Newswise — The Institute of International Education (IIE) has selected UNC Charlotte as one of five American colleges and universities to participate in the International Academic Partnership Program's (IAPP) India initiative.

During the next year, international education professionals at each of the institutions will participate in a series of training activities to help them implement and sustain partnerships with institutions in India. The program includes a study tour to India to learn about Indian higher education system and meetings with potential partner campuses.In addition to UNC Charlotte, the other U.S. campuses selected for the program are Arizona State University, Portland State University, the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and Washington and Jefferson College. An IIE review panel chose these U.S. colleges and universities based on successful applications that outlined their strong interest in building ties with institutions in India.

Partnership activities may include joint programs, student exchanges or faculty linkages for collaborative research and teaching. IIE’s goal in creating the IAPP program of webinars, workshops and site visits is to empower institutions with the resources necessary for building partnerships with India and other countries.

"UNC Charlotte has nearly 300 international students from India currently enrolled primarily in our graduate programs. The greatest number of our international students is from India," said Joel Gallegos, assistant provost for international programs, who is chairing the University steering committee for the program. "It makes good sense to explore partnerships with a country with such emerging importance.”

Steering committee members are Anita Easterling, theatre; Bob Johnson, engineering; Dan White, religious studies; Ritika Prasad, history; Shanti Kulkarni, social work; Suzanne Lamorey, special education and child development; Angela Rajagopalan, art and art history; Harish Cherukuri, engineering; Chandrasekar Subramaniam, business information systems; Johnna Watson, Graduate School, Jay Raja, senior associate dean; Christina Sanchez and Marian Beane, Office of International Programs; and Vivian Lord, criminal justice and criminology, who is a Fulbright Teaching and Research Scholar currently located in Channai, India.

The IIE is an independent, not-for-profit organization that conducts policy research, program evaluations and provides advising and counseling on international education and opportunities abroad.

About UNC CharlotteUNC Charlotte is North Carolina’s urban research university. It is the third largest campus among the 17 institutions of The University of North Carolina system and the largest institution of higher education in the Charlotte region. Fall 2012 enrollment exceeds 26,200 students, including 5,000 graduate students. Find UNC Charlotte on the Web, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and follow the UNC CLT_News blog