Haitian University

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 29, 2008

Dr. Brad Kleindl
Dean, Robert W. Plaster School of Business Administration
(417) 625-3120

Claude Elisma of UniQ (left) and Dr. Bruce Speck of MSSU.

JOPLIN, MO (SNS) - Missouri Southern State University recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Université Quisquéya (UniQ), Port-au-Prince Haiti.

 

Claude Elisma, dean and professor of the Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences at UniQ, and Jean-Bruner Clotaire, coordinator and professor of the Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences of the Haitian university, arrived at Missouri Southern State University on Oct, 21 to begin faculty development related to a United States Agency for International Development (USAID) partnership and to sign the MOU.

The Robert W. Plaster School of Business Administration’s partnership with UniQ is part of the U.S.-Haiti Higher Education Partnership Program, which is designed to increase Haiti’s higher education capacity.

Between Dec. 2007 and July 2008, USAID through Higher Education for Development (HED) awarded a total $1.7 million, for three years, to four US based higher education institutions to establish partnerships with higher education institutions in Haiti.

 

The four partnerships: University of Massachusetts Boston and Institut National d’Administration, de Gestion et des Hautes Etudes Internationales (INAGHEI); Virginia Polytechnic and State University and École Supérieure d’Infotronic d’Haiti (ESIH); University of Florida and Faculté d’Agronomie et de Médecine Vétérinaire (FAMV); and Missouri Southern State University and Université Quisqueya (UniQ) focus respectively on Business Administration, Computer Science, Agribusiness, and Accounting.

 

They seek to increase the capacity of the Haitian institutions to respond to the country’s human resources and economic development needs. The partnerships will enhance the US institutions’ international programs.

 

A component of the MSSU/UniQ partnership allows for 7 students to complete the baccalaureate degree in accounting at MSSU. The students were selected in August, with preference given to women and those from disadvantaged backgrounds. They are slated to begin courses in Jan, 2009.

Elisma and Clotaire met with university officials, including Dr. Bruce Speck, MSSU President, and Dr. Brad Kleindl, Dean of the Robert W. Plaster School of Business and other members of the MSSU faculty and administration. The Haitian team toured the MSSU campus and related facilities as well as Joplin and the surrounding area.

While in Joplin the two Haitian educators took part in the following activities on the MSSU campus:

 

• Engaged in faculty development activities with Finance and Accounting departments;
• Observed classroom teaching;
• Discussed the student degree-completion portion of the partnership;
• Discussed possibility of bi-lateral faculty exchanges;
• Discussed university consulting; and
• Conducted library resources training.

 

This training program is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in cooperation with the Higher Education for Development (HED) program office. The contents are the responsibility of MSSU and do not necessarily reflect the views of HED, USAID, or the United States Government.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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