SDSU’s CIBER Program Receives $1 Million Grant

Program supports business schools with curriculum development, research and executive training on issues of importance to U.S. trade and competitiveness

SDSU’s Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) received a continuation grant of over $1 million to be disbursed over the next four years. CIBER has been at SDSU since 1989.

“With this funding, SDSU’s CIBER may build upon their previous success and continue to set a standard for educational excellence in international business among our nation’s universities and graduates,” said Congresswoman Susan Davis. “Their emphasis on language and cultural education, as well as business and economics, is one of the main reasons why CIBER has been so beneficial to our nation’s future leaders in global economics.”

The CIBER program has supported SDSU’s undergraduate International Business major, the largest such program in the U.S. The major has been ranked in the top 10 nationally for the past two years by U.S. News and World Report and is a joint program between the College of Business Administration and the College of Arts and Letters. Paul Wong, the dean of the College of Arts and Letters, said, “The International Business major provides a lot of synergy to other international programs and benefits from the fine language departments that are housed in our college.”

With more than 700 students, the program is widely recognized for offering the first transnational, triple-degree programs in the country (one with universities in Mexico and Canada, the other with universities in Mexico and Chile). The Institute for International Education also has honored the program as the best study abroad program in the country – in any area of study.

“San Diego is on the edge of the Pacific Rim and shares a border with Tijuana and Mexicali – ideally positioned to conduct business internationally. The nation’s seventh largest city is a thriving basin for innovators in diverse fields like software design, environmental research, biomedical research, electronics manufacturing, transportation, and international trade,” said College of Business Administration Dean Gail Naughton. “Our commitment is to continue to provide the workforce, leaders and research necessary to sustain San Diego’s industries, as well as prepare our graduates to interact with their peers around the world.”

CIBERs were created under the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 to increase and promote the nation’s capacity for international understanding and economic enterprise. The program links the manpower and information needs of U.S. business with the international education, language training and research capacities of universities across the U.S.

Funded in part by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, SDSU’s CIBER is one of 30 centers nationwide and was one of the first six funded in 1989. Its activities include providing grants to fund faculty research and student study/internships abroad; outreach and development programs for the business community; training programs for language and business faculty from institutions across the country; and a variety of innovative activities which impact interdisciplinary education in the U.S. and further the CIBER mandate to enhance U.S. competitiveness abroad.

“The CIBER funding will help SDSU continue its mission of providing graduates who truly are the ‘Minds that Move the World,’” said SDSU CIBER Managing Director Mark Ballam. “We have many initiatives that will continue to integrate international education into not only our highly ranked business programs, but many disciplines across our campus.”

New initiatives this year include:

1. The development of three new undergraduate courses in International Human Resource Management, International Entrepreneurship and Advanced Global Marketing.
2. A minor in Global Entrepreneurship open to any undergraduate at SDSU.
3. In conjunction with partner institutions abroad, an International Teamwork Initiative will organize team-based homework and research assignments in an effort to promote discourse and problem-solving between SDSU and international students.
4. CIBER will partner with Temple University and Florida International University to introduce the Bangalore Internship Initiative which will place Spanish-speaking students with Indian call center companies to help increase sales and improve service to Spanish-speaking customers.
5. New transnational dual- and triple-degree options will be offered through partnerships with universities in the Arab Region and China. In partnership with the University of Florida, a joint degree in International Hospitality and Tourism Management will be introduced.
6. Internationalization will occur in the Graduate Business Program by adding a course in Advanced Global Marketing and Global Entrepreneurship.
7. CIBER will support the introduction of an Executive MBA Ten-Day Study Abroad to China and Thailand.

email: business@sdsu.edu