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Click play to see a video from VIU’s Graduation Ceremony held on April 28, 2012!

Written by Ariunaa Dashtsogt, VIU MBA Student

Virginia International University is developing in such a dynamic way. We are improving our cooperation with other universities and educational institutions both domestically and internationally. As VIU builds concrete relationships with universities outside of the United States, we enable many prospective students to receive high quality education that fulfills their special needs. VIU representatives are putting forth a great deal of effort to expand our collaboration with universities abroad. I would like to highlight a few of the recent events VIU has taken part in overseas in recent months.

VIU in Casablanca, Morocco

At this time one of the VIU representatives Idris Ulas, Director of Marketing Department, has been attending international educational fairs in Morocco. He is also put on presentations about our programs and admission process at such events as education workshops, seminars, and many others. Mr. Ulas met about 300 students in Morocco, all of which have the unique desire to study at a U.S. University like VIU. “Young adults of Morocco are excited about VIU’s affordable tuition fee, great location, and scholarship opportunity,” said Mr. Ulas. Lastly, he sends his warm greetings to his colleagues and students at VIU from magnificent city, Casablanca in Morocco.

VIU in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

On May 7^th, two VIU representatives, Dr. Goran Trajkovski, Dean of the School of Computer Information Systems and Dean of Online Education, as well as Ms. Emily Leighty, Student Affairs Assistant left for Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia to visit two major Mongolian universities: the Royal International Institute and the Ikh Zasag University. The main goal of the business trip is to advance educational ties and strengthen academic partnership between VIU and the Mongolian institutions.

Dr. Trajkovski and Ms. Leighty will reach out to hundreds of students and faculty by giving a series of lectures on various topics, including the benefits of studying at VIU including our academic programs, admission procedures, and advantages of online education. The presentations will be recorded by the television station producing the Super Student television show. Dr. Trajkovski will also give number of interviews to the local newspapers and TV stations, including the prestigious Royal TV.

Look for more updates of this kind in the future – this type of international cooperation align closely with VIU’s mission to educate students from all over the world. We trust that our international educational agreements and partnerships will pave the way for VIU students to gain a truly global perspective.

On March 17, 2012 the Rock N Roll Marathon Series came to Washington, DC.  The Rock N Roll Race series travels around the country and allows participants to run in either a half- or full marathon. Additionally, the tour goes to parts of Europe as well. Perhaps, what is really interesting about the marathon series is that they partner with various well-known charities, including the ASPCA, St. Jude’s, Lukemia and Lymphoma Society, and Susan G. Komen to name a few.  Since 1998, these charities have raised more than $266 million for their causes through the Rock N’ Roll Marathon Series! The race came to Washington this past March, and a few of VIU’s staff members were eager to be involved! Staff members Emily Leighty, Yobi Park, & Prashish Shrestha all participated in the half marathon on the 17th. Here is what they had to say about their experience in running 13.1 miles!

“The race was a great experience.  We were lucky enough to be running on a perfect spring day, and the course took us by some of the monuments and other D.C. landmarks.  What means the most to me is that I completed something I can really be proud of.  When we signed up for the event in October I couldn’t make it one mile – let alone thirteen!  This was a test of determination and endurance and dedication.  Another special part of it for me was getting to know my co-workers and teammates better.  Yobi and Prashish are both talking about doing it again; I haven’t decided yet if I will let them convince me to do the same.  There has also been talk of signing up for a full marathon (crazy) or climbing Mount Everest (crazier).  I’m hoping these ideas are the result of the adrenaline high.” – Emily Leighty 

“I didn’t expect that many people would be running in the race,but it was packed with people starting at the metro station from very early in the morning. The weather was nice and the route was even nicer. The most impressive thing to me was the crowd who was cheering, clapping and giving high-fives for us. It was also St. Patrick’s day so people were dressed funny which made me laugh several times while running in the race. When I started running, I knew my knees that had been hurt since a week before weren’t completely healed so I was worried so much if I could even complete the race, which could be embarrassing and merely an excuse not to run to others. I ran very slowly for the first 3 miles and realized that my knees were getting more impact than running a little faster. So, I stopped and drank a bottle of 5-Hour Energy that I was holding from the start. It was at Constitution Ave. right where the Washington Monument stands. Then, I was able to run almost 5-6 miles with a few stops as I was supposed to. But after the 10-mile point I almost walked to the finish line. Nevertheless of my finishing time and how I finished at the end, this experience will be remembered forever!” -Yobi Park

“I didn’t think I could have so much fun getting up at 5:30 in the morning just to go run 13.1 miles, but I had a blast! I stood at the race line with 24 thousand other racers- it was like a big festival and a crowd with full energy. The course was within DC area, though it was dogged with hills, the beauty of historical area slipped my mind from fatigue. This was my first half marathon, and I felt a great sense of accomplishment when I crossed the finish line in 1:59, though I did think I could die at the 13th mile when I pulled a muscle in my right leg.  On that moment I thought ‘I will never do this again,’ but now when I think about entire race, I enjoyed it so much and would like to do similar races again with better time performance.” – Prashish Shrestha

On behalf of VIU, I just want to say how inspired and proud of each of you we are! You have accomplished something truly amazing, and have served as an inspiration to all of your coworkers and every member of the VIU family! Here’s to the next 13.1 miles, and each one thereafter!

Reported by VIU MBA Student, Ariunaa Dashtsogt

Louis Armstrong’s signature piece, “What A Wonderful World” filled the auditorium as hundreds filed in for Dr. Jennifer Bailey’s lecture “Is World Power Shifting East?” on a sunny Sunday afternoon in Silver Spring, Maryland. At the front of the auditorium, Dr. Bailey stood resplendent in a technicolor, gold-embroidered, silk sari that fully captured the rich international perspective she was about to share with her audience. Bailey, one of the Virginia International University’s (VIU) acclaimed professors, teaches graduate courses in Strategic Management, Export & Import Management and International Business for the MBA Program. Dr. Bailey is also founder and executive director of the Bailey Institute, a global organization using technology to combat illiteracy in the United States, Liberia, Nepal and Trinidad and Tobago.

Twenty students from Dr. Bailey’s Strategic Management class and 200 area residents attended the lecture. The audience was treated to a plethora of research and analysis covering seven decades: The post-world war two economic rise of the U.S.; the re-building of European economies in the 1950s; the accelerated rise of China, India, Russia and Brazil over the past two decades driven by economic globalization; the steady decline of aid-recipient countries in Africa and parts of Asia by-passed by globalization; a decade of stagnant and declining European economies stuck with again populations and un-innovative economies. To simplify the vast body of research covered, Dr. Bailey established four global perspectives for assessing the premise that world power may be shifting East.

1. Post-cold war—The belief that  U.S. ascendancy will remain intact
2. Market driven—The belief that markets will determine the course of the future
3. Environmentalism—Is ongoing growth compatible with environmental sustainability
4. Transformative—Review and revise old ways for better ways of growth/development

For the VIU students in the audience whose national origins included Mongolia, Nepal, Uzbekistan, Thailand, and Tibet, the lecture, was a great time to absorb Dr. Bailey’s powerful ideas and profound thoughtfulness in condensing this vast body of new information into a mind-expanding 45-minute lecture. VIU students described the experience as a “great teaching and learning opportunity.” Dr. Bailey revealed the lecture represented more than two years of research, reflection and writing.

Dr. Bailey observed other notable trends including stagnant or decreasing economic growth in developed countries (U.S and Western Europe—except Germany). The biggest debtor nations are in the West–U.S., UK, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain, and Greece, with many facing economic collapse. By contrast, the group of countries Jim O’Neill calls the BRIC’s—Brazil, Russia, India and China are demographically among the most populous, with younger populations and economic growth strategies very likely to be sustained to at least 2050.

Importantly, Dr. Bailey demonstrated how waves of globalization are putting enormous pressure on the demand for fossil fuels and other non-renewable energy products and fostering strong competition and increased prices for the world’s limited supply of natural resources. Continued economic growth for the BRICs will depend on innovative growth strategies, and the creativity to avoid the West’s “Buy, Use, Dispose” consumer marketing model which is not environmentally sustainable. BRICs and the emerging N-11, O’Neil’s list of the next group of market driven growth economies are challenged to meet fundamental infrastructure needs within their countries and an imperative to improve social conditions including education and health to diminish poverty and bring prosperity to their most challenged populations.

Bailey concurs that the “World as we knew it” in the West has changed creating a sense of loss captured in a National Geographic Survey (2010) – 27 percent of Americans perceive the U.S. is not the world’s number one economy (It is); and 44 percent think China is the world’s number one economy (It is not). Dr. Bailey’s research suggests it is unlikely the U.S. will lose its position as the #1 largest economy by 2050, as projected by some research. Nor, is the U.S. likely to lose its role as an influential player on the world stage—it is likely to share the world stage with new and less familiar bedfellows. In the U.S. and in much of western Europe, new rules for national prosperity need to be adopted. These include tax and market reforms, support for social reforms in education, health care and retirement policies; improved material infrastructure; and new ways to raise per capita income especially among the middle class. These social and economic factors must take immediate and higher priority if the U.S. and the West are to sustain their democracies and economies that work for all, especially those in the middle.

Dr. Bailey, pictured with several VIU Students

Today marks the official beginning of the National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, DC! Each year, VIU students travel the short 20 miles from our university into Washington, DC to view the beautiful Cherry Blossom trees on the National Mall.  For those of you who aren’t aware, those trees have a rich history. In 1912 3000 (THREE THOUSAND!) Cherry Blossom trees were gifted to the United States by Japan to commemorate the friendship between the USA and Japan. This makes 2012 the 100th anniversary of the Cherry Blossom Celebration! If you have never taken the opportunity to view the cherry blossoms in bloom, you are missing out. The entire Tidal Basin is surrounded with pink blooms that can be seen driving by or up close in person.  In recent decades there is an annual Cherry Blossom Festival wherein over a million people flock to the city to view and celebrate the wonderful bond between two nations.

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Virginia International University (VIU), located in Fairfax, Virginia the launch of Professional Development Workshops for Business Leaders and Academicians, designed to help prepare participants to teach and conduct business in English language settings. The Program is designed for participants who already possess a general proficiency in the English language. Our six-week program has been divided into two 3-week sessions.  Participants in the workshop would attend 15 hours of class per week, for a total of 45 hours of class per session, and instruction will focus on management and leadership,

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VIU is very proud to announce that MBA Student, Dixon Peters has earned his Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification from the Project Management Institute (PMI).  PMI is a non-profit organization that was founded in 1969. PMI has over 600,000 members and operates in approximately 185 countries worldwide. PMI is the premier institute in awarding PMP Certifications.

Project Management Professional (PMP) Certificates are the most important industry-recognized certification for project managers and demonstrate that an individual has the experience, education, and competency needed to lead projects.

We had the opportunity to sit down with Dixon and talk a bit about his experience and why he felt it was necessary for him to earn a PMP Certification:

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In the past five years, the face of the global economy has seen drastic shifts. There have been major financial crises in what is generally considered the world’s top-performing countries ranging from housing market crashes, to increased unemployment rates, to unpredictability in the stock exchange, and heightened oil prices.  The United States has been no exception to these change. It seems that no business has been safe, and all individuals face the daunting task of fighting for their livelihood. In the past, trends have suggested that in tough economic times it is best to invest in yourself by investing in education. The thought is as follows – If you can improve your own skill set, you can improve your resume, and therefore improve your job security, or even find some upward mobility in the job market. I heeded this advice myself and enrolled in a graduate program at a local university. I earned a Master of Arts degree in Political Science, and found it to be a refreshing experience. I gained a great deal of knowledge, along with an immeasurable amount of life experience. I also gained another very, very valuable tool that is often an indirect, unpublicized result of attending graduate school: networking. contacts. shameless self-promotion. The reasons to work towards higher education are a dime a dozen, but it seems that one of the most difficult pieces each of us have with actually seeking a college degree is how to pay for it.

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Fairfax, Virginia: Virginia International University (VIU) is proud to announce that the university’s accreditation has been renewed. The institution underwent a renewal visit in 2011, and the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges & Schools (ACICS) has extended VIU’s accreditation through December 31, 2015. VIU has been accredited by the ACICS since 2008.

ACICS is an independent accrediting agency that was founded in 1912, and is the largest national accrediting agency in the United States. ACICS is recognized by the US Department of Education and the Council on Higher Education Administration (CHEA). The organization accredits more than 800 institutions in the United States. For more information about ACICS, please visit their website at http://www.acics.org.

Virginia International University is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization as designated by the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS). VIU was founded in 1998, and is located in Fairfax, Virginia. The university enrolls more than 800 students annually, and offers graduate and undergraduate degree and certificate programs in Business, Computer Science, and English Language Studies. Many of VIU’s degrees are also offered online. For more information about VIU, please visit their website at http://www.viu.edu.

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If you would like more information about Virginia International University or the programs offered by the institution, please call (703) 591 – 7042 or email info@viu.edu.

VIU’s School of Online Education is proud to announce that we have lowered our tuition rates for all programs and courses offered online! Due to a decrease in costs required to run online courses, the School of Online Education has made the decision to greatly lower our per-credit hour tuition rates.  Tuition rates for the graduate programs are now $389.00 per credit hour, and undergraduate programs are now $315.00 per credit hour for full time study.

VIU’s School of Online Education allows students to go beyond geographical distances so do not worry about coming to campus – all course material is at your fingertips!

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