11 US varsities selected for partnership programmes with India

WASHINGTON: Eleven prestigious US colleges and universities have been selected for partnership programme with India as part of the Obama-Singh 21st Century Knowledge Initiative.

An announcement to this effect came ahead of the scheduled India-US Education Summit in Washington in October.

Selected educational institutions are Fort Hays State University, George Mason University, Northern Illinois University, Queens College ( City University of New York), Rollins College, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Suffolk University, Thomas College, University of Kentucky, University of Oregon and the University of Montana, the Institute of International Education (IIE) has announced.

Each institution has made a commitment to form a campus-wide task force to work on prospective partnerships, conduct an institution-wide inventory of activities pertaining to India and develop a strategic plan focused on partnership with India, IIE said.

The Knowledge Initiative between the US and India, which was announced during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to America last year, is aimed at developing faculty for select institutions like new IITs.

The initiative will provide USD 10 million in combined funding to increase university linkages and support junior faculty development between US and Indian universities.

"Higher education is an important area of the strategic partnership between the United States and India because of its impact on fostering collaboration on critical issues that we face today," said IIE President Allan E Goodman.

"This new phase of the International Academic Partnership Programme and the strong group of campuses will strengthen the educational ties between our two nations and pave the way for students from both countries to gain important international perspective," Goodman said.

"We aim to support the Obama-Singh goal to advance the US -India global partnership for the benefit of their countries, for peace, stability and prosperity in Asia, and for the betterment of the world," Goodman said.

The International Academic Partnership Program (IAPP) has been launched with an initial two-year grant from the US Department of Education's Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE).

"India is a country of enormous importance today, and we have not had a coordinated approach to our involvement with it and its higher education institutions," said Perry Brown, University of Montana provost and vice president for academic affairs.

"India and its institutions are logical partners for the University because of the growing number of Indian students who come to the US and because UM has areas of academic strength increasingly important to developing countries such as India," said Peter Baker, the international development programme officer for University of Montana International Programmes.

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