Dec. 7, 2015
April Wefler
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Americans are often enamored with British culture. We listen to British music, we read British literature, we watch British TV and we keep tabs on the royal family, even though they have no impact on our own country.
UCCS is joining the Anglophilia craze. Three colleges are creating an exchange program with England’s Loughborough University.
“I’ve had a couple students come over to Loughborough already and they’ve had a very positive experience,” said Spencer Harris, assistant professor of sport management, who gained his Ph.D. from Loughborough.
The exchange program is for students pursuing degrees in sport management and exercise science in the College of Business; art, psychology and biology in the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences; and students in Beth-El College of Nursing and Health Sciences.
“We had a visiting professor from Loughborough out here and they felt the exchange would work very well,” Harris said.
“We thought there was a shared benefit from both schools,” he said.
Students will pay UCCS tuition and are able to use their Loughborough credits toward their degrees.
“The students that we’re focusing on are sport management students, exercise students, health, biology and psychology students, mainly because that’s where Loughborough have their reputation,” Harris said.
Harris said they will conduct the exchange program on a trial basis. For the first year, the program will only accept two to four students.
“We may build on that if it’s working well and there’s demand in interest,” he said.
The UCCS students will be at Loughborough for a semester, while four students from Loughborough will attend UCCS for a year.
“Loughborough don’t allow their students to come and just study one class…to gain enough credit to get the national diploma, they have to be here for the year,” Harris said.
The original intent was to have the exchange exclusively within the College of Business, particularly in sport management and exercise science. Loughborough asked if the program could be broadened into other areas for their students to study.
“Other departments agreed they would at least like to explore potential exchange further,” Harris said.
The exchange program is still in the developmental process. Harris said the colleges need to draw up a memorandum of understanding (a document expressing mutual accord between multiple parties,) which then needs to be looked at by the university’s lawyers.
In addition, the deans of the various colleges need to approve the exchange. Harris said the dean of the College of Business, Venkat Reddy, has been involved in the discussions.
Harris said the colleges are still trying to figure out how to go about the selection process. He said there will likely be an application and promotional sessions for students in January or February.
Loughborough University is located in Leicestershire in southern England. Harris said Nottingham and Birmingham are about 20 minutes and 30 minutes by rail, respectively, while London is about an hour and 20 minutes by train.
“We also have on the doorstep of Leicestershire is an area called the Peak District. It doesn’t really compare to the mountains of Colorado, but lots of climbing, camping, fishing, kind of on the edge of a national park,” Harris said.
Additionally, he said Leicestershire has nightlife, a reduced drinking age, lots of galleries and museums in Birmingham and a variety of professional sports, particularly soccer and rugby.