(News)

More than two dozen faculty members from one of Vietnam's largest private universities will soon arrive in McKeesport to be trained in Western-style educational methods by Penn State's campus in the city.

It's part of a four-year partnership that Curtiss Porter, chancellor of Greater Allegheny Campus, says could pay off in both educational and economic benefits to the Mon-Yough area.

"We have 25 advanced learners from a developing nation coming into the heart of McKeesport and White Oak, and who knows what they will see?" says Porter, who calls it an example of the importation of much-needed "human capital" into the region.

"I think this is very, very significant in ways we don't even know yet," he says.

. . .

Business faculty from Duy Tan University in Da Nang, a city of nearly 890,000 in central Vietnam, will arrive in McKeesport in June, says Kurt Torell, director of academic affairs at Penn State Greater Allegheny.

They'll live in McKeesport Hall, the student residence building, for six weeks while they learn how to teach their colleagues in Duy Tan in Western-style education methods. Torell calls it a "train the trainer" program.

This summer, Penn State Greater Allegheny faculty also begin traveling to Vietnam for two weeks at a time to assist Duy Tan with revamping their business curriculum and setting up a training program in Da Nang.

About 100 members of Duy Tan's 350-person faculty will be trained in topics in management, human resources and accounting over the course of the agreement.

All of the Duy Tan faculty selected are fluent in English, Torell says, and their expenses are being paid by Duy Tan.

. . .

"This is very unique within the Penn State system, and we hope that other campuses might be able to replicate this program," Porter says. "It's a big step for us."

The 52-acre Greater Allegheny Campus, located near Renziehausen Park, has about 800 students. Duy Tan has more than 13,000 students on six campus in central Vietnam; the partnership with Penn State in McKeesport is one of 50 with other universities around the world.

The McKeesport-Da Nang linkup comes as the result of a February 2009 visit to Vietnam by a delegation from the Allegheny Conference on Community Development and the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance.

While the trip was primarily intended to explore business partnerships, Torell participated to see what educational opportunites might be available.

. . .

During a visit to Da Nang, Torell met the vice provost of Duy Tan, Bao Le Nguyen, who expressed an interest in improving the university's business curriculum.

When Torell got back to McKeesport, he and Nguyen continued talking via email. In less than a year ("blazing speed" in academia, Porter jokes) both Penn State and Vietnamese officials had agreed on terms.

Porter and Torell went to Vietnam on Jan. 17 to sign the formal agreement.

. . .

The arrangement is the latest step in an ongoing program to broaden the McKeesport campus' international outreach. In 2005, Greater Allegheny became one of the first of Penn State's 19 commonwealth campuses designated to accept international students.

Each year, Greater Allegheny faculty have scheduled educational and cultural programs to highlight a certain global region --- this year, ironically, they're focused on Southeast Asia.

Now it seems, Southeast Asia will soon be focusing on Penn State Greater Allegheny. Duy Tan faculty will get to see some of the cultural attractions of Western Pennsylvania, including Pittsburgh's museums, and will likely visit Penn State's University Park campus in State College, Torell says.

There's also a hope that Penn State students will get to interact with the Duy Tan faculty who visit, he says. Greater Allegheny Campus is reaching out to the Vietnamese-American community in Pittsburgh to see how they can help bridge the cultural gaps, Torell says.

. . .

Porter is hoping this outreach effort also blazes a path for further cooperation between the Mon-Yough area and Vietnam.

He'd like to see local business and elected leaders use this new connection as a bridge to other partnerships.

"This might be an opportunity for investment and trade on an international scale," Porter says. "We have great room for development in this region. I think that would be tremendous."

There may also be service-learning opportunities for Penn State students in McKeesport to travel to Da Nang for course credit and cultural enrichment, he says.

(Editor's Note: Additional photos follow the jump.)

All photos courtesy Duy Tan University via Penn State Greater Allegheny Campus.