WASHINGTON, D.C. — To elevate the interaction between colleges and universities in the U.S and India, institutional leaders must take a systematic and sustained approach to developing value-based partnerships and fostering meaningful exchanges over time.
That was just one of the suggestions made by an esteemed gathering of college presidents from both nations Thursday during a panel discussion at the historic U.S.-India Higher Education Summit.
Led by the U.S. State Department and held at Georgetown University, speakers emphasized the need for American institutions of higher learning that are interested in developing bonds with Indian institutions to make a commitment to build strong relationships over time instead of tentative ones.
“Our approach to it is we are long-term investors,” Dr. Charles Steger, president of Virginia Tech, said during a plenary session titled “Getting Started: Foundations for Sustainable Partnerships in Teaching and Research.”
He was referring to various branch campus projects his college has in India, more specifically, just outside the eastern seaboard city of Chennai, and elsewhere throughout the world.
“We do not go into these projects thinking that we’ll see how it works and in a year or two we’ll pull out,” Steger said.
At the same time, Steger said, institutions that partner with each other must get something out of the partnership.
