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August 16, 2002 |
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School of Business
boasts
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TERRE HAUTE, Ind. —
Students in Indiana State
University’s School of Business are getting more of a global
perspective these days – and they’re getting it first hand. The school’s
faculty hails from a dozen countries and students and educators say
they welcome the diversity. “Preparing people
in business who have a broad global perspective is certainly
important,” said university President Lloyd W. Benjamin III. “Terre Haute and
western Indiana aren’t exactly the melting pot of the world,”
said Ron Green, dean of the School of Business. “It’s important
that students who are primarily from this region have a chance to
interact more with faculty that have different views on life,
different views on the business world. It allows them to understand
how different cultures think. They understand more about how
international business actually operates.” Aruna Chandra,
assistant professor of management, grew up in India and was educated
in a British school by Irish Catholic nuns. She went on to study in
America and wrote her first dissertation about a Frenchman. She’s
worked with multi-national executives, done consulting work in
Mexico and has visited 14 countries. “I consider
myself a citizen of the world,” said Chandra, a U.S. resident for
19 years and an American citizen for 12 years. “There’s no
question having a global perspective is important to students,”
said Chandra, who recently wrote a book about the opportunities for
U.S. businesses in India. “Even a small business in Vigo County
has to consider the world its market. “There are rich
opportunities to be tapped into, but the businesses need that
awareness and understanding of this market, and if our students are
not educated in the global perspective they’re not going to be
willing to go out into other countries and other cultures.” Having
international faculty members in business schools is “part of the
new paradigm of global business teaching,” said Eric Girard,
assistant professor of finance. Girard, who is from
France, served as scientific attaché for the French embassy in
Bangkok, Thailand. In his classes,
Girard puts “a lot of emphasis on building not only a general
domestic culture in business but also a global culture in
business.” With business
ethics now getting a good deal of attention, it is especially
important for students to learn about insider trading rules that
vary from one nation to another and “even tax differentials that
make a market more or less attractive,” said Girard. “This is
something that is definitely addressed in my class.” Having
international faculty such as Girard has “been very helpful.
It’s pretty interesting, actually, when you have a professor from
a different country. You learn a lot more, I think,” said Sean
Armstrong, a senior from New Palestine. “It’s very
important so that we have a taste of what people are supposed to be
like in different cultures,” said Gina Kerr, a marketing major
from Plainfield. Faculty members
such as Chandra and Girard can function as “switchers,” said
Gaston Fernandez, executive director of ISU’s International
Affairs Center. “They can facilitate, or turn on, the connections
that would help our community in terms of bridging … the cultural
differences between different societies.” International
faculty members also often take the lead in advising and working
with international students, Fernandez noted. “They both see
the value of having an international presence on our campus,
nourishing that presence and helping that presence be more
beneficial to all students and to the whole community. Having our
international faculty at Indiana State University is a resource and
making use of that resource is absolutely crucial.” -30- Contact: Writer: ISU
Public Affairs: |
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