By Butler Cain, Alabama Public Radio
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wual/local-wual-471303.mp3
Think Global Alabama -- Tuesday Report
Troy, AL – A university in southeast Alabama is investing a lot of effort into expanding its curriculum worldwide. In the second part of our series on globalization and Alabama, Butler Cain reports how the university and its community are already reaping dividends.
Troy University has spent half a century providing classes outside of Alabama. It started with military installations, then evolved to include civilians and international students overseas. Susan Aldridge is Vice Chancellor of University College at Troy. She says the university now offers classes in 61 locations outside the state.
"We're working very hard to establish study abroad programs for our students here in Alabama to give them an opportunity overseas. We're creating new opportunities for our faculty to do research overseas and to travel overseas. So we're really focusing on internationalizing our entire university."
Students can take Troy University classes in 11 foreign countries, and Aldridge says the university hopes to have facilities in three more by the end of the summer. She says the opportunity to globalize Troy's educational system is of great importance. The foreign facilities also work as a feeder system, bringing students from all over the world to Troy to take classes or finish their degrees. Aldridge says Troy University has about 400 international students on its Troy campus. The university hopes to increase that number to 800 within a couple of years.
For the Alabama Report, I'm Butler Cain.