Opportunity for Educational Collaboration in Romania

Dennis McConnell - Maine Business School (mailto:mac@MAINE.MAINE.EDU)
Fri, 29 Nov 1996 09:17:21 EST

Message-ID:  <MAC.961129091721@maine.maine.EDU>
Date:         Fri, 29 Nov 1996 09:17:21 EST
From: Dennis McConnell - Maine Business School <mailto:mac@MAINE.MAINE.EDU>
Subject:      Opportunity for Educational Collaboration in Romania
To: Multiple recipients of list DEVEL-L <mailto:DEVEL-L@AMERICAN.EDU>

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I  have  recently received the following  information  from  Dean
Dumitru  Oprea,  of  the Faculty of Economic  Sciences  in  Iasi,
Romania.  Perhaps the collaboration opportunity outlined  in  the
announcement  will  be of interest to some members of  the  list.
Please note that there is a rather short response time for inter-
ested individuals/institutions. I am posting this note to several
lists,  so let me apologize in advance to those who  receive  the
announcement more than once.
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                  Opportunity for Collaboration
          Faculty of Economic Sciences - Iasi, Romania
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Faculty  of Economic Sciences of Iasi, Romania, has a new  oppor-
tunity for international educational collaboration. We would like
to  inform  potential  academic partners of  the  opportunity  to
participate in several projects we intend to initiate and develop
within our institution.

Within the general framework of reform of the Romanian university system, the Ministry of Education has developed a special program of supplementary and focused infusion of financial resources in the critical points, which is designed to raise rapidly the quality of higher education. This program has three components:

Component 1: Development of managerial capabilities in Romanian higher education

Component 2: Development of university education at the college and the ongoing education level

Component 3: Development of postgraduate education and university scientific research

To achieve the objectives of the Components, an amount equivalent to $84 million has been allocated over a period of 5 years. This amount is formed by a grant of $9.6 million allocated by the European Community (PHARE Program), a loan of $50 million granted by the World Bank to the Romanian Government and a contribution of $24.4 million from the Romanian Government.

In a Romanian national competition for project funds, The Faculty of Economic Sciences has applied for the Second Component. For this purpose, the faculty intends to establish a new department, named DEPARTMENT OF CONTINUING STUDIES, in which we propose to establish the following elements:

2.1. organize postgraduate studies 2.2. short-term intensive courses 2.3. workshop with practical-applied character 2.4. long-distance education 2.5. opened education centers

Within the project, we have also proposed a module with teaching in English language, called "International Business", which is designed for students from the Central and Eastern Europe.

In the competition for funding of Components 2.1., 2.2. and 2.3. international participation is recommended, including participa- tion of international students. Thus, we kindly ask potential international educational institutions to express your opinion about the possibility of cooperation within this project.

At the moment, we are in the project development stage, and are seeking a letter of endorsement by which is given a cooperation agreement at the institutional and personal levels.

To be of assistance in our proposal, it would be helpful to receive the following from potential partners:

* letter of intention on behalf of your institution, for partici- pating in the project, both for teaching staff and potential students; * CV's of the persons involved in teaching activities within the project.

We will keep you informed about the project proposal, and if our project proposal is approved, we will present it to you in de- tail. Due to the fact that the program was announced a little bit late, we are asking for a preliminary participation agreement within a very short period of time - the deadline line for pro- ject submission being the December 8, 1996.

For further information, please feel free to contact:

Dr. Dumitru OPREA, Dean Faculty of Economic Sciences of Iasi Blvd. Copou no.11 Iasi, 6600, Romania Tel/Fax: (40-32) 212-131 E-mail: mailto:doprea@mail.cccis.ro *****************************************************************