Benedictine University: Global growth, value earned by engaging cultural differences

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Aug 15, 2013, 01:13 ET

LISLE, Ill., Aug. 15, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Companies, institutions and cities want to be global because it builds net worth and brand value internationally. However, globalism also means being able to service a need at home as well as abroad. Service should be the greater focus, which is why Benedictine University has grown nationally and internationally.

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Responding to the desire to serve a need and not just a desire to be bigger, Benedictine University developed partnerships with universities in China more than a decade ago. University officials determined that the school's values-centered liberal arts education would be in high demand in China – a world export powerhouse and consumable goods juggernaut.

"Our international efforts in Asia have grown by developing 'deep partnerships' with major universities in China for jointly delivering graduate programs in business and more recently public health," said Donald B. Taylor, Ph.D., Benedictine's provost and vice president for Academic Affairs.

The University is constantly changing and adapting to meet the demand for quality, values-based academic programs at home and abroad. Accordingly, Benedictine is adding a sixth college to serve its growing overseas community.

Benedictine University's Global College will coordinate and develop its many programs and services abroad, including administration of master's programs in China and Vietnam and partnerships with colleges and universities throughout the world.

Benedictine recently received permission from the Ministry of Education (MOE) in China to begin offering its Master of Public Health (M.P.H.) program. The University has offered a Master of Business Administration and Master of Science in Management Information Systems in China since 2004 and in Vietnam since 2009.

Benedictine continues to expand its academic programs abroad and has branch campuses in Springfield, Ill., and Mesa, Ariz. – the first four-year Catholic university campus in Arizona.

Now Benedictine offers a Chinese (Mandarin) minor with a Chinese Culture track option. The Chinese Language minor will foster students' awareness of the increasingly global and multi-linguistic nature of society, allow them to connect specific issues in Chinese culture and history to current trends in Chinese society, and prepare them to communicate effectively in the context of another culture.

The University believes that students are better prepared for the global marketplace if they are able to blend their degrees with an in-demand language or a study abroad experience.