Shippensburg University to help Iraqi business colleges

Three members of the Shippensburg University campus will arrive in Baghdad Thursday (Jan. 5) as part of the university efforts to help improve finance and banking education in Iraq.     

Dr. John Kooti, dean of the John L. Grove College of Business; Dr. Melodye Wehrung, executive director of social equity; and Dr. Sarah K. Bryant, professor of finance and supply chain management, left the United States Jan. 3 to begin the trip funded by a $499,436 grant. 

The grant is from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), an independent agency that provides economic, development and humanitarian assistance around the world in support of the foreign policy goals of the United States. They will leave Iraq Jan. 12 to return to the U.S.     

Kooti said the grant is the first of its kind for the university. “We start the new year in Iraq,” he said, noting that while the country remains in flux, “We hope it will be a positive experience.”   

The two-year grant has three components and different individuals will work on the components simultaneously. Their initial visit will be to assess the present situation. Kooti has no illusions about the state of colleges and universities in Iraq as “higher education has suffered significantly since the 1980s and it has continued to decline until recently.”     

The first component will be to conduct a feasibility study on establishing a center for excellence in finance and banking. “We will work with the government, the ministry of higher education in Iraq, as well as the private sector banking and financial (businesses) to see how we will be able to establish the center in Baghdad.”   

The second component will be to establish a center for excellence for Iraqi colleges of management and economics. “The objective is to improve the business programs in selected universities to improve their curriculum to update and upgrade their programs. We will look at capacity building, working with their faculty and their staff to determine what resources are needed. It will be a center for teaching excellence.”  

The third component will be to use the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) standards to assure quality of the programs, the development of administrative capacity and guidance. Grove College has long held AACSB accreditation. By employing the process that AACSB provides, Kooti believes Iraqi colleges and universities will provide a high caliber education, which will be needed as Iraq transitions into a new government, economy and way of life.       

“We will consult with them (the colleges) and work with them through the two-year project using the same standards that assure quality programs and resources,” he said.     

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