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College of Business
Copeland Hall
Athens, Ohio 45701
740.593.2000
800.833.0484
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GCP grows through collaboration and new partnership in Argentina
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Sept. 15, 2009
By Julia Marino, Marketing and Communications GA
 This
summer, the College of Business presented a series that highlighted
various hands-on growing experiences provided by the college’s unique
international study abroad opportunity The Global Consulting Program.
Through the series, audiences were able to receive a taste of business student’s travels to Wuhan, China and Barcelona, Spain .
The Global Consulting Program (GCP), which changed its name from the
Global Competitiveness Program this academic year, provides new and
challenging opportunities for students to gain real-world consulting
experience, cultural understanding and personal growth.
In
preparation for this year’s GCP registration, which begins on September
22 at 7:00 a.m., the College of Business will be holding information
sessions on September 15 at 6 p.m. in Bentley 135 and on September 16 at 6 p.m. in Copeland 112. The information sessions, presented by the Center for International Business Education and Development CIBED
at the College of Business, will serve as an in-depth and dynamic
introduction to the GCP, and will highlight its diverse range of
program locations throughout the globe.
The GCP continues to
grow since its inception in 1995, not just in terms of academic
development, but also in its range of partnerships. In addition to the
new partnership with IQS Ramon Llull University in Barcelona, which was introduced to the program this summer, the GCP has forged a new partnership with the Universidad Tecnologica Nacional (UTN), Argentina’s premier engineering and technology school, in the cosmopolitan city of Bahia Blanca, Argentina.
The partnership with UTN will involve collaboration with Ohio University’s Russ College of Engineering and Technology,
hosting an equal amount of IT students and business students. Professor
of IT at the Russ College of Engineering Dr. Todd Myers, who will be
participating as a faculty member and adviser in Argentina, attributes
the new partnership to years of project development with UTN Professor
Ernesto Castagnet, a former graduate student of Myers and owner and
operator of an automatic identification business.
“With my
experience in business management, operations and consulting, the GCP
provided a perfect program to fulfill our idea,” Myers said. “What is
really unique about this GCP is that it brings students from two
distinct disciplines…with different skill sets into cross functional
teams, much like they would experience in a real world organization.”
Unlike
the other GCP projects, which take place during summer intercessions,
this new partnership will launch during the winter intersession
2010-2011, from Nov. 27 – Dec.14 2010. Although it will be winter in
Ohio, it will be the start of Argentina's summer in the southern
hemisphere.
Besides the pleasant climate, Myers said that the
new location is a valuable site for students as “South American nations
are increasingly important trading partners.” “Argentina in particular
is experiencing growth in industry, technology, and, of course,
tourism,” said Myers, while adding that the GCP projects will be
operations - focused.
UTN in Argentina will not be the first
location where the College of Business has collaborated with the Russ
College of Engineering and Technology, however. For the past seven
years, the GCP has brought students and faculty from the College of
Engineering and Technology and the College of Business to its partner
site in Thessaloniki, the second largest city in Greece.
Professor
of Engineering Costas Vassiliadis, a native of Greece and coordinator
of the GCP program there, helped create the program with Anatolia College
in Thessaloniki seven years ago, which brings approximately 25 business
majors and five engineering majors to Greece each summer.
 This past summer, Vassiliadis, along with College of Business faculty Gary Coombs, associate professor of management systems, Greg Waller, assistant professor of finance, and Mira Straska,
assistant professor of finance. guided 20 business students and three
engineering students in consulting projects for clients in Greece such
as Hyatt Regency Thessaloniki, Hondos Apollonia Politia, clothing
manufacturer Sarah Lawrence, elevator manufacturer Kalliotis Lifts, and
several more.
“…Engineering students cannot find words to
express their gratitude for all the new opportunities and knowledge
this program exposed them,” Vassiliadis said.
“Many of the
participating engineering students end up in international engineering
assignments and there is no better preparation for them than the GCP
program.”
According to Coombs, the same experience resonates
among business students and faculty. “You can't help but experience
some of the same growth as we hope the students will experience.”
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