VIU strengthens ties with students and educators in India

Vancouver Island University is creating a $5,000 scholarship for an Indian undergraduate student and $5,000 to facilitate new faculty exchanges with Indian institutions.

VIU President and Vice-Chancellor Ralph Nilson announced the initiatives during an unprecedented Canadian university mission to India. The visit is organized by the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC) and includes 15 presidents from universities across Canada.

“VIU strongly values our ties to students and educators in India,” Nilson said. “We have more than 120 students from India at our Nanaimo campus and they enrich our university and local community in many ways.”

AUCC President Paul Davidson said investments by Canadian institutions announced during the mission amount to more than $4 million and are a “concrete demonstration of Canadian universities' commitment to partnering with Indian universities and supporting Indian students in the spirit of international education."

"Higher education is essential to the advancement of our participation in the global knowledge economy -- both for Canada and India. This type of academic cooperation and mobility facilitates that progress," Davidson said.

Over the course of seven days, the university presidents are participating in a series of targeted meetings with Indian educators, government officials and business leaders. The first major event was a roundtable of Canadian and Indian University presidents joined by Gary Goodyear, Canada’s Minister of State (Science and Technology) and India’s Minister of Human Resource Development, Kapil Sibal.

In a news release, AUCC pointed out that Canada has been moving aggressively in recent years to step up cooperation with India, and the two countries have signed agreements in a number of areas, including higher education. There are enormous potential benefits in this sector, and the mission is a coordinated attempt to tap into that potential.

India, with over one billion people, is home to a growing middle class. This means that literally tens of millions of families are now in a position to offer their children higher education. But even though the country recently decided to boost its higher education budget by about 40 per cent, the sector cannot grow fast enough to keep up with the demand. The research component at India’s universities is also experiencing phenomenal growth, and India is on track to surpass the research capacity of each G8 country within the next decade.

Three years ago, there were 30 students from India among the 1,000 international students at VIU. There are now more than 125 among the 1,500 students from close to 70 countries at VIU.

“International students contribute to the local economy and add to the diversity of our campuses and the learning of other students,” Nilson said.


Vancouver Island University is celebrating International Education Week Nov. 15-19 with a series of learning opportunities, entertainment and a colourful multicultural festival.

Students, faculty and staff representing many countries are encouraged to share their native traditions, foods, dress and cultural perspectives with the university and the Nanaimo community.

“Canada is joining more than 85 countries around the globe in this international celebration,” said Audrey Hansen, coordinator for VIU’s International Education Week events. “The theme for the week is ‘International Education: Building a Society for the 21st Century.’’


-30-

For more information on the Association of University and Colleges of Canada including a blog from India, visit:


http://www.aucc.ca/index_e.html

For news coverage of the mission:


http://www.macleans.ca/article.jsp?content=n5064207

http://oncampus.macleans.ca/education/2010/11/08/india-slowly-entering-t...


http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/08/world/americas/08iht-educBriefs08.html

http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/157598

For information on International Education Week:


http://www.viu.ca/mainly/page.asp?ID=1965