Business aims to widen scope through exchanges

By Jerry Lawrence

The College of Business seems to be moving toward a more globally-oriented education.

Richard Brown, dean of the NIU College of Business, took off for Europe in September to try to establish student and faculty exchanges between NIU’s College of Business and European business colleges.

Brown said he made the trip because the NIU College of Business needs to provide its graduates with a more globally-oriented education.

Within the last year-and-a-half, the College of Business has been trying to adapt its curriculum to fit the needs of students who are going to be working in a worldwide economy, he said.

“We have begun to recognize that our graduates and our programs are not nearly as globally-oriented as they need to be in a world in which nearly all business firms come under either global competition or at least impact a great deal of what happens globally,” Brown said.

The move toward an international emphasis reflected a positive change in the business college, he said.

Brown said the administration of the business college has identified courses at the graduate and undergraduate levels which all students will be required to take.

These courses will include a partial emphasis on international business to provide students with the minimum instruction in the areas they need, he said.

Although this was a good place to start, student and faculty international exchanges are also necessary, he said. “Part of the goal in establishing exchanges is to have 10 or 12 faculty going to Europe and a corresponding amount of faculty coming here.”

While foreign professors take their places in DeKalb, some NIU faculty members will learn about foreign business by teaching in Europe, Brown said. The student exchanges are being established for similar reasons, he added.

Brown said the student and faculty exchanges under development will be with universities in London, Germany, Austria and Holland.

Exchange programs already existing in China, Norway, Peru and Egypt were “happenstance,” he said. Most beneficial exchanges need to be established through effort, and this year’s focus will be on Europe, with next year’s focus on Asia, he said.

Brown said exchanges with Canada and Mexico also are in the works.