College Partners in Grant to Develop Curriculum with Canada and Mexico

SUNY Cobleskill is partnering with five universities in the US, Canada, and Mexico in a grant to develop a cross-border curriculum project, “Building Bridges through Culture, Cuisine, Agriculture and Tourism.”  SUNY Cobleskill’s partners in the project are Northwestern State University of Louisiana, University of Guadalajara (Mexico), University of the Americas (Mexico), University of Guelph (Canada), and University of Quebec at Montreal (Canada).  The colleges are among only 9 recipients of these North American Mobility Grants awarded by the Fund for the Improvement of Post Secondary Education (FIPSE).  More information on FIPSE can be found at www.edu.gov/FIPSE/ 

“The current narrow focus of technical programs in these areas limits the ability of students to participate in cross-border relationships,” said SUNY Cobleskill Director of International Programs Dr. Susan Jagendorf.  “These curricular changes need to occur in response to social and economic trends.  Culture, cuisine, agriculture and tourism play crucial roles in sustaining growth, protecting biodiversity, and encouraging the emergence of new markets for goods.”
The purpose of the North American Mobility Grants is to enhance the learning and experiences of post-secondary students in these neighboring countries through courses, language study and internships in the areas of cuisine, culture, agriculture and tourism.   The intent of the program is to increase the quality of human resources development by preparing students to work anywhere in North America by increasing their knowledge of the languages, cultures, and institutions of three countries.

“By the end of the grant period, at least 654 students representing three countries and six institutions of higher learning will have benefited from this endeavor,” said Jagendorf.
FIPSE programs represent collaboration among the US Department of Education and foreign government agencies to fund and coordinate federal education grant programs that foster internationalization. 

The contents of this press release were developed under an North American Cooperation in Higher Education grant from the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education, (FIPSE), U.S. Department of Education.  However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.