September 24, 2007
Bowling
Green, Ky. - Western Kentucky University’s international reach may extend 13 time zones if agreements can be reached with several universities in Malaysia.
Dr. Sam Evans, WKU’s Dean of the College of Education and Behavioral Sciences, and Dr. John Petersen, Interim Chief International Officer, visited five institutions in Kuala Lumpur to get a feel for their interest in collaborating with schools in the United States.
“The goal that we had set for ourselves was looking for potential partnerships with higher education institutions in Malaysia, specifically Kuala Lumpur,” Dr. Evans said. “I totally believe that we have an opportunity here that we can’t afford to lose.”
“We function in a global society,” Dr. Evans said. “These partnerships would provide us with the opportunity to enhance the experience of our students from an international perspective and it would also give us further international opportunities on our campus by having a larger international presence here at WKU.”
WKU students “are going to have to interact with people from many different cultural backgrounds in their careers and the more we can do to establish opportunities for those students while they’re with us, the better off those students are when it comes time to go out and get a job,” he said. “The more opportunities you have for a diverse population on campus, it strengthens who you are and what you’re trying to do. The Malaysians have the same aspirations as us, they just happen to be on the other side of the world. They have the same dreams and goals for their children that we do: a good education and a better life. So I think bringing people from different cultural backgrounds together enhances the potential for everyone involved.”
WKU will be looking to establish articulation agreements to accept the first two years of work at a Malaysian school as part of a degree from WKU. Dr. Evans said many of the universities with the better reputations are for-profit, owned by large companies. Three of the institutions under consideration are Help University, Taylor University and KDU College.
“One thing that we found out was that a degree from the United States is highly valued,” he said. “Some of the institutions only offer two-year programs, then those students have to go somewhere else to finish their degree.”
Help and Taylor universities are interested in WKU’s psychology program.
“I think when we look at psychology, the mere fact that we have a strong research component—our master’s degree students are very successful in getting into some top PhD programs—that would be a strength to try and establish partnerships,” Dr. Evans said. “They look for programs that have a strong reputation.”
He said International Islamic University has a number of programs consistent with what is offered at WKU, including journalism. A journalism professor from IIU will visit WKU in November under the Fulbright program. “The strength of our broadcast journalism program would be a plus in trying to attract some students on study abroad experiences,” Dr. Evans added.
WKU’s connection with Malaysia began with a visit by WKU MBA professor Dr. Randy Capps, following a visit to WKU by Ernie Chen, a Malaysian businessman and WKU graduate.
“Chen and his company, ATCEN, may serve as our representative to help recruit students to come to WKU and also to establish study abroad experiences,” Dr. Evans said. “He would also be helping establish professional development opportunities in education and business, probably at the graduate level.” These would be short-term experiences that would help establish relationships between WKU and the Malaysian institutions. “If they feel good about those short-term experiences, then we can start moving those experiences into degree programs, especially at the graduate level,” he said.
Not every program will work, Dr. Evans said. “We have to look at programs that have a level of distinction because that is what is used to try and attract students. The universities look at the programs and they make a decision on which ones they want to share with their students.”
There would be other challenges as well. Malaysia has a mixed population of Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu and others. In some areas, Malay is the primary language and in other areas it is Chinese. In most cases English is second. “During the span of one conversation one evening, there were four different languages used,” he said.
“I just think that there are opportunities for students and faculty consistent with what President Gary Ransdell is trying to do with his vision for WKU,” Dr. Evans said. Once a memorandum of agreement is in place, WKU will work with Chen and the institutions to establish partnerships, which will mean some additional trips to Malaysia.
“They’re eager, highly motivated and they really want to improve their system of education,” he said, adding Malaysia is on target to be among the world leaders in economic growth. “In order to achieve this goal, they have to do additional work in the area of business and update their educational system. I feel we have some opportunities to assist them in achieving this goal.”
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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