Waikato Management School strengthens Pacific ties

10 October 2006

Waikato Management School strengthens Pacific ties

The University of Waikato Management School and the University of the South Pacific are to collaborate on innovative research and learning programmes with a unique Pacific identity.

USP’s ProVice-Chancellor (Academic), Dr Adi Eci Nabalarua, and the University of Waikato’s ProVice-Chancellor (International), Prof Shayne Quick, signed a letter of intent in Hamilton recently as a first step towards closer ties.

“Our big goal is to build academic capability and a unique international identity for our two institutions through a sustainable partnership,” says Waikato Management School acting dean Prof Frank Scrimgeour.

Under the agreement, USP’s Faculty of Business and Economics and Waikato Management School will cooperate on building research and teaching capacity, particularly in the areas of sustainability, tourism, accounting and finance.

The two institutions are to jointly host a conference for the Asia-Pacific Academy for Business In Society (APABIS), set up last year by WMS under the aegis of the Brussels-based European Academy for Business In Society (EABIS). The conference is scheduled to be held at USP’s main campus in Suva, Fiji, in July next year, and will address the role of business in society with a focus on communities.

USP and WMS will also jointly develop short courses and executive education programmes tailored to the region’s needs, and initiate staff and student exchanges between the two organisations.

Other areas for collaboration include publishing research relevant to the Pacific region and enhancing distance education. USP is the world’s largest distributed university, spread over an area more than three times the size of Europe, while WMS has developed an award-winning e-learning platform.

ENDS

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