Although Ball State University's Miller College of Business has been involved with international programs for more than 15 years, it has yet to give students the opportunity to engage in learning and corporate activities in one of the world's emerging business countries-India.
That is why Sushil Sharma, Indian native and associate professor of information systems and operations management, is working to promote a partnership between Ball State and three Indian universities. He hopes to recruit students from India for the Miller College of Business Master of Business Administration program.
Ball State's MBA student population has been static in the past couple of years, Sharma said, and India is a large market for students who wish to come to the United States for their graduate work. In fact, it produces the largest number of undergraduates in the world, he said. Through this program, he said he hoped the business college would be able to tap that market.
Sharma, Dean Lynne Richardson and Associate Dean Ray Montagno will travel to three cities in India: Lucknow, Mumbai and Pune. From Feb. 17 through Feb. 26, they will talk to faculty of universities in those cities about the partnership, which would also create opportunities for Ball State business students to travel abroad to India.
Richardson said she hoped the program would help the business school reach its goal of 25 percent of graduates having had international experience by 2008. In order for this to happen, business students need more study abroad opportunities, she said.
The program itself is still in the planning stages, but Montagno said he expected it to be a step-by-step process. The first stage will be to develop a relationship with the universities in India and have some of their students apply for Ball State's MBA program. The second stage will be for Ball State students to travel to India as a short-term study trip in the summer. The third stage will involve a semester exchange program between the countries with students and faculty. The last stage would be a joint degree program between the countries, however that is a long time down the road, Montagno said.
Eventually, the goal is to have at least 10 MBA students from India here in any given year, he said.
Plans for collaboration are going well between the faculty members of the two countries, Sharma said.
"I had preliminary discussions during my last visit, and they were all excited," he said.
In selling the program to universities in India, the business college faculty plan to present printed materials, a Web site and possibly show some of Ball State's online MBA courses, Montagno said. However, the most important part of recruiting students is making them feel at home, he said.
"We want them to be comfortable with who we are and make it attractive to come here," Richardson said.
There are many potential attractions for Indian students looking to study in America. Many large companies worldwide are becoming multinational or transnational. Once Indian students are acclimatized to U.S. culture, they will work better in those companies, Sharma said.
A U.S. education is still valued all over the world, Montagno said, especially in a country such as India where the demand for higher education is great.
But of all of the places to study in America, why pick Muncie?
"This is what the U.S. is really about," Richardson said. Muncie is very American and they want to come learn about American business, she said.
Offering Ball State business students the chance to go to an emerging economically powerful country such as India instead of the popular travel abroad opportunities will help them in their future careers, Montagno said.
"It's nice to spend a semester in England, but it's not going to add anything to career growth like a semester in China or a semester in India," he said.
"With globalization, the boundaries are diminishing and companies are opening offices worldwide to get the best market," Sharma said, "and India is a huge market for a variety of products and services."
The relationship between Indian students and American schools has been strong in recent years. According to the United States Educational Foundation in India, there were almost 80,000 Indian students studying in the United States during the 2004-2005 academic year. Almost 80 percent of these are graduate students.
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