While most students were away during winter break, two professors from Plymouth State University went to Southeast Asia to finalize an agreement with a Malaysian university. Dr. Cynthia Vascak and Professor Peng Khuan Chong travelled to Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) to sign an agreement between the two universities, which will allow both universities to work together on many different collaborative projects.
UTAR was founded in 2002, with only 411 students. Ten years later, the university has over 16,000 students and has four campuses throughout the country, with a diverse student body representing many countries.
“As we are a growing university ourselves, it only makes sense that we expand multiculturally and develop new relationships with other universities,” said Professor Chong, who is originally from Penang, Malaysia.
While it may seem like just an agreement between two universities, it has the power to join both universities together for academic, as well as cultural exchanges at a global level.
“This will allow for faculty exchanges, research collaboration and, by 2013, student exchanges will begin,” said Chong. “As of now, PSU has a weak link when it comes to multicultural exchanges for faculty and students. This relationship will help to make the link stronger and will benefit everyone involved.”
Through this agreement, both universities could begin an academic exchange through professors traveling to teach at UTAR or PSU, respectively. As well as allowing for cultural exchange, the agreement opens the door for faculty to access the other university’s resources, which can lead the way to new research and
development opportunities.
Not only will there be a benefit from the academic exchange, but from the potential student exchanges as well.
“There will be many students who would be wanting to come to New Hampshire to experience what it has to offer. I would be willing to bet that there would be PSU students willing to go to Malaysia.” Professor Chong also stated that a student from PSU would not have to worry about learning a new language. “All of the classes are taught in English or Chinese, which the student is able to choose.”
There would also be cultural benefits. Considering that UTAR is in Malaysia, the students and faculty would be centrally located to many interesting and varied locations throughout Asia. Travel throughout the region would be incredibly easy, as well as affordable, especially for an American student or professor.
However, while many would say that those reasons would be enough to have such a partnership, there is another unspoken benefit of such a friendship: a better understanding of globalization and how we are all connected.
Professor Chong explained, “If you have lived in an Asian community or country, it helps to understand the region. By understanding the region, it helps to understand the world.”