US CONSORTIA NEWS DEPARTMENT — Week of March 15, 2010 (Scroll down for more news)

University of Vermont, Chinese Arts College
Sign Cooperation Agreement
The University of Vermont (UVM) forged a new partnership with an old friend on Friday. At an official ceremony, framed by flags of the United States and China, College of Education and Social Services Dean Fayneese Miller and President Li Yulin of the Inner Mongolia University Art College (IMUAC) signed an agreement of cooperation pledging their institutions to actively exchange faculty and students over the term of the three-year agreement, which Miller said she expected the partners would extend.

UVM first connected with IMUAC 11 years ago through the efforts of the Asian Studies Outreach Program (ASOP), the Freeman Foundation-funded initiative housed in the College of Education and Social Services that promotes cross-cultural understanding, primarily through teacher and student exchanges between schools in Vermont and in China, Japan, and Thailand.

ASOP helped forge a partnership between IMUAC and Leland and Gray Union High School in Windham County, Vermont, in 1999, introducing key players and funding travel between the two countries.

During the multiple exchanges that have occurred since, arts faculty and students from IMUAC have performed around the state, including on the UVM campus. The most recent visit was in November 2009, when faculty and students from the college presented a music and dance performance at UVM’s Davis Center.

After the signing ceremony, the IMUAC delegation, which included dance, music, and design faculty in addition to President Li, spent the afternoon meeting with dance, theater, and music faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences, who along with faculty in the College of Education and Social Services, will be the main faculty involved in exchanges.

The group also met with and exchanged gifts with UVM President Daniel Mark Fogel, who has also visited IMUAC. President Fogel and President Li discussed the importance of the exchange agreement for the two institutions.

Miller first visited Inner Mongolia University in 2006, when she delivered a lecture at the art college. "We started conversation about this partnership then," she said. "In 2009, we moved to the point where we were ready to solidify the relationship." After the successful partnership with Leland and Gray, IMUAC was interested in partnering with a higher education institution, Miller said.

Miller envisions a robust back-and-forth that would include faculty and student exchanges, joint academic degrees, and exchanges of teaching materials and scholarship.

While fundraising on both sides will be required for the partnership to reach its full potential, Miller said that monies exist now for both universities to begin the program. UVM has funding for two people to visit IMUAC this summer or fall.

About The University of Vermont
Located in Burlington, Vermont (perennially voted one of America's most exciting small cities), the University of Vermont's setting in a valley on the shores of Lake Champlain, between the Adirondack and the Green mountain ranges, inspires visitors and residents. The university combines faculty-student relationships most commonly found in a small liberal arts college with the resources of a major research institution. UVM is home to 10,371 undergraduates, 1,516 graduate students, 460 medical students and 1,299 full- and part-time faculty.


US CONSORTIA NEWS DEPARTMENT — Week of March 08, 2010 (Scroll down for more news)

Oklahoma State University
in Partnership with University in Oman
The Spears School of Business at Oklahoma State University (OSU) recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with A’Sharqiyah University (ASU) in Athabia, Oman that will allow OSU to assist ASU in developing curriculum and academic standards for its newly developed College of Commerce and Humanities. The ASU College of Commerce and Humanities will seek to promote community based research that will contribute to economic growth and development of society in Oman. By entering into a MoU, OSU will help ASU achieve these goals. Robert Dooley, Spears School associate dean of graduate programs and research, traveled to Oman in early December to sign the MoU on behalf of OSU.

“We are happy to enter into a partnership with ASU and are looking forward to building a better relationship with the university,” Dooley said. “This is an opportunity for OSU to develop a university partnership in a very important region of the world.”  

The Spears School has a strong record of cooperation from universities around the world. The college has partnerships with universities in Mexico, China and Kenya which range from dual degree programs to exchange programs to programs that help build faculty capacity.

About The Spears School of Business at Oklahoma State University
Oklahoma State University is a comprehensive university with instructional, research, and outreach missions. OSU is composed of four campuses and extensive off-campus instructional and assistance programs. The combined enrollment for these locations exceeds 28,000 students. The Stillwater campus has an enrollment of more than 20,000 students and a full-time faculty of more than 900. International students are an important part of the OSU student body; seven percent of undergraduate enrollment and 17 percent of graduate enrollment comes from more than 90 foreign countries.

The Spears School of Business is composed of six academic departments with more than 100 tenure and tenure-track educational professionals. The student body is made up of more than 3,900 undergraduate students pursuing 15 degrees with approximately 800 students pursuing six master's degrees. The School also offers PhDs in business administration and in economics. The faculty of the The Spears School of Business is composed of noted scholars, authors, sought-after consultants and practitioners, and caring teachers. Many of the faculty have received outstanding teaching awards and have been recognized for innovative instruction. The faculty are nationally and internationally recognized for their publications and leadership positions in professional academic associations. Since 1958, all academic programs in the Spears School of Business have been accredited by the AACSB International (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business)


US CONSORTIA NEWS DEPARTMENT — Week of March 01, 2010

American Indian Higher Education Consortium
Sign Agreement to Increase Cooperation
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Vilsack signed an updated Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) to promote increased cooperation between USDA, tribally controlled colleges and universities (TCUs), and American Indian/Alaska Native communities. The MOA reaffirms the partnership between AIHEC and USDA to assist in fulfilling the 2002 Farm Bill's mandate that USDA establish programs ensuring that TCUs and American Indian/Alaska Native communities participate equitably in USDA employment, programs, and activities.

"This MOA is an important step forward in our efforts to expand cooperation and consultation between USDA and tribal colleges," said Vilsack. "The Obama administration is committed to supporting the critical role tribal colleges have played in improving the lives of Native Americans, and to ensuring that they enjoy full access to USDA programs and services."

The parties will focus on strengthening the capacities of AIHEC member institutions and supporting their full integration into USDA programs and services, as well as the Land-Grant System and its programs. The agreement will also promote food and agricultural science careers and professional attainment among students attending AIHEC member institutions; promote employment opportunities within USDA for students attending AIHEC member institutions, and support the development of AIHEC. The first agreement was signed in 1998 and was updated in 2008.

This agreement reflects the commitment of the parties to further USDA's outreach efforts with the 1994 Land-Grant Institutions and the communities served by these institutions. The agreement is being guided by the values outlined in the Obama Administration – transparency, participation and cooperation. The MOA is an extension of President Obama's prior recognition of the importance of Tribal Colleges.

The renewed USDA and AIHEC MOA acknowledges the role of 1994 TCUs to the nation's food security and to tribal self-determination through their cultural and other science based educational programs that function to improve local economies, re-invigorate the use of ancestral foods to address nutritional issues that lead to diabetes and obesity, and to develop energy programs that have the potential to benefit all Americans. In November 2009, senior USDA officials met with tribal leaders and members from across the country to expand cooperation and consultation between the Department of Agriculture and tribal nations.

Participants in the signing ceremony will include Janie Hipp, Senior Advisor to the Secretary, Office of Tribal Relations, who serves as the USDA Co-Chair on the USDA and AIHEC Leadership Group; and Carrie Billy, AIHEC President and CEO; presidents from the 1994 Land Grant Institutions across the Nation.