May 9, 2000
Contact:
Beverly Makhani, 509/335-3957, [email protected]
WSU Launches First American Cooperative MBA with Vietnam
PULLMAN, Wash. -- The Washington State University International Business Institute has launched the first cooperative MBA program involving an American and a Vietnamese university.
"We are thrilled to be partners with National Economics University in Hanoi and look forward to the opportunities this global program will bring to all of our students," says IBI Director Jim McCullough.
Thirty-eight scholars -- mostly business executives -- have already begun taking rigorous MBA foundation courses at NEU. They will study aspects of accounting, finance, management, marketing, law, and statistics until September, says McCullough. All of the lessons follow the WSU curriculum.
"In December we'll send the first WSU professor to teach a two-week program at NEU alongside a Vietnamese professor," he says. WSU professors will teach five classes in Hanoi with the assistance of Vietnamese colleagues.
"After taking graduate school aptitude exams and tests for competency in English, about 20 of the original cohort will be selected to come to WSU in summer and fall of 2001. They will attend classes in English here to complete the second half of their MBA studies." Those successfully completing the program will earn a WSU MBA.
The joint venture brings closure to nearly a decade of groundwork by WSU, says McCullough. "It began with us contemplating where our programs would have a good fit in Asia."
In 1992, McCullough and WSU marketing and international business professor Patriya Tansuhaj went to Vietnam to assess academic opportunities. In 1993 and 1995, they conducted small business training there and in 1995 the IBI sponsored a Vietnamese professor who came to WSU for an MBA.
Subsequent activities led to a cooperative agreement and memorandum of understanding between NEU and the WSU College of Business & Economics, academic home of the IBI.
"Since then we have worked to finalize the joint MBA degree between NEU and WSU," says McCullough. "According to Vietnamese protocol, several government officials had to bless the proposal. When we received word this spring that the Vietnamese Prime Minister had himself given his approval, we were thrilled."
The joint program is self-sustaining, McCullough adds.
The IBI is known for its entrepreneurial outreach on educational matters. It has hosted several Certificate in Business programs for visiting executives and other professionals from Korea, Vietnam, Russia, Romania, Mali, and Central Asia.
Many educators from around the world spend weeks in WSU classes facilitated by the institute.
Other IBI joint ventures for graduate education are in the works with universities in Thailand and China, McCullough says.
For more information about the WSU IBI and its programs, check online at http://www.cbe.wsu.edu/ibi.
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