FY 2014 PROJECT ABSTRACTS
Centers for International Business Education Program
U.S. Department of Education
Office of Postsecondary Education
International and Foreign Language Education
2014-2017 CENTERS FOR INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS EDUCATION
Brigham Young University
University of Colorado at Denver
University of Connecticut
George Washington University
Georgia Institute of Technology
Georgia State University
Indiana University
University of Maryland
University of Miami
Michigan State University
Ohio State University
San Diego State University
University of South Carolina
Temple University
Texas A&M University
University of Texas - Austin
University of Washington
Total funding FY 2014 - $4,571,400
Average award - $268,906
CIBER Web site: http://ciberweb.msu.edu
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Grantee: Brigham Young University
We propose to advance the global competitiveness of U.S. business by preparing students to become future industry leaders who understand the complexities of the international economy. We will help managers operate more effectively in highly competitive and globally integrated markets. In dealing with global issues, we will leverage the strengths of our business programs and other centers of excellence at BYU, the language and international experience of our students, the rich language and area studies programs at BYU, and our networks with other colleges and universities, recruiters, and alumni.
The proposed activities are designed to:
1. Develop interdisciplinary programs for both business and non-business students that will help them develop a global mindset. We will work with our departments and programs to develop innovative global pathways utilizing the model recently instituted by our Dean to Learn-Do-Become (LDB): learn (immersive, multi-semester integrated and sequential curriculum), do (real-world experiences through projects and internships), and become (students who graduate with a strong professional skill-set and identity).
2. Provide leadership in business language and culture training for students and the business community. Intensive language programs and their integration with the business curriculum are the foundation of the enabling legislation and the competitive advantage of BYU since approximately 70 percent of our students are bilingual and have lived abroad. We will leverage our strong language and area study programs as we implement language programs and courses specifically for less commonly taught languages. We will also make our curriculum innovations available to other universities and the business community.
3. Expand collaboration with other colleges and universities in the region and nation, including community colleges and MSIs. This is the first dimension of external collaboration we will discuss in our program, and we will demonstrate how our network with 39 colleges and universities in 10 western states will allow us to work together to develop and share curriculum and program innovations for students at all levels, including community colleges and universities with both undergraduate and graduate programs.
4. Collaborate with the business community. This is the second area of collaboration where we will work with individual companies and public and private sector organizations in Utah to expand exports and attract foreign investment, which will bring in jobs and trade opportunities, and create internships and student projects.
5. Establish a strong and multi-faceted research agenda. We will provide funding for projects that will strength our curriculum, add to our understanding of global markets, and provide information to the business community to help them succeed in export markets. As we address the intent of the legislation and fulfill the mandated activities, we will integrate several key themes into our programs, including the importance of emerging markets, especially in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia; the importance of ethics and social responsibility; and the importance of entrepreneurship, innovation, and technology.
Finally, we address Competitive Preference Priorities 1 and 2 and Invitational Priorities 1 and 2 as part of our activities listed above and will identify how we will accomplish them in Supplements 3-6.
Grantee: University of Colorado Denver
CU CIBER is excited to share its new and dynamic 2014-2018 program of 45 Activities (17 Education, 13 Research, 15 Outreach), which will enhance international business education (curricula, language, internships, study abroad), increase student job placement, globalize Minority Serving Institutions and community colleges, deepen business professionals’ international business competency, and increase America’s global competitiveness. CU CIBER is uniquely positioned to strengthen and expand international business education in Colorado and nationally. Located in the Institute for International Business on the CU Denver campus, it serves as a university-wide international education resource for the CU System’s 58,000 students (at CU Denver, CU Boulder, and CU Colorado Springs).
The proposed 45 Activities will allow CU CIBER to accomplish the goals and objectives of Title VIB and the Centers for International Business Education (CIBE) Program’s two competitive priorities, “Competitive Preference Priority One: Business Collaboration” and “Competitive Preference Priority Two: Collaboration with Community Colleges and Minority Serving Institutions.” It will also address CIBE’s invitational priorities.
Among other contributions, CU CIBER will provide the following significant and high impact value to the CIBE program over the next four years:
· We will take on the CIBE Program’s most urgent challenge of building a sustainable platform for international business education in U.S. community colleges. To this end, we have designed a Global Badging program that CU CIBER will launch together with the Community College of Denver with a goal of rolling it out to other community colleges as a nationally branded CIBER signature program.
· We will improve Colorado and U.S. students’ career placement opportunities with a number of degrees, certificates, and badging programs to broaden and deepen student credentials in international business, language, and culture. We will also develop Pathways to International Internships and Employment, a pragmatic and collaboration-based platform for students to gain jobs through international internships and work study programs.
· We will leverage CU CIBER’s distinctive strength in the field of international entrepreneurship by offering programs designed to build capacity in this field, its teaching, research, and practice. Our overarching goal is to foster the internationalization of entrepreneurial firms to help build a vibrant U.S. economy and create new jobs.
· We will serve constituents who have been underserved but stand to benefit the most during this next phase of the CIBE program: U.S. Veterans and Minority Serving Institutions including Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), and Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs). We are particularly honored that the American Indian Higher Education Consortium has selected CU CIBER to be its partner in internationalizing programs for all 37 U.S. TCUs.
The CU CIBER is proud to have built an exemplary record of national accomplishments as a CIBER. We are eager to focus on CIBE priorities head-on; continued long term-investment will be critical in helping us promote U.S. global competitiveness and advance international business education on behalf of Colorado, our Rocky Mountain region, and the entire nation.
Grantee: University of Connecticut
As the U.S. economy continues its recovery, a multitude of signs are pointing to the importance of the manufacturing sector. Therefore for the 2014- 2018 grant period, the UConn CIBER will embrace the theme: Renaissance of Manufacturing. Within this theme, we will explore the growth of manufacturing in the US and its implications for exporting. We will also delve into next-shoring, the idea that it is time for large manufacturers who relocated their operations for labor cost arbitrage to rethink that location.
We have developed a slate of programming intended to serve students, faculty, and business people. These programs will fill a significant need for U.S. manufacturers to develop the talent pool, understand emerging markets and new technology, implement process innovation, achieve sustainability, and navigate policy. They will also fulfil both competitive preference priorities and both invitational priorities.
Over the years, the UConn CIBER has developed a large outreach network, working with large and small school regionally and nationally. We have also conducted individual programs with several Minority Serving Institutions and Community Colleges. However, for this grant period we are taking a different approach. We have identified two key academic partners: Southern University of Baton Rouge and Manchester Community College. These partners will allow us to create long term meaningful impact in these two populations, fulfilling the letter and intent of the competitive preference priority.
The UConn CIBER proposal is unique because it (a) builds on the experience we gained through previous CIBER grants; (b) involves people with IB interest and experience, as well as expertise in manufacturing; (c) is cost effective; (d) includes an objective evaluation program; (e) includes educational, research, and outreach programs that foreground competitiveness in the global manufacturing arena; (f) emphasizes the creation of job opportunities for students of international business; and (g) employs large amounts of internal resources. Overall, this incredibly important project is well positioned for success, as we have the resources and partnerships with schools in our region, nationally, and overseas to successfully achieve our outlined goals. Exhibit 10 describes the hallmarks of our proposal.
Grantee: George Washington University
George Washington University proposes to build from strong foundations laid in two previous grant awards to advance knowledge in international business (IB), increase the global effectiveness of current and future managers, promote instruction in languages deemed to be in areas of national need, and serve as a local, regional, and national resource.
GW-CIBER’s programming will be organized around a unifying theme: Institutions, Policies, and Development in International Business. This theme addresses a set of issues of fundamental importance to US competitiveness, prosperity, and security. It also reflects the strengths of GW’s faculty and the university’s central location in Washington, DC, among key multilateral organizations, government agencies, non-governmental agencies, and embassies. The theme is supported by five key focal areas: (1) Trade, Investment, and Employment Issues; (2) Leveraging Diaspora Populations; (3) Energy, Land Management, and Environmental Sustainability; (4) The Intersection of Business, Government, and Civil Society; and (5) Innovation and Property Rights. Building on the theme, programming will be organized in 7 overlapping objectives identified by needs-based consultations with critical stakeholders:
· Objective 1: Develop global leaders by furthering students’ understanding of the international context of business through innovative degree offerings, curriculum enhancement, and co-curricular activities.
· Objective 2: Collaborate with businesses and professional associations to create experiential learning and training opportunities for international business students.
· Objective 3: Develop multi-disciplinary research programs spanning the fields of business, international studies, and public policy, with an emphasis on interdisciplinary projects, to expand the body of knowledge in international business.
· Objective 4: Provide professional development opportunities for faculty and doctoral students in diverse fields from across the United States, with a special emphasis on collaborative programming for scholars from Minority-Serving Institutions and community colleges in the Mid-Atlantic region with the goal of internationalizing their curricula.
· Objective 5: Engage the business and policy communities in the Mid-Atlantic region to develop their global business competency through training opportunities and outreach.
· Objective 6: Promote “business language” education by offering programs that expand the proficiency of current and future international business professionals and strengthen the business literacy of language instructors in the Mid-Atlantic region.
· Objective 7: Enhance student and professional understanding of the business environment in Sub-Saharan Africa and its relevance for US competitiveness.
Important parts of the programming specifically address both Competitive Preference Priority 1: Business Collaboration and Competitive Preference Priority 2: Community College/MSI Collaboration. In addition, the proposal specifically addresses both Invitational Priority 1, with proposed collaborations with institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa, and Invitational Priority 2, with language programming for future and current business professionals.
Grantee: Georgia Institute of Technology
The Georgia Tech Center for International Business Education and Research This proposal seeks funding for GT CIBER for FY 2014-2018. GT CIBER leverages the university’s international initiatives, its multi-site Global Campus model, with two anchor campuses (GT Lorraine, Europe and GT Shenzhen, China) and seven branches, while mobilizing resources across several colleges (the Scheller College of Business, the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, the College of Engineering) in innovative research, educational, and outreach initiatives, to enhance U.S. competitiveness and global engagement by underserved local communities. Central to our approach are 3 partnerships with Georgia Tech’s network of HBCUMSI and community colleges (Comp. Pref. Priority 2), as well as a network of business, trade and economic development associations, such as the Technology Association of Georgia and the World Trade Center – Atlanta (Comp. Pref. Priority 1). The project focuses faculty expertise and global presence around 4 geoeconomic regions: (a) Northeast Asia, (b) South/Southeast Asia, (c) Sub-Saharan Africa, and (d) the European Union. Cross-cutting regional emphases with GT’s economic development and R&D strength in these 4 technology groupings: (a) sustainable, (b) platform, (c) distributive, and (d) life sciences technologies. The program design is articulated around 7 pillars: (1) Infusing the Global Sustainability Paradigm in the Teaching of Applied Language and Intercultural Studies Through Replicable Methods, building in the university-wide Quality Enhancement Plan, around 15 initiatives, including MOOCs and partnering with MSI; (2) Promoting international specializations for deep “globalization” of academic programs: in-country certifications for executives, sustainability case development for languages, new regional studies certificates (African Affairs and Global Development), introduction of the global focus in the Leadership Studies minor, develop critical thinking software to address international ethics and sustainability issues, through 15 elements; (3) Capitalizing on the GT Global Campus Model: this approach articulates the use of GT’s international anchor and branch facilities (GT Lorraine, GT Shenzhen., Singapore, Costa Rica, Panama, Beijing, Mexico) with targeted incentives allowing more student mobility, including our HBCU-MSI partners, consortial FDIBs, widening the offerings in languages and IB; (4) Optimizing Georgia Tech Research Strengths: the project mobilizes 54 defined faculty members selected competitively and launches 4 unique research conference and/or colloquia around 4 cross-cutting themes: (a) global business strategies for sustainability, (b) globalization of innovation and entrepreneurship, (c) governance and ethical practices, (d) cybersecurity and data privacy; (5) Blending Sustainability and Management Education in Producing Globally Responsible Managers: combining service-learning student projects, imaginative initiatives like Ideas2Serve, a global social entrepreneurship competition in alliance with ILE and the Center of Business Strategies for Sustainability; (6) Responding to multiple constituencies by promoting global engagement in local communities through the Global Business Forum, Impact Speaker Series, a veterans’ global entrepreneurship training program with KSU, the joint creation with the University of South Carolina of a Southeast US Consortium for Globalizing Business Education for HBCUs/MSI engaging partners for 4 years of in-depth cross-fertilization; a smaller global logistics/trade pilot program with three select regional HBCUs; global engagement collaboration in a pilot program with the undeserved Westside Community Alliance, based in IAC; and (7) Supporting Georgia’s Global Competitiveness Goals: Following Georgia Tech’s motto “Service through Progress” by leveraging the Georgia Tech Enterprise Innovation Institute and its 9 state regional offices in delivering targeted export-oriented training programs through ExportU2 in collaboration with the SBDC and using the GT European Technology Platform, the Lafayette Institute, for MBA global practicum and other projects in product adaptation and lean start-up modalities.