Last modified: Wednesday, July 7, 2010
IU's Kelley School of Business secures Title VI $1.5 million grant to support international programs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 7, 2010
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business has been awarded a $1.55 million Title VI grant from the U.S. Department of Education.
The national goal of the CIBER program is to advance the study and teaching of international business and to support research on U.S. competitiveness in the global marketplace. In this grant cycle, IU CIBER's supported activities will focus on long-term sustainable approaches to international business practice and economic development.
The IU CIBER will promote continual innovation in teaching and learning through an online portal for multimedia instructional tools. Users will be able to not only share tools but also comment on those developed by educators nationwide, including those at all 33 CIBERs. Other new instructional technologies include e-learning games and mobile applications.
It also has entered into a partnership with Governors State University, a Chicago-area minority serving institution, in order to enrich international business capabilities for its faculty and students. Many of the CIBERs nationwide have entered into a consortium with minority serving institutions.
The national resource center has been an integral part of the Kelley School since 1992. The CIBER program was created by the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 to increase and promote the nation's capacity for international competitiveness.
With this grant, the IU CIBER's strategic focus will move more toward promoting long-term sustainable business practices internationally, especially through social entrepreneurship, which have been increased focal areas for the Kelley School and its faculty, said Bruce Jaffee, professor of business economics and public policy and the center's executive director.
"We have an extremely sound foundation, and we're setting out to build something new and imaginative on top of that strong foundation," Jaffee said. "We're looking at what is critical as we move into the second decade of the 21st century. Certainly, technology ought to be heavily utilized. Networking, cooperation and outreach are central activities where we think we have a comparative advantage."
Daniel Smith, dean of the Kelley School, said the grant's renewal is further recognition of the school and the university's commitment to international activities.
"The Kelley School is recognized as one of the most important business schools in the world. Receiving this prestigious grant will provide us with the resources necessary to support innovative programs that will advance international business education and practice," Smith said. "I am particularly excited about initiatives that we hope to pursue that will enhance the global competitiveness of smaller to mid-size companies in the state of Indiana."
IU Vice President for International Affairs Patrick O'Meara said the Title VI grant renewal is further acknowledgement of a strategic plan launched by IU in 2007 to improve the global literacy of its students and faculty.
"Federal funding for the CIBER is an indication of the Kelley School's increasing international prominence and distinction. A major business school must be globally involved and the CIBER will contribute to this enormous goal," O'Meara said.
The CIBER will continue to support faculty research, educational programs and outreach. Among the major new initiatives resulting from the grant are:
- CIBER Share, a dynamic, crowd-sourcing online 24/7 portal for multimedia instructional materials -- including audio and video content -- that will benefit faculty at colleges and universities across the U.S., including community colleges such as Ivy Tech, as well as K-12 teachers, business managers, and government officials.
"It will be an extremely accessible, high-quality source of video-based learning that will be simple for people to use," Jaffee said. "We will develop the capability to enable information produced by lots of people at 33 CIBERS nationwide to be accessed by thousands of others who will benefit from it."
IU's leadership in information technology and the Kelley School's experience with online education through Kelley Direct provide a solid foundation for this effort.
- World Bazaar, an e-game that teaches about global business culture. The game will be designed to help students at all ages and levels to develop into competent global citizens.
- The IU center will work with Governors State, an "upper division" public university that primarily accepts transfer and returning students. Jaffee said there is much enthusiasm for the partnership at Governors State, where Kelley School alumna Ellen Foster Curtis is dean of the College of Business and Public Administration.
- Organize a new short-term international faculty development program which focuses on sustainable business practices in Latin America and the Caribbean. It will be open to faculty nationwide at non-CIBER institutions of higher education.
- Offer a series of new summer programs for undergraduate students both at the Kelley School and at institutions nationwide in business language and culture. They initially will focus on Brazil (Portuguese) and Egypt (Arabic) and expand later to include China (Mandarin). The programs will feature short-term field trips abroad.
- Help expand and institutionalize the Kelley School's Global Business and Social Entrepreneurship (GloBaSe) consulting program for entrepreneurs and small business owners in emerging economies. Students in Kelley's MBA programs consult virtually and in person with clients abroad to gain real-world experience. Active in Peru the last two years, the program will expand to India and Ghana.
The IU CIBER will move into a separate building that will provide facilities for visiting scholars and will continue to provide other resources to support teaching and research on global business and social issues at IU.
More information about the IU CIBER is available online at https://www.kelley.iu.edu/ciber/.
