the Texas International Education Consortium (TIEC) and will focus on delivery by our College of Business Administration of an Executive MBA Program in Egypt and, later, similar programs in China. The Egypt program will begin this Fall while the Chinese program is planned for January 2007,” Dr. Jones said.

He said the programs are highly innovative and have the potential to impact the University on multiple fronts.

“Clearly, this expands the University’s international visibility, adds additional foreign students and visiting scholars to our educational environment, and provides both direct and indirect economic benefits to our campus and our community.  It’s interesting to note that no state monies are used to maintain these programs, which will be virtually self-sustaining,” he said.

In fact, profits are expected to exceed more than $80,000 annually per program, funds that can be used to support TAMIU student fellowships and research activities. In addition, Jones said there are other intangible benefits.

“There is a long and highly significant correlation between foreign students studying at US universities and future leadership roles in their home country.  As Education USA, a US Department of Education agency that promotes US higher education, notes, ‘foreign students yesterday, world leaders today.’  TAMIU will be part of that tradition and that most significant form of quiet diplomacy. A US higher education continues to be the gold standard of the world and we are confident that we offer a special currency to that standard with our international programs and foci,” he explained.

The Egyptian program, offered in direct partnership with the private Delta Academy of Sciences in Mansoura, has affiliated branches in Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Libya, Yemen and Sudan.  The effort also includes two state Universities in the cities of Benha and Mansoura, with 40,000 and 100,000 students respectively. (photo)

The TAMIU program will offer an Executive Master of Business Administration and begin with a minimum cohort of 15 and a maximum of 35 students.   The coursework will be offered online and at TAMIU and Egyptian campuses.

Drs. Jones, Jacky So (dean, College of Business Administration) and Jaime Ortiz (associate vice president of international programs) visited the Egyptian campuses this summer.

“Egypt is truly a remarkable place.  The majority of the faculty are US-educated and have a clear passion for their mission and people.  We are excited to have an opportunity to be part of their new day in higher education and for one of our most important trade and business partners in the world,” said Jones.

TAMIU is currently considering a number of prospective partner universities in China and Taiwan for offering its Executive MBA, according to TAMIU Dean of the College of Business Administration Jacky So.

“There is a huge middle class population that realizes that the way to realize the late Deng Xiaoping’s saying ‘to get rich is glorious,’ is through quality higher education.  The MBA is considered the most relevant degree for this huge population,” Dr. So explained.

He said the China program will feature a start up cohort of about 15 that can grow to a maximum of 35.

To date, the University has over 20 agreements in place with foreign universities that provide for study abroad and faculty exchange or research.  They include campuses in Asia, Central America, Europe, and Mexico.

Dr. Ortiz said the Egyptian and Chinese programs have special relevance for TAMIU’s on-campus students.

“Our students today are the global graduates of tomorrow.  For them, integrating the diversity of other cultures and countries will be the standard expectation.  Having students and faculty members from these programs interacting with our students affords richly relevant opportunities for learning and building global networking teams,” Ortiz noted.

But there’s still a big whole world out there eager to tap into TAMIU’s programming and expertise, Jones said.

“Just this past week, Brazil expressed a keen interest in programming.  We have a number of top business faculty from Brazil and this would afford all a tremendous opportunity that we’ll be exploring shortly.  We’re also revisiting current agreements and seeing if there’s an interest in expanding them along the lines of our Egypt and China initiatives,” he said.

For additional information, contact Dr. So at the College of Business Administration at 956.326.2480, e-mail jso@tamiu.edu, visit offices in Western Hemispheric Trade Center, room 203 or click on tamiu.edu/coba.


Journalists who need additional information or help with media requests and interviews should contact the Office of Public Relations, Marketing and Information Services at prmis@tamiu.edu