USU, Dominican Republic sign scholarship agreement
Representatives from Utah State University traveled to the Dominican Republic to formalize an important scholarship agreement. A new alumni chapter was established in the country as well.
President Stan Albrecht, accompanied by First Lady Joyce Albrecht and other university officials, signed a five-year agreement to train students from the Dominican Republic at Utah State University. The signing ceremony, held at the Presidential Palace in Santo Domingo April 19, was presided over by the president of the Dominican Republic, Leonel Fernández.
The Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology, LÃgia Amada Melo de Cardona, signed the agreement on behalf of the Dominican government. The almost $3 million scholarship program (Presidential Higher Education Program for Superior Students), funded by the Dominican government, will bring 30 undergraduate and 10 graduate students to Utah State for fall semester 2005.
The agreement was developed over the last year under the direction of Chris Fawson, vice provost for Academic and International Affairs, with assistance from Morris D. Whitaker, director of International Programs Development.
The agreement begins the second phase of the scholarship program, originally started in June 2000. During phase one, 36 students came to Utah State University – the last of these will complete programs of study in the next year or so. The signing ceremony for the second-phase of the scholarship program was attended by various government dignitaries and media outlets, which gave the event ample coverage on television, radio and newspapers, Whitaker said.
The evening before the signing ceremony President Albrecht announced the formation of an alumni chapter in the Dominican Republic. The announcement, made at a reception hosted by Utah State University for alumni and friends of the university, was greeted warmly by those present. Among the approximately 120 guests were government and private sector officials, U.S. Embassy representatives and Utah State graduates from the 1980s to the present.
During the Dominican Republic trip, President Albrecht and the Utah State delegation attended a luncheon honoring the university, hosted by Hans R. Hertell, the U.S. Ambassador to the Dominican Republic.
“The luncheon brought the USU team together with embassy staff, government officials, community leaders and higher education administrators,” Whitaker said. “Discussion focused on strengthening ties between Utah State and the higher education community in the Dominican Republic. The Ambassador expressed appreciation for the continuing efforts of USU and the Dominican government to link U.S. and Dominican universities and science institutions into a more collaborative network.”
The Utah State team met with Roberto Reyna, rector of the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo, the oldest university in the Americas, and heard a report on a new, joint program to develop a master’s of science degree in public administration. The program, funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, is under the direction of professor Pátria Julnes de Lancer, who was part of the Utah State delegation, along with professors Randy Simmons and William Furlong who have taught in the program in Santo Domingo. President Albrecht and Rector Reyna also discussed opportunities for faculty and student exchanges and research collaboration.
President Albrecht and the Utah State team also visited the National Institute for Water Resources (INDRHI) and met with the director, Ing. Frank Rodriguez. Since the 1980s, Utah State’s principal involvement in the Dominican Republic has been training and technical assistance programs in irrigation and water resources, Whitaker said. The delegation was briefed on Utah State’s recently completed World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank projects to further strengthen water users’ associations and improve irrigation system management.
The group then visited INDRHI’s state-of-the-art GIS laboratory, developed with training and technical assistance from Utah State faculty, to see digitized maps with aerial photo overlays that allow policymakers and water users’ associations the ability identify and manage a large proportion of the farm irrigation systems in the Dominican Republic. A progress report was presented on Utah State’s current water resources project, where the university is the supervising engineer for the rehabilitation of the Azua II irrigation system with EXIM Bank funding.