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9
Addressing Business Needs
T
wo Title VI programs focus on meeting business needs for interna-
tional knowledge and foreign language skills: the Business and Inter-
national Education (BIE) Program, created in 1980, and the Centers
for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) Program, cre-
ated in 1988. The BIE program aims to encourage innovation, helping
a range of higher education institutions, including two-year colleges, to
develop international and foreign language capacity in their business pro-
grams. To carry this program out, the U.S. Department of Education (ED)
provides two-year seed grants. In contrast, the CIBER Program is designed
to create and sustain international business curricula and faculty at the
nation’s top-ranked business schools. To advance this goal, ED provides
larger and more sustained CIBER grants (averaging about $340,000 per
year), lasting four years rather than two (until the most recent grant compe-
tition, CIBER grants were awarded for three years) (Ruther, 2006). CIBER
grantees are also charged with being “regional resources to business.” This
chapter focuses on these two programs, given their particular focus on
business needs.
As with other key areas, the available evidence does not allow a rigor-
ous assessment of business-related outcomes, such as the programs’ impact
on enhancing the international competitiveness of U.S. businesses or im-
proving global understanding in the business community. Similarly, it is
not possible to determine the extent to which the two programs may have
improved institutional capacity in international business education, given
the lack of information about baseline institutional capacity or quality in
international business education.
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ADDRESSING BUSINESS NEEDS
The programs were launched during a time of intense international
competition that affected not only U.S. businesses, but also business schools.
In the early 1970s, well before Congress created BIE and CIBER, the As-
sembly of Collegiate Schools of Business recommended that business school
accreditation standards be changed to require a more international empha-
sis (Biddle, 2002). In 1980, this accreditation requirement was added.1 In
a mid-1990s study of internationalization at large research universities,
some business school faculty and administrators felt that, because of their
need to respond to the needs of prospective employers, they were ahead of
the rest of the university in internationalizing (Biddle, 2002). The changing
context of U.S. business education makes it difficult to isolate the effects of
the BIE and CIBER programs.
Given the nature of the available evidence, this chapter, like others,
focuses primarily on the activities and outputs of the BIE and CIBER pro-
grams. It begins with a discussion of mechanisms in the CIBER Program to
facilitate coordination and collaboration and highlight accomplishments,
featuring reported CIBER activities in key areas, such as homeland security,
foreign languages in the business curriculum, knowledge about interna-
tional trade and competitiveness, and institutional capacity. The chapter
then moves to the BIE Program and discussion of the available evidence
related to its accomplishments in the areas of infusing foreign languages
and area studies into the business curriculum and improving outreach and
dissemination. Each of these areas is an indirect indicator of the programs’
ability to respond to business needs.
CIBER PROGRAM
The vast majority (95.7 percent) of CIBER awards are to institutions
classified as primarily research. Most CIBER grants are awarded to top-
tier business schools, in keeping with the law’s goal of supporting national
resources in international business education and foreign languages. In
its 2006 rankings of graduate business schools, U.S. News & World Re-
port (2006b) identified 51 top schools (with a 3-way tie for 49th place).
Among the 30 business schools with CIBER grants in 2006, 20 (66 percent)
were included in the top 51 schools. Among the 10 other institutions that
received CIBER awards, several offer nationally ranked undergraduate
business degrees (U.S. News & World Report, 2006a). These institutions
include the University of South Carolina, Florida International University,
and the University of Hawaii-Manoa.
1 In 2006, accreditation required that the business programs “prepare students for careers
in the global context” (American Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business In-
ternational, 2006, p. 9).
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INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION AND FOREIGN LANGUAGES
CIBER Network
A unique feature of the CIBER Program, in comparison to other Title
VI and Fulbright-Hays (Title VI/FH) programs, is the extent to which
grantees share information and best practices. The 31 centers have created
a strong yet flexible network that supports collaboration, communication,
and shared learning.
Legislative and Administrative Supports
The legislative mandate in Title VI2 and ED’s administration of the
program have encouraged the centers to collaborate through the CIBER
network. The first part of the CIBER mandate focuses the center inward,
on strengthening its university’s capacity as a national resource for interna-
tional business education, while the second part focuses the center outward,
toward businesses and other institutions of higher education. In addition,
the law mandates each center to establish an advisory board of business
and government stakeholders. These two legal requirements for an outward
focus encourage the centers to work together to serve the regional and na-
tional business community (Ruther, 2006).
ED program administrators have encouraged collaboration among
grantees by developing an essential mechanism underlying the CIBER net-
work—the CIBERweb Internet portal3—and suggesting topics to highlight
(see below.) The ED provided financial support to the Purdue University
CIBER to develop the website portal in 1995. Today, Michigan State Uni-
versity hosts CIBERweb, with funding from the university’s CIBER grant,
along with contributions from all of the other centers. A committee of ED
program administrators and CIBER representatives oversees the website.
CIBERweb provides easy access to all past and current CIBER activities,
organized into six broad areas: research, foreign language development,
business outreach, faculty development, academic program development,
and study abroad (University of Connecticut, 2005).
Stable funding and few application priorities may also contribute to the
centers’ ability to focus outward on the activities of other grantees (Ruther,
2006). Initially, in 1989, there were only six CIBERs. With additional fund-
ing from Congress the number of centers steadily grew, reaching the current
level of 31 centers in 2006. Although CIBERs have been added in each
competition, the universities involved have remained relatively stable. In
the most recent grant competition, all but one center successfully competed
2 See Part B of the Title VI statute, included as Attachment A of Appendix A. It can
be accessed at http://www.nap.edu by searching for International Education and Foreign
Languages.
3 The portal can be accessed at http://ciberweb.msu.edu.
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ADDRESSING BUSINESS NEEDS
for a new award, and one new university was added. (By comparison, there
are four times as many NRC grantees and more change in grantees from
one competition to the next.) In addition, ED has attached fewer priorities
to recent requests for CIBER grant applications than it has to requests for
other programs (see Appendix C).
Association for International Business Education and Research (AIBER)
In addition to collaborating through CIBERweb, all 31 centers belong
to AIBER, a nonprofit organization. The association is supported through
dues paid from private resources of the host CIBER institutions and does
not receive any federal funding (Ruther, 2006). AIBER surveys the centers
annually, compiling data on activities and outputs, such as the numbers of
international business courses taught, the number of courses with interna-
tional emphasis created or revised, and the number of faculty international-
ization workshops held. In general, this is the same information submitted
by CIBER institutions to ED via the grantee reporting system. However,
the data collected by the centers goes back further and is currently more
accessible to CIBERs than the data submitted to ED.
Network Activities
The CIBER network shares and compiles information through CIBER-
web, AIBER, regular conferences, and written reports. Periodically, the ED
program officer asks a given CIBER to survey other centers about a particu-
lar issue and prepare a report that is then published on CIBERweb. Some
of the reports summarize CIBER activities and accomplishments over time
(University of Connecticut, 2006), whereas others focus on ED priorities for
the program (Purdue University, 2006). In addition, the network sponsors
national conferences on topics of interest to all.
Program Highlights
The CIBER network has produced numerous documents highlighting
accomplishments based on data and programmatic information provided
by individual grantees. Much of the discussion below is based on two of
these documents, one that addresses homeland security and one that out-
lines the program’s accomplishments during its first 15 years. Information
from a study that compared CIBER and non-CIBER business degree pro-
grams and from the committee’s site visits is also included. The program
highlights presented relate to homeland security, foreign languages in the
business curriculum, an enhanced body of relevant knowledge, and im-
proved institutional capacity.
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INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION AND FOREIGN LANGUAGES
Homeland Security and U.S. International Competitiveness
The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, raised grave concerns
throughout the U.S. business community. CIBERs responded with a series
of activities designed to investigate and address the challenges of ensuring
security for U.S. businesses while maintaining the benefits of international
trade. In 2005, as ED announced an invitational priority for grant applica-
tions focusing on homeland security and international competitiveness for
the 2006-2010 grants,4 the CIBER network issued a report on homeland
security projects carried out from 2003 to 2005 (Grosse, 2006).
The CIBER homeland security report documents a range of activities,
from convening conferences to research on the costs and risks that firms
face, to development of new business school courses on national security
and competitiveness (Grosse, 2006). According to this report, the centers
plan a sustained program of research and teaching on homeland security
and U.S. international competitiveness. The goal is to help U.S. firms and
the U.S. government to develop comprehensive, cost-effective responses to
the threat of terrorism.
The presence of the strong CIBER network, which facilitates informa-
tion sharing, may have played an important role in this rapid response to
a new and unexpected national priority.
Foreign Languages in the Business Curriculum
A recent comparative study of CIBER and non-CIBER business degree
programs indicates that CIBER grants have contributed to infusing foreign
languages into the business school curriculum. CIBER schools offered in-
struction in more languages (an average of 4.4 languages per school) than
non-CIBER schools (an average of 2.1 languages per school). CIBER fund-
ing also appeared particularly important for support in teaching the less
commonly taught languages: seven of the CIBER schools offered Chinese,
compared with one non-CIBER school, and eight CIBER schools offered
Japanese, compared with only three non-CIBER schools (Folks, 2003).
The CIBER report on the first 15 years of the program (University of
Connecticut, 2005) also highlights the contributions of the CIBER Program,
indicating that grantee institutions had conducted 4 types of activities to
promote foreign language in the business curriculum:
Teaching foreign languages for business purposes. In 2003-2004, CIBER
institutions taught 15 foreign languages, including several languages desig-
4 The most recent competition also included an invitational priority for innovative ap-
proaches to teaching languages in the business context.
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ADDRESSING BUSINESS NEEDS
nated as critical in the proposed National Security Language Initiative, such
as Arabic, Chinese, and Russian. Grantees offered 224 business language
courses to undergraduates and 571 courses to graduate students. Brigham
Young University offered 11 languages, the highest among the CIBERs.
Faculty development in teaching foreign languages for business pur
poses. Many CIBERs offer workshops preparing foreign language faculty
to teach business Chinese, business Portuguese, or other languages. For
example, the University of South Carolina’s undergraduate business CIBER
presents a six-day workshop for Spanish language faculty. Since 1990, over
250 faculty members, including faculty from historically black colleges and
universities, have attended the annual workshops. In addition, the CIBER
network sponsors an annual conference on teaching business languages that
generally draws about 200 attendees each year.
Development of language teaching and testing materials. CIBERs are
actively engaged in developing instructional materials and in professional
development to enhance the teaching of business languages. Many of the
materials support distance learning, such as the University of Texas’s free
online video clips and materials on business culture, Spanish, and Portu-
guese. From 1989 to 2004, CIBER universities taught over 7,300 com-
mercial language courses to over 140,000 students, while engaging over
17,800 language faculty in business language workshops. Language materi-
als developed by CIBERs enhanced commercial language courses, affecting
an estimated 2.4 million students.
Research on business languages. Two current or former CIBER grantees
publish research on business language teaching and learning. The Thunder-
bird Center for International Business at the Garvin School of International
Management, a CIBER at the time of this writing, publishes The Journal
of Language for International Business, a refereed journal published twice
annually. Purdue University annually publishes Global Business Languages,
with theoretical and practical articles and book reviews.
Enhanced Body of Knowledge
CIBER grants to higher education institutions support research that de-
velops new knowledge about international trade and competitiveness issues.
The grants also help universities disseminate this new knowledge to the
business community, K-12 education, and the public. In addition, CIBER
grants develop the international and foreign language knowledge of stu-
dents, who bring that knowledge to the business world after graduation.
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INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION AND FOREIGN LANGUAGES
Research. All of the CIBERs support research on international and area
business issues (University of Connecticut, 2005). Often, grantees organize
competitions among faculty for minigrants supporting international travel
and research. In addition to supporting research based on faculty inter-
ests, some CIBER research projects focus on particular themes of national
interest. For example, the CIBER network project on homeland security
and U.S. international competitiveness discussed above includes research
on such questions as the costs of protecting U.S. businesses from terrorist
attacks and immigration of skilled foreign nationals. The Duke University
CIBER’s multiyear offshoring research initiative includes an ongoing survey
of hundreds of companies to clarify the extent of offshoring and percep-
tions of offshoring. In its first 15 years, its CIBER funding supported over
5,200 research projects by international business faculty and Ph.D. can-
didates. Research results have been disseminated in over 1,000 research
conferences.
Dissemination. By law, every CIBER advisory board meets at least an-
nually. The advisory board facilitates two-way communication, allowing
business leaders to provide feedback to the business faculty on the quality
and usefulness of their program, while also allowing business faculty to
brief the business community on important issues. A recent survey found
that the five most frequent functions of CIBER advisory boards included
(University of Connecticut, 2005):
1. Serve to exchange information between the university, faculty, and
business community/government.
2. Provide business advice to the university on new or revised cur-
ricula and programs.
3. Identify additional services and activities to be provided by the
CIBER.
4. Give feedback from the business community to the university re-
garding the quality and effectiveness of existing curricula.
5. Develop strategies for obtaining financial support for the CIBER.
CIBER grantees typically focus their dissemination on unique, special-
ized niches. This may be because their network makes them aware of other
CIBER activities as well as because of their mandate to meet the needs of
local and regional business. For example, the University of Washington
offers the Global Business Breakfast Series for local businesses in partner-
ship with the World Affairs Council, and the University of Hawaii partners
with the Pacific Basin Economic Council, the Hawaii World Trade Center,
and various government agencies to convene an annual Hawaii Business
Forum each spring. The University of Florida CIBER, with only a small
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ADDRESSING BUSINESS NEEDS
local business community, has emphasized translating the university’s ex-
pertise on international business into programs and publications targeted
to state, national, and international business needs. It has worked with the
U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Extension Service to educate
Florida and U.S. farmers about overseas markets, and it publishes an an-
nual report on the Latin American Business Environment (University of
Connecticut, 2005).
Over the past 15 years, CIBERs offered over 4,000 business semi-
nars, conferences, and workshops attended by an estimated 200,800 par-
ticipants. In 2003-2004, CIBER schools offered 534 executive master’s in
business administration programs with an international focus, and 28,488
executives were enrolled in these programs. Among these programs, 70
percent included overseas experience for participating executives. In ad-
dition, CIBERs disseminate information by publishing scholarly research
and providing newsletters, searchable databases, and other resources to
the business community. In 2002-2003, CIBER-furnished websites reported
nearly 60 million combined hits, with a median of 1.9 million hits per
CIBER (University of Connecticut, 2005).
Graduate placements. CIBERs report that they awarded 11,000 master’s
degrees with an international focus in 2003-2004 (University of Con-
necticut, 2005). Reflecting the difficulty of tracking students’ activities after
graduation (see Chapter 6), CIBERs indicated not knowing where one-third
of the graduates had gone. However, they reported that nearly one-half of
the master’s graduates had been placed in a variety of industries, includ-
ing consulting, energy/chemicals, autos, and pharmaceutical/biotechnology.
CIBERs appear to have greater success in tracking outcomes for doctoral
students. They indicated that 300 doctoral students graduated with inter-
national business expertise in 2003-2004, and outcomes for 17 percent
of these were unknown. The largest group of new doctoral graduates (62
percent) had entered academia, where they will prepare future international
business leaders. Others went to work for private firms, nonprofit organiza-
tions, state or local government, the federal government, foreign govern-
ment, and international organizations (University of Connecticut, 2005).
A representative of AIBER illustrated the way in which graduate place-
ments enhance knowledge of international trade and competitiveness issues
using Paul Gaspari, a graduate of the Temple University CIBER’s inter-
national business program, as an example (Birch, 2006). Gaspari is now
employed by the U.S. Export Assistance Center in Philadelphia, where he
advises small and medium-sized businesses on how to make overseas sales.
During site visits, universities also cited numerous examples of former stu-
dents whose positions made use of their international expertise.
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0 INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION AND FOREIGN LANGUAGES
Institutional Capacity
A central goal of the CIBER Program is to create “national resources”
for teaching of international business. Since the program’s inception, the
CIBERs have conducted many activities aimed at increasing their own in-
stitutions’ capacity in international business education, while also providing
resources and support to other business schools. Between 1989 and 2004,
the CIBERs reported that they created or enhanced over 4,000 international
business courses and created or revised 780 new degrees, majors, and con-
centrations. In total, over that time period, about 903,000 students took
over 28,450 courses with an international business emphasis (University of
Connecticut, 2005). To help doctoral students at non-CIBER institutions,
seven CIBER schools created the Doctoral Internationalization Consor-
tium, which provides training in the internationalization of seven different
academic disciplines. Another consortium of 11 CIBER schools offers an
annual seminar for doctoral students in business and other fields that seek
to incorporate an international dimension in their research and teaching
(University of Connecticut, 2005).
A study by Folks (2003) provides some additional evidence that CIBER
funding has contributed to improved institutional capacity and quality in
international business education. MBA programs at schools with a CIBER
were more likely than those without a CIBER to require international
business courses, offer advanced level international business classes, and,
as discussed above, offer a greater variety of languages (see also Chapter
5). During site visits, universities reported that CIBER resources played an
important role in their international activities, providing support for faculty
to conduct international research and the development of international cur-
riculum or programs (see Box 9-1 for illustrations.) Some students said that
the presence of the CIBER attracted them to the business program.
BIE PROGRAM
Since 1983, the first year of funding, ED has awarded nearly 600 two-
year BIE grants. In comparison to CIBER grants, the BIE grant amounts
are smaller, averaging $75,000 per year, and are targeted to a much more
diverse group of colleges and universities, including community colleges,
technical schools, historically black colleges and universities, and Hispanic-
serving institutions as well as four-year research universities (Murphrey,
2006). The BIE Program has the greatest reach of all Title VI programs
into institutions classified as master’s, baccalaureate, or associate’s degree-
granting institutions, with two-thirds (65.4 percent) of FY 2004 awards
going to these institutions.
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ADDRESSING BUSINESS NEEDS
BOX 9-1
CIBER Programs for Undergraduate and
Graduate Business Training
Ohio State University
Students in Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business programs are
eligible to participate in an emerging markets field study course. They begin by
studying a world region, then locate specific companies, and target them as case
studies. Then the students and faculty visit the region (for about 12 days) and the
companies under study and prepare a case study and strategic plan when they
return to campus. In comments to the committee, students who had conducted
field studies in Thailand and Brazil said the experience abroad had had a greater
impact on their education than any other program. They indicated that simply
the opportunity to see the differences in the way a plant in another part of the
world operates was eye-opening. Two of the students emphasized that, because
of full-time work and family obligations, a longer visit abroad would have been
impossible. They were so grateful for the opportunity, they said, that they would
always support the Fisher School. The Business School ranked 22nd in the 2007
U.S. News & World Report business school rankings (U.S. News & World Report,
2006b).
San Diego State University (SDSU)
At SDSU, the undergraduate business degree is extremely popular. With fewer
openings than applicants, students must maintain a high grade point average and
meet other requirements to enter and stay in the program. Once enrolled, each
student selects a language emphasis, which then pairs with one of six world
regions as a focus for his or her study. After completing required coursework in
business, 32 units of language study, and area studies related to this region, the
student spends one semester at an exchange university near the end of their
five-year program. While abroad, the student takes courses in both international
business and language, paying their SDSU fees. Equal numbers of business stu-
dents from these institutions spend a semester at SDSU. Originally created with
CIBER funds, the program has grown to the point that it is now self-sustaining,
with about 800 students enrolled. According to CIBER administrators, graduates of
this program command salaries averaging $10,000 more per year than graduates
from the regular business program.
SOURCES: Committee site visits (2006) and review of university websites; U.S. News &
World Report (2006b).
Infusion of Foreign Languages and Area Studies
into the Business Curriculum
The assistant director of the Texas A&M University CIBER reported
that BIE grantees, like CIBERs, frequently emphasize building institutional
capacity and quality in international business education (Murphrey, 2006).
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INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION AND FOREIGN LANGUAGES
Colleges and universities use BIE funds to develop new international busi-
ness courses and to incorporate international content into existing courses.
Many grantees have established formal international business education
programs, including certificate programs, and undergraduate majors and
minors. They also use funds for faculty development, sponsoring workshops
and seminars for business, foreign language, and area studies faculty.
ED supports a shared web portal for the BIE Program, hosted by
Grand Valley State University,5 which is designed to include information
about grantees, courses, and events, among other things. Perhaps because
of the shorter time frame for BIE grants, the content of the website is not
as complete or as extensive as the CIBER webpage.
The primary source of information about the BIE Program is a 2002
survey by Linda V. Gerber, a faculty member affiliated with the CIBER at
Texas A&M University. The survey, which included individuals involved
in 152 BIE awards between 1989 and 1997, was designed to demon-
strate effectiveness in response to the Government Performance and Results
Act. The survey focused on typical BIE activities: faculty development,
course development, curriculum development, and outreach to business
and academia.
Faculty Development
All survey respondents reported at least some faculty development
activities, involving an average of 30 faculty members at each institution.
The most frequent activity was faculty workshops, followed by support
for faculty members to attend professional conferences and to lead inter-
national study trips and internships. Showing the linkages between CIBER
and BIE grantees, over 60 percent of respondents reported sending faculty
to CIBER-sponsored programs. They also reported that they frequently
funded individual faculty research projects, indicating that nearly 45 per-
cent of these projects resulted in publications. In addition, over 60 percent
of respondents used BIE funding to support individual faculty research.
Course Development
Over 80 percent of respondents said BIE funds were used to support
faculty in revising existing courses or creating new international business
courses. Survey respondents reported that nearly 130,000 students were
enrolled in courses that had been developed or revised with BIE support,
an average of nearly 1,900 per institution.
5 See http://www.gvsu.edu/bie/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.first.
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ADDRESSING BUSINESS NEEDS
Curriculum Development
Sixty-five percent of respondents reported developing new programs.
Most frequently, BIE grantees had developed specialized concentrations
in MBA programs, such as international accounting or global technology
management. Community colleges developed new associate degree pro-
grams in business or trade.
Outreach
Most BIE respondents reported agreements with multiple partners. Most
frequently, grantees reported agreements with a trade promotion organiza-
tion, including both governmental organizations, such as the U.S. Department
of Commerce Export Assistance Centers, and quasi-governmental organiza-
tions, such as world trade councils. The next most common type of partner-
ship was with state and local economic development organizations.
The respondents indicated that, in collaboration with these partners,
their most frequent activity was consulting with individual companies on
trade and exporting issues, followed by business internships for students
and faculty (Gerber, 2002). In addition, two BIE grantees included in the
Gerber survey indicated that their outreach activities included development
of trade directories. These two grantees indicated that they had distributed
over 30,000 copies of the trade directories.
The survey indicated that, in addition to supporting outreach to busi-
ness, BIE grants support outreach to business education programs: 68
percent of respondents reported activities aimed at helping other institu-
tions internationalize their business curricula. The most frequent way re-
spondents did so was by organizing seminars, workshops, or conferences
attended by faculty and administrators from other colleges and universities.
They also indicated that they conducted faculty development programs and
shared instructional materials with other institutions.
These types of activities may be facilitated by the definition of an eli-
gible BIE applicant. BIE applicants are restricted to higher education insti-
tutions that have developed a formal agreement with a business enterprise,
trade association, or association engaged in international business activities.
These agreements allow two-way communication between business educa-
tion programs and the business community, guiding grantees toward re-
search, publications, and events tailored to meet specific business needs.
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INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION AND FOREIGN LANGUAGES
Institutional Capacity
The Gerber study suggests that BIE grants were effective in catalyzing
ongoing, sustained activity related to internationalization of business educa-
tion. For example, in the area of faculty development, nearly 50 percent of
respondents indicated that their institution continued to support faculty in
attending CIBER-sponsored international business programs following the
end of the grant period, and over 30 percent reported that their institution
continued to fund individual faculty research on international topics after
the end of the grant period. In the area of curriculum development, over 85
percent indicated that their institution continued to offer newly developed
international business courses after the end of the grant period. In terms of
collaboration with business, over 80 percent reported that their institution
continued to work with at least one of their BIE partners after the end of
the grant period, and they also reported increased activity with one or more
of these partners after the conclusion of the grant. Finally, over 80 percent
of BIE grantees that were involved in outreach to other business education
programs indicated that they were continuing such activities after the end
of the grant period.
However, the extent to which these activities were truly institutional-
ized, with ongoing financial commitment from the college or university, was
not clear. Nearly 80 percent of survey respondents reported applying for
subsequent grants, and, among these, 79 percent reported success. Some
reported receiving multiple awards, most often in the form of BIE grants.
Others reported receiving CIBER or Undergraduate International Studies
and Foreign Language grants. Thus, the sustained activity may have been
supported by additional outside money, rather than by the host institution
itself. In addition, the respondents (the survey had a 58-percent response
rate) may have given a more positive outlook than nonrespondents.
Implementation Challenges
The survey illuminated challenges as well as successes. Survey respon-
dents identified two general types of problems. First, they reported problems
in bringing together business representatives and faculty and administrators
from a variety of disciplines. These ranged from simple scheduling problems
to the greater challenge of bridging the cultural divide between business
and academic disciplines. The second type of problem appeared to result
from insufficient advance planning to ensure that activities were carefully
designed to address specific needs or interests in the business or academic
community. As a result of poor planning, some activities were poorly at-
tended, some were canceled, and some required extra marketing to succeed
(Gerber, 2002).
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ADDRESSING BUSINESS NEEDS
CONCLUSIONS
In comparison to other Title VI/FH programs, more information is
available about the BIE and CIBER programs. The CIBER network, facili-
tated by ED, has played a key role in generating information about outputs
and accomplishments. Two studies have suggested that the programs have
contributed to the infusion of foreign language or international business
content into the curriculum. BIE and CIBER grants have generated a great
deal of activity aimed at Title VI goals. The grants have been used to create
new courses on international business and to infuse existing courses with
international content. They have been used to support faculty in conduct-
ing international business research, developing international courses, and
leading students in studies and internships abroad. Grantees have forged
collaborations with businesses, government organizations, and trade as-
sociations, helping to ensure that international business research, publica-
tions, and conferences are aligned with business needs.
Conclusion: The legal requirement for business involvement on CIBER
advisory boards provides an appropriate mechanism for business input
into the program to enable it to address business needs. The CIBER and
BIE programs appear to act as resources for the larger business educa-
tion community, assisting business schools and undergraduate business
programs that are interested in developing capacity to support teaching
and research on international business issues.
ED has supported the CIBER grantees in creating and sustaining a
strong, collaborative network facilitated by the shared CIBERweb portal.
Conclusion: The CIBERs have created a network for sharing informa-
tion and learning from each others’ experiences that is a model for the
other Title VI programs.
The CIBERs, located primarily at large, nationally ranked business
schools, share expertise and resources with BIE grantees and with other,
smaller, business schools. The BIE grantees, located in a wide range of four-
year and two-year institutions, learn from the CIBERs, at the same time
sharing their developing expertise in international business education with
other institutions.
