Student, faculty exchange link with Polish university expanded

For years Grand Valley has enjoyed a student-exchange program with Poland's Cracow University of Economics (CUE). Top officials from both universities met at Grand Valley this week to sign an agreement commemorating the mutually beneficial relationship, and expanding it.

The event happened at the School of Public and Nonprofit Administration's (SPNA) Annual Spring Celebration, held on Tuesday, April 20, at the Loosemore Auditorium.

Also honored will be CUE's Chancellor Ryszard Borowiecki and Vice Chancellor Janusz Teczke. Borowiecki and Grand Valley President Mark A. Murray formalized the exchange relationship between the two universities.

"It's been a very longstanding and productive relationship," said Dan Balfour, director of the SPNA at Grand Valley. "What we're doing now is expanding the exchange agreement to include specific Public and Nonprofit Administration programs and policies."

The link between the two universities dates back to 1975. The original agreement, last renewed in 2000, provides for an exchange program whereby Grand Valley students study in Poland in the spring/summer semester and three CUE faculty members visit GVSU each fall semester. Under the expanded agreement, two graduates of CUE will come to Grand Valley each year to study for the master of public administration (MPA) degree, and a Grand Valley SPNA faculty member will go to Poland to give a lecture series and facilitate other cooperative ventures, including a new MPA program at CUE.

The international exchange provides valuable learning, leadership and life experiences for students and faculty from both countries, noted Balfour.

"Part of the School of Public and Nonprofit Administration's mission is to connect the local and regional to the global," he said. "Poland and Europe are a part of that emphasis in our programming." Other countries with which the SPNA has similar exchanges include Australia, England and Canada.

Grand Valley's School of Public and Nonprofit Administration has about 40 master's-level graduates each year. Currently, more than 160 students are enrolled at the graduate level. MPA graduates can be found in leadership roles in government agencies (policy analysts and city managers are among GVSU's MPA grads), nonprofit administration, and health administration, among other careers.

For more information, please contact Dan Balfour, director of GVSU's School of Public and Nonprofit Administration, at (616) 331-6575 or [email protected]