UCCS selected for prestigious program to build ties with universities in India

The Institute of International Education in New York, N.Y., recently selected the University of Colorado Colorado Springs to participate in a program designed to increase higher education ties between U.S. and Indian colleges and universities.

UCCS was one of only five U.S. colleges selected for the 2012 India initiative of the International Academic Partnership Program. UCCS has strong ties to India and Indian universities and is committed to expanding those ties as part of efforts to help UCCS students compete globally.

Last summer, UCCS and officials from India’s Global Connect Academy signed an agreement that allowed UCCS to offer a master’s degree in engineering to students in India. Earlier, UCCS established a Center for Services Excellence through a partnership with Global Talent Track and Europe Asia Business School that offered a program in information assurance utilizing UCCS engineering faculty and a certificate program in services marketing offered by the UCCS College of Business.

“In our strategic plan, one of our priorities is to strengthen our regional and global reach,” Chancellor Pam Shockley-Zalabak said. “By fostering greater cooperation with partner colleges and universities in India, we help UCCS students have a better understanding of the global marketplace while also helping expand the university’s reach.”

During the next year, international education professionals at each of the five colleges will participate in a series of training activities arranged to help build and sustain partnerships. The program will include a tour of India in early 2013 so participants can learn about the Indian higher education system.

The five U.S. campuses selected to participate in the program are: Arizona State University, Portland State University, UCCS, University of North Carolina, Charlotte, and Washington & Jefferson College. An IIE review panel chose the colleges and universities based on applications that outlined interests in building ties with institutions in India. This is the third group of campuses to take part in the program.

IIE’s Center for International Partnerships in Higher Education developed the IAPP program in 2009 with an initial two-year grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Fund from the Improvement of Postsecondary Education.