College of Business Abroad: Dean and Faculty Travel to India

While the rest of Valparaiso University was nearing the end of finals and preparing for the winter break in early December, a small group of faculty members from the College of Business were heading to the other side of the globe. Dean of the College, Niclas Erhardt, Ph.D., Sanjay Kumar, Ph.D., professor of information and decision sciences, Musa Pinar, Ph.D., professor of marketing, and Jiangxia “Renee” Liu, Ph.D., associate professor of accounting all traveled to the Global Challenges: Collaboration, Ethics, and Resilience conference in New Delhi, India. The conference was the result of a co-sponsorship between Valparaiso University and Gurugram University in Haryana, India.

“This was a great opportunity for us to expand our ties with Gurugram University,” Dean Erhardt says. “We’ve been talking about doing this for a couple of years and were finally able to, so that’s very exciting.”

The conference brought together an international group of students, professors, administrators and industry professionals, along with local leaders, to explore the issues and opportunities inherent to the rapid growth of technology, continued international relationships, working in a post-COVID 19 world, and how those factors are changing University curriculums and employer expectations around the world.

“With technology, we’re talking a lot about supply chain and business analytics, artificial intelligence, and how all of that is accelerating and changing jobs,” Dean Erhardt says. “It also means that universities have to be innovative and forward-thinking to keep up with what employers are looking for.”

Dean Erhardt was the keynote speaker for the event. His presentation addressed changes in the industry and how institutes of higher education need to shift curriculums to prepare students for the new, technical challenges they will face after graduation. At the same time, however, he emphasized how colleges and universities must continue to foster excellent teamwork, problem-solving, presentation, and other soft skills.

“All of these pieces need to be considered in a higher education, business, and global context,” Dean Erhardt says.

Dean Erhard’s audience was vast, and included prominent members of India’s educational, industrial, and governmental sectors. Governor of the state of Haryana and Chancellor of the 400,00 student Gurugram University system Bandaru Dattatreya was present, and participated alongside Valpo faculty in a panel exploring pertinent business and education issues facing young people heading into the industry.

Professor Pinar presented a paper in the marketing section of the conference that had been written in collaboration with alumna Cassi Belk ’22. Their work examined the difference that virtual learning made in the student experience during the COVID-19 pandemic. The project was awarded best paper of the seven presented on the marketing track.

“We looked at the student experience with interacting with professors, peers, that sort of thing,” Professor Pinar says. “They wanted to know how students felt experiencing these online courses versus in-person classes.”

The trip also served as a means of sparking interest in Valparaiso University in a large, international audience. The conference made headlines in regional newspapers and broadcast media, spreading awareness of its message — and its participants — to a vast audience.

“India has a lot of people,” Dean Erhardt says. “With minimal investment, we were in front of close to 30 million people, the regional population that the papers printed post-conference stories for. It was very low-cost, high-impact for the University.”

“If people don’t know you, they can’t select you,” Professor Pinar adds. “If we’re going to attract students from India, the first thing is creating awareness of the University. We also have to show-case the quality experience that allows students to pursue different things at Valpo.”

To reach more students in-person, the Valpo representatives spent time outside the conference visiting Deen Dayal Upadhyaya College, one of the top ten business schools in India, and part of a higher education system serving 800,000 students. There, they spoke to faculty and students to seek research partnership opportunities, find ways of working together, and discussed the education opportunities Valpo could offer.

Dean Erhardt and his team hope that by sharing their knowledge with these audiences, they will drive more regional students to come to the United States in pursuit of a Valparaiso University education.

“There are lots of opportunities in India,” Professor Liu says. “There are many Indian students that want to continue their education in the U.S, so we want them to come to our University.”

Once those students arrive on Valpo’s campus, however, it’s up to the students, faculty, staff and community members to support them.

“It can be simple things, like showing them how to get about, where to get groceries or where they can do their laundry,” Professor Kumar says. “That’s part of a liberal arts education, being exposed to different cultures and languages. And these students add a lot of value in terms of perspectives from a cultural and geographical difference.”

Professor Liu believes that the kind community Valparaiso University can provide, especially the connections between students and faculty, is one of the University’s main strengths when catering to an international student audience.

“Our faculty are passionate about teaching. We really care about students,” she says. “We tried to really talk to some students and listen to their questions, and many students were impressed by the Valpo way.”