06/10 - University of Scranton Faculty Selected to Teach MBA Courses in China

Scranton, Shanghai and Beijing might seem like an unlikely mix in the world of higher education - unless you happen to be a University of Scranton faculty member who is teaching an MBA course in China.

Through a program sponsored by a consortium of Jesuit universities, as well as an independent affiliation established by The University of Scranton, faculty members from the Kania School of Management have been invited to teach MBA courses in China during the summer semester.

In the summer of 2001, Satya Chattopadhyay, Ph.D., associate professor of marketing/management, was selected as one of a handful of faculty members from 26 Jesuit universities to teach a summer MBA program as part of the Beijing International MBA (BiMBA) Program held on the campus of Peking University in Beijing. This summer, Cynthia Cann, Ph.D., assistant professor of management/marketing, will be one of a small group of faculty members from Jesuit universities teaching in Beijing.

The connection between The University of Scranton and China is further enhanced by an independent arrangement established through the efforts of Alan Brumagim, Ph.D., associate professor of marketing/management. Last summer, Dr. Brumagim and Wayne Cunningham, Ph.D., associate professor of operations and information management, team-taught an MBA course at Tongji University in Shanghai. This summer, Nabil Tamimi, Ph.D., associate professor of operations and information management, will teach an MBA course at the Tongji University.

These foreign teaching experiences translate into professional enrichment of faculty who share their real-life experiences of international business with students on two continents.

"Faculty are the key link to students," said Ronald Johnson, D.B.A., dean of the Kania School of Management. "If faculty, because of their experiences, talk about things going on elsewhere in the world, students will be more inclined to broaden the horizons of their thinking."

Chinese students have the opportunity to learn about American business practices. Students in the BiMBA program also earn an MBA from Fordham University.

Back on American ground, students at The University of Scranton have an opportunity to learn about the economic development of China, whose economy has grown faster than any other nation in the world over the past two decades.

Reflecting on his teaching experiences at Tongji University, Dr. Brumagim said, "When you get to experience a new culture, it helps you to see things that you might have taken for granted. My teaching experience in China gave me an appreciation for just how good we have it in the United States."

Dr. Brumagim first established contacts with Tongji University while conducting general project management training in China for the Project Management Institute (PMI) in 2000. The training was part of PMI's project management professional certification that was being offered in China for the first time.