CIBS awarded competitive four-year federal grant

The Center for International Business Studies (CIBS) at Texas A&M University’s Mays Business School has been awarded a four-year federal grant totaling $1.13 million. The U.S. Department of Education awards the funds as part of its Center for International Business Education (CIBE) program. Competition was stiff for the award, which commences on Oct. 1 and will cover the 2014-18 period.

Federal funding for the 2014-18 cycle was cut by 55 percent from the previous cycle, and the number of CIBE grants awarded was reduced from 33 to 16.

The national CIBE program’s objective is to encourage a select group of top business schools in the country to internationalize business education through the design, development and implementation of high impact international business education and research activities for students and faculty respectively that would ultimately lead to the enhancement of the country’s international business competitiveness. CIBE funding at Mays will be devoted primarily to enhancing programs for students in their international business studies and high-impact overseas study experiences like study abroad and international internship as well as support of international business research and outreach activities by faculty, said CIBS Director Julian Gaspar.

Gaspar said he was thrilled to learn Mays was selected for the new grant, which he considers extremely important for Mays. “It provides us with the seed money to design, develop and implement exciting high-impact internationalization programs that enhance business globalization perspectives of Mays students and faculty,” he said. “More specifically, CIBE funding will impact Mays Business School in three ways. First, it enables us to provide a diverse set of stimulating overseas study opportunities for our students that integrate solid academic and cultural issues of developed and emerging economies. Second, the funding helps us pursue interdisciplinary degree and research programs with other colleges on campus as well as with institutions nationally and internationally. Finally, all initiatives made possible with this funding helps Mays Business School to achieve high ranking both nationally and internationally – thereby aiding Texas A&M attain its Vision 2020 objectives.”

CIBE grants are intended to enhance America’s capacity for international understanding and economic enterprise and to promote educational and training activities that will contribute to the ability of the United States to prosper in an international economy, Gaspar explained. CIBEs serve as national resources for the teaching of improved business techniques, strategies and methodologies that emphasize the international context in which business is transacted. They provide instruction in critical foreign languages and international fields to improve understanding of the cultures of countries that trade with the United States. CIBEs also provide research and training opportunities in international aspects of trade, commerce, environmental science and other fields relevant to international trade initiatives.

Contact Gaspar at jgaspar@mays.tamu.edu.

ABOUT MAYS BUSINESS SCHOOL

Texas A&M University’s Mays Business School educates more than 5,600 undergraduate, master’s and doctoral students in accounting, finance, management, management information systems, marketing and supply chain management. Mays consistently ranks among the top public business schools in the country for its undergraduate and MBA programs, and for faculty research. The mission of Mays Business School is creating knowledge and developing ethical leaders for a global society.