In collaboration with Raritan Valley Community College and Montgomery County Community College, Temple’s CIBER sponsored “Strategies for Internationalizing Business Curricula,” a faculty development program at Temple University’s Center City campus on October 17 and 18.

The goal of this two-day program was to assist community college faculty interested in developing or improving international business (IB) programs at their colleges. The program provided participants with the knowledge and resources needed to internationalize general business courses, develop or improve courses that support international business programs, and create specialized IB courses at the two-year college level.

“I can truly say that this was the most productive seminar I have ever attended, and I cannot fully express how much I learned from this invaluable program,” said Babish Soni, marketing director for International Student Network, Inc. “I was delighted with the diversity of the program, as it touched on every aspect of international business.”

Raritan Valley Community College, located in North Branch, New Jersey, recently received a Business and International Education grant (BIE) funded through the U.S. Department of Education. This grant was the impetus for the educational development partnership with Temple CIBER and Montgomery County Community College.

“When we were approached with news of the BIE grant to internationalize Raritan Valley’s campus, the synergies were obvious,” said Melynda Benlemlih, director of Temple CIBER. “We both want to provide professional development opportunities for community college faculty that will support the internalization of our campuses.”

In October 2002, Temple University’s Fox School of Business and Management received a $1.2 million CIBER grant from the U.S. Department of Education. The Fox School is one of only 30 schools/universities in the nation to be awarded this grant.

Temple CIBER’s mission is to promote greater involvement in international business activities by academic institutions, business firms, and small- and medium-sized enterprises in Eastern Pennsylvania, South Jersey and Delaware.