For Corinne Anderson, assistant professor of accounting from Salt Lake Community College, the chance to go to India with BYU Marriott’s Whitmore Global Management Center (GMC) was an opportunity she couldn’t pass up.
Her experience, which was made possible with the help of BYU’s Center for International Business and Research (CIBER) grant, allowed Anderson to gain insightful knowledge that will benefit her students as she develops and refines her teaching curriculum to prepare them for their own trip to India this year.
In 2018, the U.S. Department of Education awarded BYU a $1.14 million grant and recognized the GMC as one of fifteen CIBERS in the country. “The purpose of the CIBER grant is to increase global competitiveness within the business landscape,” says Jonathon Wood, GMC managing director. Through the CIBER grant, BYU Marriott’s GMC has provided faculty from BYU and other universities with numerous experiences in international business and has helped them bring global knowledge into their classrooms.
The CIBER grant, which is awarded every four years, has been awarded to BYU since the 1980s. One of the seventy-five initiatives originally proposed by BYU when the university applied for the grant is known as the Faculty Development in International Business (FDIB). “The idea of the FDIB is basically a study abroad for professors and administrators that allows them to learn and bring back knowledge to their classrooms and to their research,” says Wood. Faculty development trips are offered to locations all over the world, and the number of faculty who attend varies for each trip. Through the FDIB initiative and the CIBER grant, BYU Marriott’s GMC was able to sponsor the airfare and program costs of the India trip for Anderson.
While in India, Anderson and other faculty immersed themselves in various historical, cultural, and academic experiences. “I got to experience firsthand some of the impact that globalization has had on the country,” says Anderson. “India is a complex place, and I was able to gain an appreciation for some of the nuances of the country’s culture, economy, and politics.”
A few of the group’s activities included visiting with professors from universities in India to discuss international business interests; visiting manufacturing facilities to observe the production process of different goods; and visiting several cultural sites, such as a Hindu temple, to learn about the country, history, and people of India.
Anderson had a unique reason for attending the India FDIB trip: she will be leading her own group of students on a trip to India this summer. “As the lead faculty member on our trip, attending the India FDIB experience with BYU was important to me to be able to expand my travel to include additional regions and destinations, and to broaden my network of contacts to get ideas for possible additions to our program in the future,” she says.
For Anderson and other faculty members, furthering their knowledge and research of India to better educate their students was a driving factoring in attending the FDIB trip. “As a professor, continuing faculty development is critical in helping me provide the best academic experience for my students,” says Anderson. “The FDIB trip provided me with the unique opportunity to have an immersive experience geared specifically toward international business in India with an academic focus.”
According to Wood it is important for teachers to take advantage of these opportunities abroad because their experiences encourage their students to have their own international experiences. “That’s the trickle-down effect,” says Wood. “Now students are getting a better education about what global business truly looks like.”
As Anderson reflects on her experience with BYU’s FDIB initiative, she is grateful for the opportunity she was given and for the support that she has received through the university’s CIBER grant. “BYU’s involvement through the CIBER grant has been vital in helping our program continue to be successful,” says Anderson. “These experiences that I had and that my students will be able to have will give them a new exposure to situations that will prompt them to critically consider their place in the world as a global citizen and participant in the world economy.”
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Writer: Natalie Heidemann