One of the lesser known facts about our institution are the financial benefits that we provide to different individuals. VIU is n authorized provider of Veteran’s benefits to the US Armed Forces. We are able to offer great opportunities for students to come and study at our institution while receiving great benefits in funding from the US Government and our institution. We also offer Workforce Investment Area program discounts to students who are in need of bettering their skill sets and reaching their career potential. One of our students that has participated in these funding opportunities, Brenda Callahan, has shared her experience with us below:
I heard about VIU through the Virginia Unemployment Office under the Workforce Investment Area (WIA) program. The WIA is a program that assists unemployed personnel with a “certain amount of funds toward a skill through a listed school. Upon completion, participants receive a Certificate of Learning that aims to help in gaining a better job.
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.
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.
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.
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!
This post was written by new VIU Blog Contributor, Gabriela Pereira. Gabriela is pursuing her MBA in International Business at VIU. Join me in welcoming Gabriela’s thoughts and words on VIU’s Blog!
I recently had to develop a “personal business plan” for the International Business Strategy class that is part of my MBA program this semester. The plan had to include my personal goals and a self-analysis that would evaluate what I would like to accomplish in different aspects of life in a 5-year timeframe. As I wrote that plan I began to wonder if a student’s self-analysis should be mandatory for all business schools. Business school is serious business. It involves much more than coming to the conclusion that you need a graduate degree to get a good job; it is much more than achieving a high GPA and attending classes. Alright, let’s find out what is this all about.
Let’s start with the smaller picture. As an international student getting out of college with an undergraduate degree no matter where you are from you have to ask yourself: what do I want to do with my life? What am I passionate about that can drive me to overcome obstacles and pursue something with all my strength? That is the initial question because business is about passionate people who believe in an idea, don’t have the resources to back up that idea but will pursue it until it becomes an accomplishment. But it all comes back to the core purpose, it all comes back to the mission, it all comes back to answering: why am I doing this?
VIU President, Dr. Isa Sarac visited the Embassy of Tunisia on Friday October 21, 2011 to introduce Virginia International University to the Ambassador Mr. Mohamed Salah Tekaya and the First Secretary Ms. Faten Bahri.
The Ambassador emphasized an importance of youth education in Tunisia, where recently free elections were held for the first time in the history of the Arab Spring. Mr. Tekaya mentioned that he was very excited about writing a new page in Tunisian-American relationships as a representative of a new democracy. Dr. Sarac replied that Virginia International University had just two students from Tunisia, and that he would be happy to see more in the nearest future.
On October 7, 2011 Colors of America, one of the popular programs of Ulaanbaatar Broadcasting System which is the second largest channel in Mongolia, visited at VIU. One of VIU’s Mongolian students, Undraa Togosbold participated in this program in order to introduce our school and students’ life in the USA. Ms.Undraa who invited ‘Colors of America’ received her Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, in Japan. Now she is studying for her MBA at VIU, with a major in Accounting.
VIU has several Mongolian students who study a variety of programs including ESL, BBA, MBA, MIS and more. The percentage of students of Mongolian decent in the student body is increasing annually. For that instance the visit of ‘Colors of America’ was important for VIU. Mr. Batbayar, the producer of the program conducted an interview with Dr. Isa Sarac, President of Virginia International University, Mr. Bayarjargal Battulga, Business Manager and Ms. Emily Leighty, Admissions Officer. Dr. Sarac stated our school’s mission, vision and goals including his objective to increase number of Mongolian students and to expand our relationship with Mongolia, as a whole. Dr. Sarac mentioned that even though he founded higher education businesses in Europe, the USA was unique place where students can gain modern, up-to-date education. It means people can receive the most quality-oriented education only in USA compared with other nations.
This is a guest post, written by one of VIU’s MBA Students, Ariunaa Dashtsogt, who traveled from her home country of Mongolia to study in the United States. Ariunaa is pictured on the far right in the photo below. Thank you Ariunaa for creating such an informative post for us to share on our blog!
Ms. Hilary Kozikowski, Dr. Isa Sarac, HE Kh. Bekhbat, & Ms. Ariunaa Dashtsogt
On October 3, 2011 Dr. Isa Sarac, President of Virginia International University (VIU), and Ms. Hilary Kozikowski, Academic Coordinator for the School of Business met with the U.S. Ambassador Kh.Bekhbat at the Mongolian Embassy in Washington, D.C. Dr. Sarac began the meeting by mentioning VIU’s goal and mission statement: “Our University was established in 1998 with the goal of providing affordable, quality higher-education to students as they prepare to meet ever-evolving needs and opportunities of the 21st Century workforce. Our student body represents more than 70 different countries. We have qualified and experienced professors, and our curricula includes practical experience. On the other hand, VIU started our relationship with the Mongolian Embassy about 10 years ago. So we are ready to invite Mongolian students to the U.S.”
