Suffolk University has been selected to participate in the 2012 India Initiative of the International Academic Partnership Program, which aims to increase higher education connections between U.S. and Indian institutions.

The University was chosen for the partnership initiative based on “demonstrated support from both administration and faculty, commitment to increasing internationalization on campus, and stalwart desire to foster a partnership with an Indian institution,” according to Allan E. Goodman, president and CEO of the Institute of International Education, which oversees the program.

Collaborative research & teaching

The program offers a series of training activities focused on implementing and sustaining partnerships with institutions in India. A study tour to India will allow Suffolk University officials will meet with potential partner campuses to investigate student exchanges or faculty linkages for collaborative research and teaching.

“We are excited at the prospect of pursuing additional collaborations with colleagues in India through participation in the 2012 International Academic Partnership Program,” said Suffolk University Acting President and Provost Barry Brown. “Our students and faculty will welcome opportunities to engage with their Indian counterparts. We have much to learn from one another.”

Plans for Washington D.C. summit

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was in Delhi recently for the second U.S.-India Strategic Dialogue, and the two governments are working on plans for a U.S.-India Higher Education Summit to be held in Washington D.C. later this year to follow up on the Obama-Singh Summit of 2009. The event will bring hundreds of educational institutes together from both countries to discuss a number of topics, including increasing the number of U.S. students who study in India and the number of Indians studying in the United States.

“Higher education is an important area of the strategic partnership between the United States and India because of its impact on fostering collaboration on critical issues that we face today,” said IIE President Allan E. Goodman. “This new phase of the International Academic Partnership Program and the strong group of campuses will strengthen the educational ties between our two nations and pave the way for students from both countries to gain important international perspective. We aim to support the Obama-Singh goal to advance the U.S.-India global partnership for the benefit of their countries, for peace, stability and prosperity in Asia, and for the betterment of the world.”

Students at Suffolk University hail from more than 100 countries, and the institution has a campus in Madrid in addition to its home campus in Boston. Students at the University’s Law School, the Sawyer Business School, and the College of Arts and Sciences study and make connections globally through international educational agreements and partnerships maintained by the institution.

Suffolk University is one of 10 U.S. institutions chosen to participate in the 2012 program, an initiative developed with support by the U.S. Department of Education’s Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education.

The sponsoring organization, the Institute of International Education, grew out of an effort to promote understanding among nations after World War I.