South African Leaders Attend MSU Conference on Academic Partnerships

Building partnerships to enhance both U.S. and South African universities, colleges, and technikons in areas such as research, curricular reform, staff development, and student services was the subject of "Academic Partnerships with South Africans for Mutual Capacity Building," a major conference held at Michigan State University in October 1998. Representatives from half of South Africa's 37 universities and technikons along with 70 U.S. colleges and universities and five institutions from Europe and Canada met to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of current academic partnerships and exchanges, define new models of cooperation between South African institutions and those in North America and Europe, and explore strategies for mobilizing financial resources to support and enhance academic linkages and partnerships.

The conference was planned and co-sponsored with the South African Committee of Technikon Principals, the Historically Disadvantaged Institutions Forum, and the South African Universities' Vice Chancellors' Association in an effort to improve the quality and number of linkages with U.S. colleges and universities. A number of key South African leaders in the political arena, government agencies, and at all levels of the higher education community brought to the gathering a sense of urgency about the need to transform both South African society and higher education institutions to contribute to the country's needs.

More than 40 MSU faculty have developed working relationships with colleagues in South African higher education institutions.

Several case studies of existing partnerships presented at the conference demonstrated that there is no "one size fits all" model for U.S.-South African partnerships, as Betty Overton of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation pointed out. Several speakers from South Africa contrasted mutually beneficial partnerships with what they considered an outmoded "foreign aid" model in which knowledge was given by people from the North and received by people in the South.

Many conference speakers challenged those who are building partnerships to move beyond the common pattern of one-to-one linkages between a single South African institution and a partner from the North. Instead, partnerships should include a diverse mix of institutions. First, partnerships and consortia that include more than one South African higher education institution can be more efficient in their use of resources and have a broader impact on the South African higher education system. Second, partnerships with institutions from the North that include an institution in another African country as well as South Africa can help to overcome South Africa's isolation from the rest of the continent and result in mutual benefits.

More than 40 MSU faculty have developed working relationships with colleagues in South African higher education institutions. MSU also has a long history of partnerships with universities in Zimbabwe, Senegal, Nigeria, and Ethiopia.

For more information: The Web site about the conference includes a full conference report and audio recordings of several speeches (http://www. hnet.msu.edu/partnership/). A second Web site to facilitate U.S. contact with South African institutions and with their transformation needs was created for the conference—"Resources on South African Higher Education" (http://www.isp.msu.edu/AfricanStudies/SAHiEdcn.htm). It includes contact Web and physical addresses of the South African institutions and key policy documents on South African education.

—Christine Root

MSU Staff Honored at NAFSA Conference

Michigan State University played a prominent role in this year's national NAFSA Association of International Educators conference held in Denver in May 1999. Two MSU colleagues were recipients of national awards.

Chuck Gliozzo, professor of history and assistant to the dean in International Studies and Programs, was honored as the first recipient of the newly developed Education Abroad Leadership Award. Announced by the Section on U.S. Students Abroad National Team, the annual award honors a NAFSA member whose service over many years has made a significant contribution to education abroad. The recipient, a member of NAFSA whose career in education abroad spans more than 15 years, "must have an exemplary record of publication, teaching, advising, advocacy, leadership, new program development, or general service to the field that has and will make a lasting contribution to education abroad."

Cindy Felback Chalou, assistant director of MSU's Office of Study Abroad, was the 1999 recipient of the Lily von Klemperer Award. This award has been given annually since 1988 to an outstanding member of NAFSA's Section on U.S. Students Abroad. The recipient, professionally active in the field from five to fifteen years, is chosen "for consistently maintaining the highest standards of professional ethics and performance, for demonstrating a concern for helping and guiding newcomers to the field of study abroad, and for displaying in professional activities an eagerness to meet new challenges and an openness to new ideas."

Also at this year's NAFSA conference, MSU Dean of International Studies and Programs John Hudzik chaired an invited session on "Academic Partnerships with South Africans for Mutual Capacity Building." He was joined by Jairam Reddy, chairperson, National Higher Education Commission of South Africa and currently a Visiting Fulbright Senior Scholar at MSU; Roshen Kishun, director, International Office, University of Natal, and president, International Education Association, South Africa; and David Wiley, director, African Studies Center at MSU. The presentation included an overview of the current state of South Africa's higher education system in a world context as well as in the context of the 14-country Southern Africa Development Community. As the session title suggests, South Africa seeks relationships that are truly collaborative, long-term, and multifaceted. MSU is actively engaged in such linkages with several South African institutions.

CLACS Co-Sponsors International Conference in Mexico

The MSU Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS) organized a major international conference in Mérida, Mexico, "Global Impacts and Local Responses: The Case of the Americas." The conference, held in February 1999, served as a development seminar for faculty and leaders of international studies programs funded in the most recent cycle of the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) Title VI-B competition for colleges and universities developing their international programs. According to Christine Corey (USDE), this was the first time that a National Resource Center such as CLACS has provided such leadership for Title VI-B funded programs. (See related articles on MSU's Title VI centers and their activities in this issue.)

The conference was chaired by Manuel Chávez (MSU), Othón Baños (UADY, the Autonomous University of Yucatán), and Christine Corey (USDE). Papers were given by leading scholars from Latin America and the United States, with participants coming from universities and colleges throughout the hemisphere. The papers will be published in English and Spanish.

At the opening session, new president of UADY Raúl Godoy called the conference the best representation of an intense and new collaboration between Mexican and American academic institutions. He reminded the audience that in talking about globalization one should not forget the nature of local cultures and the effects of inequalities, local and global. Scott Whiteford (MSU) provided the conceptual framework for the conference, examining contemporary theories and different forms and processes of globalization. He called for greater collaboration between scholars of different countries in examining the causes and consequences of globalization, pointing to the conference as an important step in this process.

March 15-17, 2000
Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan

"How Do Expanding Parental Opportunities to Choose Schools Affect Educational Systems?" features presentations by scholars from Australia, Chile, China, Czech Republic, New Zealand, South Africa, Sweden, and the United Kingdom exploring the ways in which choice policies have changed the education systems in their countries.

For more information, contact:

Barbara Markle
K-12 Outreach Programs
MSU College of Education
518 Erickson Hall
East Lansing, MI 48824
tel 517/353-8950
e-mail markle@msu.edu

September 24-26, 1999
Kellogg Center, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan

Featuring an address by Susan Mann, president of the Association for Asian Studies (AAS), a concert by performing artists of Asian heritage in MSU's School of Music, a program for K-12 teachers, and a special book exhibit by the Consulate General of China to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the People's Republic of China.

The MCAA brings together scholars, teachers, students, and professionals who share an interest in the study of Asia, to present papers, share ideas, and participate in other scholarly and social events.

Open to all interested persons. For further information, contact:

Asian Studies Center
110 International Center
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824
tel 517/353-1680
e-mail asiansc@pilot.msu.edu
www http://www.isp.msu.edu/AsianStudies

In his keynote address, Peter Smith (University of California, San Diego) discussed the strategy options of Latin America and the Caribbean in the next century. He pointed out that major restructuring (institution building, judiciary reform, fiscal updating, and social agenda consolidation) are still needed by most of the countries in the region to ensure readiness and active incorporation in the new level of globalization. The creation of the Free Trade Area of the Americas would require an active state restructuring to ensure that institutional frameworks are in place during the different phases of implementation. Smith went on to explain that the United States needs to understand the intrinsic cultural values, the characteristics of each of the countries in the region, and, more importantly, the sovereign nature of each country.

Conference panels were organized into four major sections. Issues discussed in the first included Latin America's strategic options in the face of globalization and the conceptual tools to study and examine issues derived from globalization. The second panel examined a variety of perspectives on issues of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), and Mercado Común del Sur or "Southern Common Market" (MERCOSUR). This included an assessment of the integration of the Americas by a trade representative from the Organization of American States (OAS). The third panel focused on how gender, class, and ethnicity influence the ways globalization is negotiated, resisted, and/or incorporated. In the last panel, case studies from Latin America illustrated how regions, states, and communities have confronted the effects of globalization.

After each panel, participants in small-group sessions discussed the issues raised and the mechanisms needed to incorporate that information into curricular and academic programs. Participants visited Hacienda Teya and the Mayan site Uxmal during breaks in the conference. At both sites they had the opportunity to learn about previous processes of globalization experienced by southeastern Mexico.

—Manuel Chávez and Scott Whiteford