University Partnerships – A Project for Kazakhstan

University administrators representing higher education institutions across Kazakhstan met with counterparts in U.S. organizations and institutions to 1) Gain insights in best practices in U.S. higher education administration, 2) Examine strategies to establish and maintain international partnerships, faculty collaboration, and international research, and 3) Review best practices for monetizing research. The project had a few highlights. Our participants started their exchange program in Washington, DC by meeting Georgetown University’s Thomas Banchoff, Vice President for Global Engagement. This discussion was about strategies for universities to engage students and faculty in internationalization efforts.  

As they travelled across to Kalamazoo and Chicago, they were able to meet with Kalamazoo Valley Community College’s International Student Services Manager to explore how the college enhances its internationalization and engagement in the community and globally. This experience was even more enriched when they connected with varies leaders at Michigan State University which is a top public research university with students from over 140 countries and 1,400 faculty involved in international research, teaching and administrators from varies offices. 

The next stop on their journey was traveling to Texas. The participants were able to hit another important objective while in the U.S. which was what and how are U.S. universities conducting research internationally and monetizing it. An interesting meeting was arranged with University of Texas at Austin’s Vice President of Research in the Provost Office, Office of Technology Commercialization (OTC), and Office of Global Engagement and Strategy. In addition, participants were able to travel south to San Marcos, Texas in order to visit Texas State University’s Science, Technology, and Advanced Research (STAR) Park dedicated to university research and commercialization efforts. 

 Additional Project highlights included meetings and workshops with:  

• Austin Community College’s Bioscience Incubator. 
• American Councils for International Education’s U.S.-Kazakhstan University Partnership Program team to explore and discuss strategies for university partnership development, such as the Central Asia University Partnerships Program (UniCEN). 
• Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) regarding internationalization of university-based research. 
• Texas International Education Consortium. 
• Western Michigan University Haenicke Institute for Global Education and Dr. Joyashish Thakurta, director of WMU’s partnership with East Kazakhstan State Technical University.  

• Home Hospitality in Austin, Texas. 

Photos

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