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SFU forges alliances with prestigious universities in India
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Contact:
Randall Martin, SFU International, 604.291.5840; randall_martin@sfu.ca
Randall Martin, SFU International, 604.291.5840; randall_martin@sfu.ca
February 26, 2004
On a recent visit to India, SFU president Michael Stevenson signed memoranda of understanding with three prestigious post-secondary institutions: Punjab University in Chandigarh, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi, and the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M) in Chennai.
The memoranda will facilitate new field schools, exchange programs for students and faculty, and co-op placements for students. (All post-secondary instruction in India is in English.)
"We have established strong partnerships with the leading educational institutions in a country that demands our attention because of its sheer size, economic momentum, and intellectual and cultural tradition," says Stevenson. "These agreements will stimulate more effective recruitment of students from Canada who want to have opportunities in India, and Indian students from our partner institutions who may want to pursue graduate studies at SFU."
According to Randall Martin, SFU International’s director of international cooperation and mobility, India will be the world’s most populous country, with the third largest economy after the US and China, by 2020. "Almost 400 of the Fortune 500 companies have outsourcing operations in India," he observes. "We want to acknowledge the increasing importance of India by creating opportunities there for our scholars and students, and by increasing the number and diversity of programs in South Asian studies at SFU."
Stevenson and Martin are optimistic the new alliances will help swell the number of Indo-Canadian students enrolled in post-secondary programs in B.C.
"In Vancouver, the Punjabi community represents a substantial part of the population, but only a tiny percentage of Punjabi-speaking students go on to university," says Martin. "We hope to make SFU the university of choice for Vancouver’s South Asian population."
Planning is already underway for two SFU field schools in India.
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The memoranda will facilitate new field schools, exchange programs for students and faculty, and co-op placements for students. (All post-secondary instruction in India is in English.)
"We have established strong partnerships with the leading educational institutions in a country that demands our attention because of its sheer size, economic momentum, and intellectual and cultural tradition," says Stevenson. "These agreements will stimulate more effective recruitment of students from Canada who want to have opportunities in India, and Indian students from our partner institutions who may want to pursue graduate studies at SFU."
According to Randall Martin, SFU International’s director of international cooperation and mobility, India will be the world’s most populous country, with the third largest economy after the US and China, by 2020. "Almost 400 of the Fortune 500 companies have outsourcing operations in India," he observes. "We want to acknowledge the increasing importance of India by creating opportunities there for our scholars and students, and by increasing the number and diversity of programs in South Asian studies at SFU."
Stevenson and Martin are optimistic the new alliances will help swell the number of Indo-Canadian students enrolled in post-secondary programs in B.C.
"In Vancouver, the Punjabi community represents a substantial part of the population, but only a tiny percentage of Punjabi-speaking students go on to university," says Martin. "We hope to make SFU the university of choice for Vancouver’s South Asian population."
Planning is already underway for two SFU field schools in India.
-30-