UCCS officials and representatives from India’s Global Connect Academy signed an agreement June 22 that will allow the College of Engineering and Applied Science to offer a master’s degree in engineering to students in India.
R. “Dan” Dandapani, dean, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, hosted Uma Ganesh, CEO, Global Talent Track, and Deepika Sharma, program head, Global Connect Academy, for two days of discussions and campus tours culminating in the 11 a.m. signing ceremony. The ceremony was attended by Peg Bacon, provost, several engineering faculty and staff members, and Venkat Reddy, dean, College of Business.
“Today, we sign an agreement with Global Connect Academy that allows Indians working in high technology fields to earn a degree from an accredited and respected U.S. university without ever leaving India,” Dandapani said. “That respected university is the University of Colorado Colorado Springs.”
The agreement with India’s Global Connect Academy will allow professionals in India to complete advanced courses in information assurance, the practice of managing risks related to the use, processing, storage, and transmission of information or data.
A pilot program will begin this fall with 18 students who have received U.S. security clearances enrolled. The students will use a combination of course delivery methods to complete the same degree requirements and academic rigor as students enrolled in on-campus courses. The students in India will take courses taught online by UCCS faculty members in addition to enrolling in courses on-site taught by UCCS faculty or by lecturers hired by UCCS.
“This model is unique,” Dandapani said. “To my knowledge no other Colorado universities are reaching out to this important global information technology hub in this niche area.”
Dandapani estimates that 80 percent of the more than 1 million Indians working in the technology field lack formal credentials. As a result, demand is high for high-quality programs providing those credentials, new information, and delivered in a timely fashion. Plans call for the Indian students to enroll in their first courses this fall and to work year-round to complete the required ten courses to earn the master’s degree. Ed Chow, professor, Department of Computer Science, and associate dean, College of Engineering and Applied Science, will travel to Maharashtra, India, to teach one of the courses.
Course fees and tuition will be paid by the students or their employers, according to Dandapani.
This is the first international education effort toward an advanced degree by the UCCS College of Engineering and Applied Science. The college has been an innovator in the use of technology to broaden its reach including the use of CISCO Telepresence to teach courses to students enrolled at southern Colorado community colleges. The Telepresence system will be evaluated for use in reaching students in India, Dandapani said, and the India project will serve as a test for possible future expansion to students in China and Brazil.
— Photo by Tom Hutton
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