Albany – State University of
New York Chancellor John R. Ryan today announced that SUNY’s dual-diploma
program model with Turkey was selected to receive the prestigious Andrew
Heiskell Award for International Exchange Partnerships for 2006-2007, by
the Institute of International Education.
“Receiving the Heiskell Award
from the Institute of International
Education is a tremendous honor for
SUNY,” said Ryan. “SUNY’s dual-diploma program greatly enhances the nature and
quality of the education we are able to offer and the diversity of the student
body on our campuses. SUNY’s dual diploma program with Turkey has
become a model for how we wish to work with other countries in our effort to
globalize our campuses.”
“We are very pleased here at
SUNY with having received the Heiskell Award this year for the work we have
been doing in Turkey,” said SUNY Associate Vice Chancellor and head of the
Office of International Programs Robert Gosende. “Turkey is one
of our country's oldest partners in NATO. It is a country with which we have
had particularly warm and friendly relations for the past sixty years. This
exciting new program, which is enabling hundreds of Turkish students to spend
half of their undergraduate careers studying at campuses within our system,
will be most important in assisting Turkey and the U.S. to continue and expand
this warm and friendly relationship into the future.”
The IIE administers the U.S.
Dept. of State Fulbright Program and the Heiskell awards are named for the
former Chairman of Time Inc., Andrew Heiskell, who served on the IIE Board of
Directors.
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Specifically, SUNY’s
dual-diploma program won the award for International Exchange Partnerships,
which recognizes institutions for developing innovative and effective
collaborative programs with counterparts abroad. Consortia, direct exchanges,
and development of joint curricula, including dual degree and joint degree
programs, are among the programs eligible for the award.
The award for International
Exchange Partnerships is new for 2006-07 and SUNY is the inaugural winner.
Students enrolled in the
dual-diploma program must fulfill the academic requirements of both their SUNY
and Turkish institution and as a result receive a diploma from each school.
Students typically spend
freshman and junior years at their home campus and their sophomore and senior
years abroad, and faculty coordinators have flexibility so not all students
follow this pattern. In addition, students utilize distance learning
technology to take courses.
Further, this program exposes
the students to two cultures and two educational systems, better preparing the
next generation, both American and Turkish, to work confidently and effectively
in today’s global environment. The program is available to both American and
Turkish students, although only Turkish students have enrolled during the
initial years. Pilot programs are planned to attract American students
interested in this distinctive option of study.
This year more than 330
Turkish students were enrolled at the Universities at Binghamton and
Buffalo, as well as the Colleges at Cortland, New Paltz, the Maritime College, the Fashion Institute of Technology and Empire State
College. New programs have enrolled students in Turkey and will see students
arriving over the next few years at the Colleges at Brockport, Fredonia, Geneseo, and Purchase.
Participating Turkish
institutions of higher education include Istanbul Technical University, Middle East Technical University, the University of the Bosporus, Bilkent University, Anadolu University, Ege University, Izmir Economics University, Hacettepe University, Bahçesehir University,
and Isik University.
The SUNY dual-diploma
programs were offered through the Turkish Higher Education Council placement
exam for the first time in 2003. Three hundred places were offered—thirty
in each of the ten pilot programs. More than 3,800 Turkish students applied, a
nearly 13-to-1 ratio of applicants to available places. This competition
ensured a high level of academic potential among the students selected and
demonstrated that the program responded to an urgent need.
The State University of New
York is the largest comprehensive university system in the United States,
educating more than 418,000 students in 7,669 degree and certificate programs
on 64 campuses.
