Spring Break
College of Business students receive $174,000 grant
Faculty, local area companies will become more internationally oriented under new organization
Timothy Langton
Issue date: 9/24/07 Section: Campus News
UW-Eau Claire junior Eric Becker has China on his mind.
The business management major and international business minor said his internship to China is a dream come true for him.
While he said he doesn't know exactly what he will be doing during his internship, Becker said he is looking forward to the experience.
"I don't really care exactly what I will do just as long as I can learn about how business is done in China," Becker said.
Becker's internship is among the many opportunities College of Business students will have thanks to a $174,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education, said Rama Yelkur, associate professor of marketing and coordinator of International Business Programs.
Yelkur said Eau Claire received the grant through the Business and International Education Program of the U.S. Department of Education. It is a highly competitive program where funding went to only 26 of the 89 applications from schools around the country, she said.
"Partnerships in International Education," the title of Yelkur's program, ranked in the top 10 of all funded proposals in 2007, she said. The funding will run for two years from 2007 to 2009.
"It will help connect business to academia," Yelkur said of the grant.
Yelkur said the grant money will go toward revising course curriculum, having several business courses include at least 20 percent more international content.
Rhetta Standifer, assistant professor of management, who serves on the committee implementing the PIE program, said the revised curriculum will help students hone their international business skills.
"It will introduce more international concepts in our fields into our courses," Standifer said. University faculty members will learn international business concepts abroad in universities around the world as well as from international teachers brought in to Eau Claire, she said.
Along with providing more internationally-focused internships and curriculum to students, Yelkur said the grant will help local businesses become more globally oriented.
Yelkur said the grant will help with the creation of a new partnership organization, the Northern Wisconsin International Trade Association. She added the partnership organization will be comprised of the College of Business, the Wisconsin Department of Commerce International Division, the University's Center for International Education and the student organization AIESEC, which she said will help local businesses in Wisconsin engage in international endeavors.
"It's very exciting," Yelkur said. "It's a great opportunity for the college, the university and the community to globalize through partnerships."
The business management major and international business minor said his internship to China is a dream come true for him.
While he said he doesn't know exactly what he will be doing during his internship, Becker said he is looking forward to the experience.
"I don't really care exactly what I will do just as long as I can learn about how business is done in China," Becker said.
Becker's internship is among the many opportunities College of Business students will have thanks to a $174,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education, said Rama Yelkur, associate professor of marketing and coordinator of International Business Programs.
Yelkur said Eau Claire received the grant through the Business and International Education Program of the U.S. Department of Education. It is a highly competitive program where funding went to only 26 of the 89 applications from schools around the country, she said.
"Partnerships in International Education," the title of Yelkur's program, ranked in the top 10 of all funded proposals in 2007, she said. The funding will run for two years from 2007 to 2009.
"It will help connect business to academia," Yelkur said of the grant.
Yelkur said the grant money will go toward revising course curriculum, having several business courses include at least 20 percent more international content.
Rhetta Standifer, assistant professor of management, who serves on the committee implementing the PIE program, said the revised curriculum will help students hone their international business skills.
"It will introduce more international concepts in our fields into our courses," Standifer said. University faculty members will learn international business concepts abroad in universities around the world as well as from international teachers brought in to Eau Claire, she said.
Along with providing more internationally-focused internships and curriculum to students, Yelkur said the grant will help local businesses become more globally oriented.
Yelkur said the grant will help with the creation of a new partnership organization, the Northern Wisconsin International Trade Association. She added the partnership organization will be comprised of the College of Business, the Wisconsin Department of Commerce International Division, the University's Center for International Education and the student organization AIESEC, which she said will help local businesses in Wisconsin engage in international endeavors.
"It's very exciting," Yelkur said. "It's a great opportunity for the college, the university and the community to globalize through partnerships."
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