MCC and UConn Partner on Business Programs Through $1.1 Million Grant
Manchester Community College’s Business, Engineering and Technology (BET) programs will get a boost thanks to a partnership between the University of Connecticut and MCC, and a $1.1 million four-year U.S Department of Education Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) grant.
The terms of the grant to UConn call on the University to identify academic partners that could benefit from and enhance the program offerings.
“UConn chose Manchester Community College because of its already thriving BET programs, and its leadership and commitment to excellence in the Connecticut Community College network,” said Dr. Gena Glickman, MCC president. “We are very pleased to be part of these activities and the opportunities they represent for our students and our state.”
The grant addresses the issues of “next-shoring,” the idea that companies should use sophisticated global strategies, not simply pursue inexpensive labor costs, when developing an optimal global network of suppliers and manufacturing locations.
Manchester Community College will develop a short-term study-abroad program, as well as host a series of lectures focusing on career paths and success in international business. In addition, MCC will be the site of two annual events: the CIBER International Quiz Bowl, which will invite teams of students from community colleges throughout New England to compete on the basis of their knowledge of economics, foreign policy, culture and next-shoring; and a two-day program for community colleges designed to inform and train faculty to internationalize their curriculum.
Glickman noted that the short-term study-abroad program is especially exciting for MCC stakeholders. “Even a small business can be a global enterprise in the 21st century, and the opportunity for our students to get that perspective will serve them and our economy well as students enter the job market and become contributors in the business world,” she said.
MCC’s BET division offers students a variety of academic options to meet their unique educational, career and life goals and to prepare them to succeed in today’s technology-driven economy, with programs covering accounting, business and marketing; computer programming and networking; engineering and technology; information management and technology; and paralegal studies.
