Believing that education remains one of America's best export products, UD's Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics has entered into a partnership with the University of Sarajevo to establish a new graduate business school in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The partnership is supported by a four-year, $10 million U.S. Agency for International Development contract awarded to UD after a highly competitive selection process. It is the third largest award to the University over the last five years and follows an earlier $11.6 million USAID grant to the Center for International Studies for economic development projects in the Balkans.
The new graduate business school, which will be operated as a joint venture between the two universities, will offer a Master of Business Administration (MBA) program beginning this fall. Instruction will be provided by a core of 10-12 members of the Lerner College faculty, with support from economics faculty at the University of Sarajevo and other faculty from the region.
"This is a demonstration of the high regard in which the University of Delaware is held in the area of international teaching and learning," UD President David P. Roselle says. "It is only fitting that the institution that originated the Junior Year Abroad program and is recognized as a leader in study abroad opportunities for our students should share its teaching and research expertise to assist the emerging economy of Bosnia and Herzegovina."
"The establishment of the Sarajevo Graduate School of Business will enable Bosnia and Herzegovina to provide top quality and internationally recognized education for young managers," Boris Tihi, rector of the University of Sarajevo, says. "It is extremely important for our future and our transition to the system of market economy."
"The opportunity to develop the MBA program in Sarajevo is important to the Lerner College because it will challenge us to continue refining our program to meet the educational needs of a very dynamic economic and social environment," Michael Ginzberg, dean of the Lerner College, says. "It will lead our faculty to think more about what we teach and how we teach it."
UD was awarded the contract for several reasons, including its demonstrated experience in the Balkans region, its highly regarded accomplishments in technology and its strong faculty. Since 1991, UD has provided professional training in accounting, business planning and financial management in Bulgaria and, later, in Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia.
"I believe we were selected for this project because we have a longstanding, well-respected, accredited MBA program," Ginzberg says.
In fiscal year 2001, the most recent year for which figures are available, UD was ranked in the top five nationally in USAID grants, along with Johns Hopkins and Georgetown universities and the universities of North Carolina and Michigan.
As part of the program, faculty from the University of Sarajevo also will visit UD's Newark campus beginning this fall.
Students accepted into the program will be enrolled as regular UD graduate students, and those completing the program are expected to earn both a University of Delaware MBA degree and a graduate degree in business from the University of Sarajevo.
Students will be accepted in the program from Bosnia and Herzegovina and other Balkan countries.
- Neil Thomas, AS '76