NSU dean, professor visit students in India

(Tahlequah, Okla.)--For several years Northeastern State University has worked to enroll students from abroad, and a university administrator and faculty member are currently overseas to aid preparations for a group of students bound for NSU.

Dr. Roger Collier, dean of the College of Business and Technology, and Dr. Dalton Bigbee, professor of finance at NSU-Broken Arrow, are in India from August 17-24 to visit a group of students from the country.

"We already have eight students from SFGC attending NSU," said Dr. Richard Carhart, executive director of international programs. "Another 22 arrive in January 2013. Dr. Collier and Dr. Bigbee are meeting them and participating in their orientation."

The students will take classes at NSU through an arrangement with Seshadripuram First Grade College in Bengaluru, known as Bangalore in the west. They are taking three courses at Seshadripuram, but will spend three semesters at Northeastern completing requirements for their master's of business administration degrees.

Collier said the educational strategies of U.S. and Indian universities are divergent.

"In India, often the students receive their grades by taking a final exam at the end of the class," he said. "We usually check progress with quizzes and mid-terms and assign homework. The faculty at SFGC is interested in talking to us about the differences between our systems and why we do it differently."

Bigbee said the visit to India would allow a first-hand look at the MBA program at SFGC.

"They have sent administrators over here but this will be the first time we see their facilities," he said. "When we return, we can better inform our faculty. Hopefully, we can eventually make arrangements to send a few of our faculty over there to teach."

An additional aim is to encourage more SFGC students to consider attending NSU. Bigbee believes a sizable international enrollment benefits the domestic student body.

"In a perfect world we would require a semester abroad for each NSU student," he said. "Of course the expense makes that impossible. A better way to offer our students some international exposure is to bring foreign students here."

Bigbee said the addition of 30 Indian students may seem small, but noted that dozens of Japanese students are on campus and efforts are under way to enroll students from China.

"When we can pick up 30 students from this country and another 30 from that country and so on, we begin to affect the enrollment," he said. "If we get a sufficient quantity of international students, a cultural impact occurs on campus."

Carhart said there is an overriding reason more Indian students are enrolling at NSU.

"They rave about our faculty and the word is out," he said. "This is the place to get an MBA because we have supportive instructors here. Our faculty may be demanding but the students get their money's worth. That is important because the Indian students are making an investment to be here."

For more information call the College of Business and Technology at 918-444-2900 or the Office of International Programs at 918-444-2050.