Last week Vice Provost Timothy Chester led a Pepperdine delegation to India to explore opportunities abroad. President Andrew K. Benton said Pepperdine and India were at very early stages of talks making it too early to say exactly what any potential program might look like.
According to Pepperdine administrators The Times of India misreported several facts about the visit such as saying Pepperdine was looking to invest approximately $220 million on a site that would have a capacity of 3000 students.
The writer of the article said his information came from a government press release.
The report included mention of the nine-member delegation led by Chester who met briefly with Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy as well as other officials and educators.
“The massive population and growing economy presents a potential learning opportunity for our students Benton wrote in an e-mail. Not unlike China to understand the future one would be advised to understand India he continued.
Chester, also the University’s chief information officer, commented on the factual pursuit of his trip to Hyderabad.
Chester said they met with the vice chancellor of Open University that has more than a million students.
In regards to the types of opportunities that Pepperdine is looking for in India, Chester said they were looking for educational opportunities as well as dispute resolution programs for their [Indian] citizens.”
“The possibility of a full-blown American-style campus is complex Chester said.
As of now, there are no identifiable sites or funding for a Pepperdine program in Hyderabad. However, Chester believes that the opportunities warrant investigation.”
Chester continued that a “full-blown market investigation is precursory to any kind of talk which could inform Pepperdine about two things: India’s needs in terms of skill gaps and Pepperdine’s potential in the give-and-demand environment.
With respect to the specific location choice, Benton wrote: When examining international opportunities we often go where we have already established contacts and that is the case in several places in India including Hyderabad.”
“We are merely examining whether or not India would be a good place for some element of our several international programs Benton wrote.
Pepperdine has already been in India through International Programs’ winter programs. Last winter break, the program was a three-week long tour focusing on the major religions of the country and important sites in the religious history and development.
Pepperdine’s International Programs was recently ranked No.1 by the Institute of International Education in their 2010 National Rankings for Highest Percentage of Students to Study Abroad” as well as No. 7 in the 2010-2011 Princeton Review of “373 Best Colleges and Universities” for most popular study abroad programs.
The city of Hyderabad the capital of the state of Andhra Pradesh is centrally located making it a rich mix of southern and northern Indian traditions. Hyderabad is also commonly known for being a center for the information technology industry pharmaceutical prowess and a popular film industry.
The visit is part of Pepperdine’s continuing commitment to developing its overseas programs.
“We believe in the value of international study so we are always looking Benton wrote.