Daily Pioneer News

PLATTEVILLE - The University of Wisconsin-Platteville has actively searched out possibilities for students from Platteville to not only graduate from UWP with a solid educational background, but they also provide them with opportunities to expand their knowledge to other areas of the world. The colleges of Business, Industry, Life Science and Agriculture (BILSA), Engineering, Mathematics and Science (EMS), and Liberal Arts and Education (LAE) have made this opportunity possible by establishing specific exchange programs directly with schools in Australia, Turkey, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Ireland and the Netherlands allowing students to study abroad while taking courses relevant to their major.

With the world literally at their fingertips, students are able to choose from studying at either Dronten Agricultural University or Windesheim University in the Netherlands, Stavanger University College in Norway or Jonkoping University in Sweden, University of Newcastle in Australia, Darmstadt University of Applied Science or the State of Hessen Universities in Germany, METU in Turkey, Cork Institute of Technology in Ireland and the newest exchange at Galway Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT) in Ireland. Each of these university exchanges is comprised to allow specific majors from UWP to continue not only general education requirements, but also major requirements abroad.

While study abroad has long been an option for students at UWP, the opportunity for them to pay UWP tuition while studying at a foreign school and earning credit towards their major is fairly new since the millennium. EMS led the way in developing many of these programs, later allowing the colleges of BILSA and LAE to piggy-back on the process. The newest exchange program agreement was just signed mid-October in Galway, Ireland. One year ago, UWP representatives traveled to Galway to initiate the process of developing an arrangement for an exchange between UWP and GMIT. In January of 2005, GMIT officials came to Wisconsin to see UWP's facilities and campus. This year, four UWP students are currently studying at GMIT and one GMIT student is studying here. "Students need to have that global perspective no matter where or for what agency they end up working," says Susan Hansen, international program coordinator for BILSA. "Experiences abroad will help students' marketability after leaving UWP in immediately helping them get the job."

While exchange programs do give students an opportunity to take courses in their major, not all majors within EMS, LAE and BILSA will be directly covered, however according to Lisa Riedle, associate dean of EMS, "it comes down to a matter of conversation and juggling, while working closely with the student's advisor to work out a program that fits best for the student." Another important aspect to the program-to-program exchange agreements is their versatility with allowing more than one specific college to study there. Riedle indicates that UWP is "trying hard to create a type of buddy system so that friends in different majors have the option of enjoying an exchange program together."

In 2000, the UW System Board of Regents reinforced the importance of a university education including an international study component, with a target of increasing the proportion of bachelor's degree recipients who have studied abroad to 25 percent. According to Barb Daus, UWP special assistant to the chancellor, "Chancellor Markee and UWP have embraced this goal and developed a set of programs designed to encourage more students to participate in international study experiences. In fact, the university has worked to develop exchange partnerships that are academic program specific."

With the number of exchange programs available to students, as well as the regular study abroad options, UWP is well on its way to achieving their goal. UWP is also dedicated to building strong relationships with their exchange program's universities and according to Hansen, realizes that "learning about other cultures will help students open their eyes to many possibilities in their careers and life in general."

Contact: Susan Hansen, international program coordinator, (608) 342-1436,hansens@uwplatt.edu

Prepared by: Marsha Pauly, UWP Public Relations, (608) 342-1194paulym@uwplatt.edu