Sue Price looks to bolster international experiences at UWP School of Ag
PLATTEVILLE - As new technologies and new international relationships bring the world closer together, more and more college students look to broaden their horizons by studying abroad. University of Wisconsin-Platteville professor Sue Price wants to make it easier for UWP agriculture students to gain cross-cultural experiences.
As part of a sabbatical that will take her to six different universities, Price will spend three weeks in February as a guest lecturer at the Dronten Professional Agricultural University in the Netherlands. Along with educators from four other countries, Price will also serve as a featured speaker during an international week event at the Dutch university. Price feels that international experiences are beneficial, particularly for agriculture students.
"Agriculture today is global. As we train our future leaders here for our agriculture industry, it's a must," Price said. "The whole thing about my sabbatical is to do what I can to make it possible for any student in agriculture who so desires to gain a cross-culture experience during their undergraduate studies."
W-Platteville already has a student exchange agreement with the Dronten university. Price will investigate ways to strengthen that partnership, and possibly expand the program.
"One of my goals is to create a model for a faculty exchange program," she said.
During the spring and summer, Price will also visit a number of U.S. universities to examine their international partnerships, in order to develop ideas for UWP and the UW System. She will visit Southern Illinois University (Carbondale, Ill.), Middle Tennessee State University (Murfreesboro, Tenn.), Purdue University (West Lafayette, Ind.), Iowa State University (Ames, Iowa) and the University of Illinois (Champaign/Urbana, Ill.). She has already visited California Polytechnic University (San Luis Obispo, Calif.).
As a guest lecturer in the Netherlands Jan. 31-Feb. 17, Price will speak on milk production and food safety in the United States. As a featured speaker during international week, Jan. 31-Feb. 4, she will speak on education at U.S. universities. Educators from Poland, France, Portugal and Spain will also be featured.
"It's a wonderful opportunity... I thought it was a real honor to be asked to do it," she said. "I feel so privileged to be able to go and spend a week in conversation - in dialogue, in interaction - with speakers from five other countries. I mean, how can you be in six countries at one time?" Price's sabbatical study is bolstered by an Elmer G. Biddick professional development grant award, which will provide $4,000 of funding over two years. She will return to teaching at UWP in fall 2005, and will host a student forum on cross-cultural experiences as well as a workshop with other educators from the UW System to further develop international opportunities.
Contact: Sue Price, UWP professor of animal science, price@uwplatt.edu
Prepared by: Dan Lehnherr, UWP Public Relations, 608-342-1194, lehnherd@uwplatt.edu
<< Home