By Carol Olechowski When the government of the Republic of Cyprus needs expertise in instruction and in research and development, it turns to the University at Albany.
Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Judy Genshaft is delighted about the "longstanding partnership" between Cyprus and the University. "What began as an archaeological dig many years ago � I believe it dates back to the 1970s � has turned into a dynamic relationship," said Genshaft. "The Cypriot government sends us students for graduate training, funding them based on out-of-state tuition. We then use these funds to engage our faculty on projects of interest to the Cypriots. These projects have included a review of science teaching in grades K-12 and the assessment of the accreditation process for private institutions of higher education in Cyprus. We are also sending teams of researchers to work on issues of public health and social welfare.
"The relationship benefits Cyprus because it builds on a cadre of well-educated students who go back and work within the ministries of the Cypriot government. The government gets first-rate technical assistance from our faculty. We at the University benefit. We get exceptional and highly motivated graduate students, and our faculty get engaged in projects that have significant impact overseas. It increases our global visibility in many ways, leading to an increase in general student recruitment at both the undergraduate and graduate levels."
Faculty who have participated in the program are also enthusiastic. Along with W. Paul Vogt of the School of Education, the physics department�s Susanne M. Lee visited Cyprus in March 1998 to improve science education at the middle and high school levels. Lee, director of the University�s Metastable Materials Manufacturing Laboratory, said the partnership "brought together people from disparate fields who, by working together, learned different methods that might be useful in their own field."
Lee found that she and Vogt "complemented each other. I handled the technical aspects of modernizing the physics taught, while Paul was familiar with the cooperative learning innovations that have been tried in this country and the methodologies of assessing the success of innovations that might be implemented. It was fascinating and invigorating to work with someone so far removed from my field and to find that I could use his knowledge to improve my own teaching and student learning."
There was also a more personal benefit to Lee. Since returning from Cyprus, "I have continued interacting, via e-mail, with the Cypriot people with whom I worked last year," she said. "I have had discussions with them about teaching that appear to have been beneficial to all involved. I also made some good personal friends, and I have advised them where to send their children to college. I put in a good strong plug for the University at Albany!"
Lee has also begun a research project with a University of Cyprus physicist. Together, she said, they will "measure the optical properties of some of the semiconductors on which my research program here is based."
Lee�s research experience enabled her to assist the Cypriots in advances in teaching style and content. "Because of my experience teaching graduate and undergraduate students working in my research lab, I was able to help them in the area of new research methodology with traditional textbook problem-solving. What I could do in two weeks was limited, but I have continued, through e-mail, to show them how to shift their physics thinking."
Rockefeller College Provost Frank Thompson also visited Cyprus 14 months ago with former director of Institutional Research Fred Volkwein. "I benefited enormously from the knowledge that officials in Cyprus shared about accreditation and the system of education," said Thompson. "Their willingness to teach us about the history, culture, and political situation in the country was also fascinating. And it�s a beautiful place."
And, he added, "The Albany-Cyprus relationship enables the University to engage the global imperative in important ways. I strongly hope that the University will continue this partnership and explore the feasibility of establishing similar arrangements with other countries, as well."
Susanne Lee, Paul Vogt,
Spyros Evlogimenos, & Andreas Papastylianou
The Sanctuary of Apollo at Curium
George Hajisavva, Paul Vogt, & Susanne Lee
The Sanctuary of Apollo at Curium
Susanne Lee, Frank Thompson, & Paul Vogt
Village at Khorokotia
Susanne Lee, Fred Volkwein,
Frank Thompson, & Paul Vogt
Curium overlooking the Mediterranean
Susanne Lee, Paul Vogt, & George Hajisavva
The Changing Face of American Universities
Forum for University at Albany graduates in Cyprus.
