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Russian Exchange
Ronnie Walker Email: ronnie.walker@dickinsonstate.edu Mailing address: Phone: (701) 483-2322 or 1-800-279-4295 Memorandum of Understanding The memorandum of understanding between Dickinson State University and the respective Russian universities express their willingness to cooperate within the framework of mutual interest in the following areas:
Current Memorandum of understandings:
This agreement was in response to Dickinson State University’s Global Awareness Tuition Waiver Initiative, a new global initiative supported by the State government. This initiative includes substantial scholarships for qualified and dedicated international students who desire to study at a progressive, student centered American institution. Students meeting the established criteria will be granted scholarships equivalent to 62 percent of the annual out-of-state tuition.
“I am enjoying my studies at Dickinson State University. I especially like the students and instructors and the close relationships I have developed. As a student, I am also involved with the Theodore Roosevelt Honors Leadership Program which is teaching me how to become a dynamic leader, not just a follower. My classes are very interesting and I am impressed with the way the instructors work with you to help you succeed. Olya Elfimova,
Dickinson State University signs agreement with Voronezh State University Officials from Dickinson State University and Voronezh State University (VSU) recently signed an agreement to provide dual degree opportunities to VSU students. Under the agreement, students who attend VSU for two to three years and matriculate at DSU for up to two years will be able to earn a DSU Bachelor of Arts degree in either Business or Political Science, while also fulfilling the requirements for their degrees at VSU. Representing VSU were Oleg Belenov, Dean of the Department of International Relations; Tatiana Rudchenko, Head of International Programs and Assistant Professor of Mathematics; and Elana Kardishova, Teacher and Head of the Scientific Council for the International Relations Department. Dickinson
State University signs international partnership with Titan
Machinery Inc. The agreement between Dickinson State University, Nizhniy Novgorod State Agriculture Academy, National Agriculture University of Ukraine, and Titan Machinery Inc., calls for the three schools to partner together with Titan Machinery, Inc. to develop long term international business relationships in Ukraine and Russia. Under the agreement, selected agriculture or business students from the Ukrainian or Russian universities will be offered a year-long training program in North Dakota. This includes attending classes in the fall and spring semesters at Dickinson State University and working at Titan Machinery as a summer intern. At the end of the year, it will be determined if the students stay another year and attend additional classes for an associate’s degree at Dickinson State University or work as an employee for Titan Machinery in their native country. As many as four students a year could participate in this initiative. Titan Machinery owns and operates multiple dealerships in 17 locations located in North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota with annual sales of $143 million. They have been in business more than 25 years and offer one of the largest pools of new and quality used agriculture and construction equipment in the United States. They offer brand names such as CaseIH and New Holland as well as Case Construction through the Krider Equipment stores. “In the year-long training program, the Ukrainian and Russian students will learn about American agriculture and business as well as the American culture,” stated Dr. Gary A. White, chair of the Department of Agriculture and Technical Studies at Dickinson State University. “This training will create business relationships that will make it possible to do business in their prospective country more effectively.” Titan Machinery is supportive of establishing partnerships with Ukraine and Russia and is willing to offer students a $2,500 scholarship to attend Dickinson State University. In addition, Dickinson State University will also offer students a Global Awareness Tuition Waiver. “It is my strong belief that these students who have participated in this practical training program will be prepared to provide the skills we need to carry on along-term international business relationship,” stated Peter Christianson, president of Titan Machinery, Inc.
The Global Awareness Initiative: All About Being There (July 2005) As a part of Dickinson State’s Global Awareness Initiative, seven DSU students were visiting Russia this summer as foreign exchange students. Concurrently, Dr. Gary White, chairman of the Department of Agriculture and Technical Studies, and Mr. Scott Hanson, assistant professor of Accounting also made an official visit to Russia and the Ukraine to strengthen existing relationships with three Russian universities and the National Agricultural University of Ukraine in Kiev, and to look into possibilities for expanding current programs. The students are still there but Dr. White and Mr. Hanson recently returned from their trip very excited about the long-term potential benefits of these programs for not only DSU, but for the region and the state. Trips like these can easily look like “junkets,” but Dr. White and Mr. Hanson filled their days in official meetings with their contacts, university administration officials, government officials, faculty and others. They discussed the issues their counterparts in Russia and Ukraine are facing and ways to collaborate in activities that would mutually benefit their respective institutions, their students, and their business communities. Dr. White explained how critical it is to be there, to develop relationships; to know what’s bothering them, what their concerns are and how they would like to be a part of Dickinson State University. The exchange program, which involves students and faculty, has become a growing source of recruitment for the university. Dr. White reports that two years ago there were zero Russian exchange students enrolled in degree programs. Last year, 10 Russian students enrolled. This year, due to a new webpage developed by DSU and featured on the Russian national home page, six Russian students have started the application process to become students so far. Dr. Andrew Novotorov, an assistant professor in the department of agriculture and technical studies, worked diligently with the Russian federal government to develop the webpage, pursuant to a memorandum of understanding signed last year by DSU and Russia’s Nizhniy Novgorod State Agricultural Academy. With the information on the webpage translated into Russian and placement on the national homepage, Dickinson State University information will be exposed to millions of prospective students. Mr. Hanson further reports Russian recruits are absolutely remarkable students. “Top quality,” he says. “There’s no other way to describe them.” Because Russia is in transition from a state-controlled to a market driven economy, most are business students. They are concerned about how to do business in a world market that was inaccessible to them for many years. “It’s more than a recruiting source,” explains Dr. White. “Our students are no longer going to be producing food for people who live in the U.S. They are going to do business with people from around the world. Therefore, some experience working with and dealing with people from different cultures and backgrounds is going to be critical to their overall education.” Mr. Hanson cited other benefits of periodic visits to the collaborating countries. For example, next year he will go back to a university where he will collaborate with another professor to do a paper. If published, it would raise Dickinson state’s prestige, thus making grant funds available. They are also looking very hard at ways to tie all this into business, always asking the question: How are we going to open the Russian market to American and North Dakota businesses? Business opportunities are always a big focus of their visits there. “We are ambassadors of the university, we are ambassadors of the business community of Dickinson, North Dakota, and the region,” says Mr. Hanson. Is Russia fertile ground for business opportunities? Listen to what a Russian entrepreneur, Dr. Yury Tkachenko, director of the Innovative Technological Center and director of the patent and license department at Nizhniy Novgorod State University, who visited Dickinson, had to say: “There are businesses in Russia that are looking to establish partnerships with businesses in America. The Russian government has made a lot of money available to businesses with the condition that they have a foreign partner. That’s motivating a lot of companies to look for partnerships.” To give us an idea of the Russian market potential, Dr White pointed out that the population of the Moscow area alone is 14 million people. One of the university areas DSU works with has a population of two million. He believes Russia represents a growing market for our products for the next 10-15 years. “You just cannot close your mind to the importance of globalization to this community and the region,” says Dr. White. “It just might be the difference if we get ahead of the curve on being able to participate in programs of a more global nature.” Although he spoke often of the visit to Russia, where Dickinson State has been working for three years, Dr. White wanted to really stress the importance their first visit to Kiev and Ukraine, not only because we have a large Ukrainian community in North Dakota, but because there is real opportunity to work there. They have very good contacts in the National Agricultural University of Ukraine, a significant player in the Ukrainian education system. Dr. White describes their Ukrainian contacts as very receptive and open to working with Dickinson State University. In formerly closed societies like Russia and Ukraine, personal relationships and trust are extremely important. If you establish the contacts and are there to build the trust and personal relationships, many opportunities will unfold. As Dr. White describes it: “The mission was not only promoting Dickinson State University, but also exploring ways to make it a better university and serve our community and students better.”
Partnership
agreement signed with Voronezh State University Dickinson State University has signed a partnership agreement with Russian-based Voronezh State University. The agreement was inked during the visit of a delegation of Russian students and instructors to the Dickinson State University campus earlier this fall. Similar to the partnership agreement signed 18 months ago with another Russian institution – Nizhniy Novgorod State Agriculture Academy – the agreement between Dickinson State University and Voronezh State University calls for the two schools to partner together on student and faculty exchange programs, collaborative research and additional joint ventures as deemed mutually beneficial to the missions of the institutions. “Ideally, this agreement will enable US students to come to Voronezh State University and Russian students to come here to the United States,” said Svetlana Lebedeva, deputy dean for science and international contacts at Voronezh State University. “We would like for the experience to be helpful to develop joint companies and contacts and economic cooperation between Russia and local businesses. This also gives us the chance to observe the US education system as Russia is trying to reform its education system and this allows us to incorporate elements of the American education model.” Founded in 1802, Voronezh State University, located in Voronezh, Russia, boasts a student enrollment of more than 21,000 students with about 1,000 foreign students that are enrolled at 18 facilities. Voronezh State University is the largest academic-scientific, cultural and research center of Chernozemnuj region in Russia who offers 70 majors and minors, 140 specializations, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral programs. The delegation of four students and two faculty members visiting Dickinson State University represented the institution’s international relations department. During their time on campus, Russian students participated in English, math, international relations, economics and computer tech classes. They also took part in various campus and community activities and toured a number of sites around the region.
First
summer of Russian exchange program declared a success With a toast to world peace, a host of stories and camaraderie, the first summer of the Dickinson State University student exchange program with the Nizhniy-Novgorod State Agriculture Academy. The only thing missing were the goodbyes. That’s because two of the three Russian students who had spent the month of August in North Dakota made the decision to stay in Dickinson and enroll in Dickinson State University for the fall semester. They were joined by a third student journeying from Russia to the United States just in time for the start of fall classes. “The Cold War is definitely over – its definitely over,” said Dr. Gary A. White, chair of the Department of Agriculture and Technical Studies, who served as a chaperone for the group of nine Dickinson State University students that traveled to Russia over the summer and as a host for the visiting Russian students. “These people are curious about America. They want to be our friends.” For Olga Elfimova, one of the two Russian exchange students who came in late July and opted to continue her education at Dickinson State University, it was that spirit of friendship that helped her make up her mind to stay. “The people that I met while I was in American really helped me to make the decision to stay here,” Elfimova said. While in Dickinson, the visiting Russian students were treated to visits to Medora and the North Dakota State Fair. They also toured a variety of agriculture-related sites such as the North Dakota State University Extension Research Center in Dickinson and agribusinesses in the region. In similar fashion, Dickinson State University students who traveled to Russia earlier in the summer came back with equally positive impressions of the trip. “ Russia was always on my list of 10 places that I wanted to go visit in my lifetime,” said Erin Arnold, one of nine Dickinson State University students to make the July trip to Moscow. “It was an amazing experience.”
“Going to Russia was a dream come true for me,” remarked Dickinson State University student Maryjo Bohl. “Being in Red Square and seeing Lenin’s tomb. It was not what I expected. I was also able to re-trace my family’s history. The friendships I made and the memories I have from that trip will always stay with me.” “This was a fantastic opportunity for everyone who went over to Russia,” said Dr. White. “To watch as our students developed friendships with our hosts over there – it was a wonderful sight. The future is in very good hands.” Russian delegation to visit Dickinson State University (January 2005) Nikolay Rodin, minister of the agrarian and industrial complex of the Russian Nizhniy Novgorod Region; Alexey Arinkin, rector of Nizhniy Novgorod State Agricultural Academy; and Alexander Samodelkin, vice-rector of Nizhniy Novgorod State Agricultural Academy traveled to Dickinson for a week-long tour of Dickinson State University and the surrounding region in January 2005. The visit came as the result of Dickinson State University’s partnership agreement with Nizhniy Novgorod State Agricultural Academy and the university’s ongoing emphasis on globalization.
Last year, two separate delegations of Dickinson State representatives traveled to Russia and Nizhniy Novgorod State Agricultural Academy as part of an initative to build student/faculty exchange programs and joint-research projects. As a result of these exchange efforts, Dickinson State sent 10 students to study in Russia for a month this past summer and now has three Russian students enrolled in school this year.
The highlight of the Russian delegation’s visit to the campus and community was a visit to the Ukrainian Cultural Institute and a ceremony for the raising of the Russian flag at the university’s international flag plaza. A luncheon followed with Agriculture Minister Rodin presenting on the political and economic situation in Russia. The group traveled to Bismarck and met with North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson, North Dakota University System Chancellor Robert Potts and representatives from North Dakota Governor John Hoeven’s office later in the week to discuss creating mutual long-term relationships in agriculture commodity trade, agri-business and education programs as well as possible joint projects in higher education.
Russian entrepreneur visits Dickinson to investigate possible partnerships in region (July 2004) Dr. Yury Tkachenko, deputy director of the Innovative Technological Center and director of the patent and license department at Nizhniy Novgorod State University visited Dickinson State University in July 2004 to visit with campus, community and area business leaders regarding the possibility of creating business partnerships. “There are businesses in Russia that are looking to establish partnerships with businesses in America,” Dr. Tkachenko told Dickinson Area Chamber of Commerce members during a midday luncheon. “The Russian government has made a lot of money available to businesses with the condition that they have a foreign partner. That’s motivating a lot of companies to look for partnerships.” To illustrate the possibilities, Dr. Tkachenko described examples of products from the four companies he has started in Russia that could come to the United States which might be of interest to a North Dakota market. He showcased samples of homeopathic wood paneling, designed to both decorate home interiors and to fight the spread of germs and bacteria. |
Russian
student testimonial 
