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WKU Student, Faculty Member Participate In Summer Business School At Canada's Laval University
Bowling Green, Ky. - A faculty member and student from Western Kentucky University's Gordon Ford College of Business recently participated in an exchange program with Canada's Laval University.
Brian Dyer, a junior management major from Scottsville, attended the first-ever offering of the Laval University Summer Business School. Laval, located in Quebec City, is one of the top schools in Canada and has a student population of 35,000. Dr. Richard Parker, assistant professor of management, spent three weeks with 11 students from WKU, Laval and Kent State. Philip Grenon, director of the Summer Business School, invited Dr. Parker to participate in the program this year. "This program has several purposes which are beneficial to both American and Canadian participants," Dr. Parker said. "First it allows them to learn more about each others' cultures and business practices. Second it helps them to understand the importance of the USA/Canada relationship in trade and other affairs. Third it allows them to build relationships with one another that will last for years into the future and it helps to promote a desire for the students to participate in additional international exchanges." Dyer agreed that the summer business program at Laval "was an excellent way to study the institutional aspects, culture and geography of international business." "This program is an outstanding asset that Western Kentucky offers to its students, and I would encourage other students to take part in such programs as this," he said. The exchange agreement, signed earlier this year by Dean Robert Jefferson of the Gordon Ford College of Business and Dean Robert Mantha of Laval's Faculty of Administrative Sciences as well as the presidents of both schools, allows for exchanges of students and faculty members. Dr. Parker said several students at Laval expressed an interest in spending a semester at Western to learn more about American business while the American students said that given the chance they would return for a semester at Laval. During the three-week program, students spent mornings in classes with faculty members from Laval and afternoons on field trips to businesses, government offices and cultural sites. In the evenings, Dr. Parker hosted discussion sessions with the students. During the weekends, the students took outings together to Lake St-Jean, two hours north of Quebec City, or to Montreal, three hours south of Quebec City. "In a wrap-up session at the conclusion of the program, the students overwhelmingly said that seeing the theory of business operations in the mornings and the practice in the afternoon really helped their understanding of how business works," Dr. Parker said. In the classroom and on company tours, Dyer said he gained a better understanding of the importance of international business and the impact of the North American Free Trade Agreement on the economies of Canada and the United States. Students were required to complete a journal and to write a paper for credit in the course. After the work was concluded, the students attended a graduation lunch and received certificates from Laval University for the participation in the program. Next year's dates for Laval's Summer Business School have been set for May 20-June 11. More WKU news is available at www.wku.edu. If you'd like to receive WKU news via e-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.
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