Lander University president Daniel Ball has signed a memorandum of understanding with a university in Thailand, an agreement that will enable students from both schools to study on each other's campus. The signing increases to nine the number of Asian schools Lander has finalized exchange agreements with since March.
Dr. Sung-Jae Park, interim dean of international programs, said the latest memorandum links Lander with Rajamangala University of Technology Phra Nahkon in Bankok. In addition to the exchange of students and faculty members, the two schools agree to explore opportunities to collaborate in the areas of research, instruction and service functions.
Rajamangala is a leading institution of higher education in Thailand whose focus is science and technology. It has created an academic network with colleges and universities around the world to enhance its teaching quality and improve its curriculum. Lander is one of 18 schools in the network.
Park said, in addition to Rajamangala, Lander has exchange agreements with eight other institutions of higher education, five in South Korea and three in China. They are part of the university's Asian initiative announced earlier this year which expands Lander's Study Aboard program to include Pacific Rim schools.
Ball said he expects as many as four South Korean students to enroll at Lander for the fall semester. At the same time, Lander student Nicole Richmond of Columbia will spend her fall semester at the University of Incheon in South Korea.
Richmond, a junior majoring in mass communication, is the first Lander student to be approved for a Korean Government Scholarship, which will provide her with the cost of airfare to and from Korea, a living stipend and money for other expenses.
Four other Lander students traveled to Korea in July to participate in a four-week international summer session at Dong-A University in Busan and the University of Incheon. Alexandria Beebe, of Clover, Corbin Childs, of Elberton, Ga., Rachel Piper, of Greenville, and Lane Riley, of Greenwood, are the first Lander students to study in Korea under terms of the exchange agreements signed earlier this year.