A popular KU study abroad program in Italy, home to more than 150 Jayhawks each year, has moved from the University of Kansas to the University of Iowa.
The program was sponsored by the University for more than eight years, and offers classes in business, journalism, and communications in Paderno del Grappa.
The program's leader in Italy, a former KU professor of business, is a native Iowan with close ties to the university in Iowa City, Iowa. When the University of Kansas's contract with the Italian program expired this summer, the professor, Al Ringleb chose to move the program to Iowa.
"We fully expect that this transition will not have a negative impact on students attending from KU," Ringleb said in a telphone interview from Italy, where he is executive director of CIMBA, the Consortium Institute of Management and Business Analysis.
Tim Shaftel, professor of business and faculty advisor to the Office of Study Abroad, said that KU students will still be able to attend but students must now obtain credit from the University of Iowa.
Shaftel said he expected most classes would transfer. Several KU professors travel to Italy each semester to teach classes. KU professors and students have predominantly led the program in attendance, but that is expected to now shift to Iowa. Although the cost of the program increases each semester, the price is uniform for students from all universities.
"Iowa was interested in running it," Shaftel said. "KU was feeling that the administration of the program was more of a burden than it wanted to take on."
Iowa faculty, in the meantime, sees its take-over of the program as an opportunity.
"Like Kansas, we work hard to maintain a national reputation, and heading this international program really aids in that mission. It's great for our students, our reputation, and faculty development," said Gary Gaeth, a professor of marketing and faculty director of the program on the Iowa campus.
Gaeth said he still expected a high level of participation from KU students.
Robert Lopez, outreach coordinator at the Office of Study Abroad, said that last spring, 56 KU students attended the program, while 21 attended this fall semester. He said 70 KU students are expected to attend this spring semester.
Ringleb said that although the switch to Iowa was a tough decision, it was necessary. He pointed to Iowa's progress in neuroscience, brain imaging, and leadership development as motivating reasons for the move. Ringleb has particular interest in those areas and uses them within CIMBA program.
"Iowa had the resource advantage of having the kind of on-site resources that could push our leadership development program forward," Ringleb said.
Ringleb said that growing up in Iowa did leave him a little biased in regards to the move, as did friendly relations with other University of Iowa leaders. He said that Sally Frost Mason, now the president of the University of Iowa, and the former dean of the KU College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, also helped in his decision to take the program to Iowa.
Ringleb said he had always hoped to see more involvement from the University of Iowa, which was not a participating school in the program until it took over in August.
"If it hadn't been at Iowa, I probably wouldn't have been as interested," Ringleb said.
Although the University of Kansas no longer oversees the program, Ringleb said that he still would like it to play an important role.
"There was a strong sense of loss, even though it was a move forward," Ringleb said.
The university still maintains a program office on campus, although with a much smaller staff than it once had. Of the 33 universities that most often send faculty and students to the program, the University of Kansas and the University of Iowa are the only two with campus offices, highlighting their importance to the program.
"The KU student has really set an impressive standard. With a KU student, you're starting with a product that has a high sense of value and purpose, " Ringleb said.
Students now wishing to attend the program in Paderno can find more information at www.cimbaitaly.com or by visiting the Italy Program office in Summerfield Hall. Applications for the summer semester are due Feb. 1, 2008.
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