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Global Forum Explores Partnerships

NC State’s Office of International Affairs hosted an AIEA Thematic Forum March 21-22 focused on industry-university partnerships. Leaders in international education and industry gathered from across the state of North Carolina and beyond to explore ways to leverage partnerships for students and faculty in a global context. Keynote speakers included the President of RTI International, Wayne Holden; President and CEO of the Research Triangle Foundation, Bob Geolas; and the Director of Global Scholarship Programs at the Institute of International Education, Cindy Mah.

Sessions included a roundtable on student success, a faculty excellence panel and a workshop on international student entrepreneurship. The roundtable allowed participants to engage in small group discussions with facilitators from a variety of programs. Programs included SAS internships, NC State’s “Engineers in London” study abroad program and UNC Chapel Hill’s FedEx Global Education Center, to name a few. The faculty excellence panel featured four expert panelists from NC State, Duke Global Health Institute and BMW Manufacturing. The panel members offered insights into best practices and challenges of industry-higher education partnerships. The workshop on international student entrepreneurship involved NC State’s Director of International Services and an expert immigration attorney informing attendees on the work authorizations and pathways available to international students starting their own companies. Two student entrepreneurs were on-hand to share their personal stories and examples of how they started companies and created products in the U.S. on student visas.

In addition to the sessions focused on partnerships for student and faculty global engagement, participants toured NC State’s award-winning Centennial Campus to witness firsthand the successful intersection of education, research, industry and government. The forum was sponsored by the Association of International Education Administrators (AIEA), with support from QS Unisolution.