UNYP and Texas Tech Join Forces

University of New York in Prague (UNYP) and Texas Tech University are now formal educational partners. President of UNYP Elias Foutsis and provost of Texas Tech Bob Smith recently signed a reciprocal agreement that will encourage and more easily facilitate the exchange of undergraduate and graduate students, as well as faculty research alliances between the two institutions.

The relationship between the two universities began in 2004 under the leadership of John Masselli, Haskell Taylor Professor of Taxation, as part of the Rawls College of Business summer program in Prague. Since then, more than 200 Rawls College of Business students and 15 UNYP students have participated in this study abroad program.

“I am genuinely thrilled thatUNYP and Texas Tech University have now advanced our relationship to that of a university wide reciprocal arrangement,” Masselli said. “Our respective institutions share a mutual goal of global education that will enhance our overall pedagogical objectives.”

During the last year, team from Texas Tech has worked together with the administration of UNYP to transition the relationship from a mere affiliation to that of a reciprocal exchange program.

The team comprises Masselli, along with Debbie Laverie, senior executive dean of Rawls College of Business; Catherine Massengale, director of the Rawls International Business Education Resource Center; Archie Pitsilides, director of grants and outreach; and Ambassador Tibor Nagy, vice provost for international affairs, and his staff at the Office of International Affairs.

“I´m confident that our vision for international expansion of alliances will not only include Prague but also eventually include opportunities in other cities where UNYP already has a base of operation such as Athens, Thessaloniki and Tirana,” Masselli said. “As global borders blur, I truly feel such alliances will make Texas Tech an even stronger contributor to the global marketplace in the years to come.”