Meaningfull study abroad destination
I’d like to look at the potential for U.S. college students to study abroad in Cyprus and discuss the relevance of students and Study Abroad Advisors exploring Cyprus as a relevant and meaningful study abroad destination.
First of all, let’s look at those perceived obstacles to study abroad in Cyprus.
1. Few Americans know much about Cyprus.
- so what? Let’s learn!
- most that do know about Cyprus, love it
- Cyprus is a modern, thriving EU (European Union) country and should be known by Americans
2. Because the first language in Cyprus is Greek, many American students and Study Abroad Advisors might incorrectly assume that unless students are fluent in Modern Greek language, they would not be able to study at a Cypriot institution of higher education.
- yes, the official language of Cyprus is Greek, but most of the population is multi-lingual and English is commonly spoken as a second language
- the University of Nicosia uses English as the official language (expect in the School of Education) of instruction and administration
- non-Greek speaking students can easily navigate the university, the community and travel throughout Cyprus in English only
3. There are very few colleges and universities in Cyprus
- until 2008, there was only one (1) university in Cyprus
- in 2008, four private colleges where awarded university-level status by the Ministry of Education
- The University of Nicosia was established over 25 years ago on the U.S. higher education structure and functions academically and administratively parallel to most U.S. universities.
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read moreBuilding Ford’s IT infrastructure
Background (General Facts)
Ford Motors is one of three leading automotive manufacturing companies in the United States. Based in Michigan in 1903 by Henry ford and grew to reach revenue of $150 billion and more than 370,000 employees by 1996 [1]. In the 1970′s, the automobile market for the major auto makers – General Motors (GM), Ford, and Chrysler- was crunched by competition from foreign manufactures such as Toyota and Honda. In 1999, Ford acquired the Swedish Volvo model in an attempt to compete in the foreign market and expand to other regions. Furthermore, Ford launched a full organization re-engineering business process plan called “Ford 2000″ aiming at reestablishing the company’s infrastructure. The process meant reduction in their Vehicle Centers (VCs) to only five covering the operations that spanned 200 countries. It also meant cutting redundancies and requiring Information Technology (IT) to be the driving force and the link between Ford centers worldwide.
In building Ford’s IT infrastructure, the company focused on implementing a setup that supported the TCP/IP communication protocol based on the U.S. department of Defense requirements. At those days, Ford internal network was meant to serve files transfer unlike most companies that used the network mainly for email communications. Throughout the 1990′s, Ford developed a cost effective Global Enterprise Network Integration (GENI) process to link all its locations compromising on the type of the connection and the cabling in favor of full coverage. During the same time, Ford started building its Web Farm, which was basically a set of hardware and software managed by a team for building Ford’s public website. The work started by publishing documents for technical references and moved to more advanced images from a live auto show. As a result, the website received 1 million visits a day in less than 2 years after its official launch. Throughout the end of the 90′s, Ford established its web services by increasing the amount of information published, building more intelligent and standard web application in 12 weeks period, purchasing more Netscape browsers for setup on its users’ machines, and creating a B2B server to allow the suppliers secured access to Ford’s Intranet.
In the path towards service cost reduction and bringing more business through the web, Ford worked closely with its competitors in the U.S. market GM and Chrysler to establish what came to be known as “Automotive Network Exchange” (ANX) certificate. The protocols aimed at providing a unified communications standard through the Internet to enable suppliers to provide common technology for all manufacturers. Moreover, Ford focused on making information on its web site more accessible and useful by deploying a team to manage the process of adding and updating information based on an analysis of how humans deal with information. One final aspect of Fords endeavor was to try to build a model through its infrastructure that benefited from the model implemented by Dell computers to improve their supply chain and delivery process. The direct model would not work well for automotives as it would with computers, as a result Ford worked on its retailing network remodeling and identifying what would eventually give it the extra edge in delivery time.
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read moreThe history of the country
The first thing one thinks of when hearing the word “France” is the Eiffel Tower. Indeed, the Eiffel tower is a major reason that students want to go to France to study. First of all, France is very rich in history. The French Revolution in itself has created so many landmarks that a student studying European history would be thrilled to just visit those places. Nevertheless, France is not only for European history students. An international study abroad program looks out for more reasons than just the history of the country.
So what do students look at when choosing a country to study and live in? Well, of course, it is more fun to learn French in Paris or stay in Biarritz than to study French in Idaho. But there are many reasons why international students choose France. We’ll count down the reasons for visiting France, starting from Number 5.
Number 5 on our list would be that France is inspiring. How so? Imagine yourself gazing up at the Eiffel tower with your university books in your hand at sunset. The scene ahead of you would simply take your breath away. Adding to that would be the pride of being a student in this wonderful country that produced such a magnificent landmark. An international study abroad program is designed to give students that satisfaction; the pride to be a student in France. Artistically inclined students would be awestruck to see Picasso’s work firsthand. Seeing something you have only seen before as copies, or in a book, would be altogether a once in a lifetime experience. What about sipping coffee at the local bistro? In a place as rich in culture as France, that very action requires some confidence, which students will definitely gain while studying in France.
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read moreAmerican life in the best way possible
As an international student, there are a large variety of things that you should be prepared for before attending an American university. These range from things such as fluency in the English language, to a vast understanding of cultural differences between your native country and America. All of these things are of equal importance to ensuring that you integrate and adjust to American life in the best way possible.
First, you will have to have a fluent and working understanding of the English language. You should not only have a basic understanding of the language – it’s of extreme importance to be able to fluently and completely express yourself in English. This skill will not only help you socialize, but also finding a job should you decide to become employed in America, and in understanding and speaking with your professors. A consideration pertaining to language that many do not think of is accents. Even if you are from a country where English is the national language is English, you probably do possess an accent that differs from the American accent. Not only should you work to make your accent more understandable to Americans, but you should work to understand the American accent as well. Even if you are speaking the same language, a thick accent can become a huge barrier to fulfilling conversation, and can affect your performance in the job market, and even in school.
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read moreA number of universities in Spain
International students are seriously considering the option of studying in Spain nowadays, thanks to the country’s transformation into the parliamentary monarchy and the growing number of universities with excellent facilities. Spain is quickly turning out to be the next hot spot for tourists and students in Europe because of a friendly and captivating atmosphere in the country. It boasts more than 70 universities that carry forward the legacy of the traditional Spanish university education, started from the 11th century or before. Students who are ready to study in Spain can either opt for the majority of public universities, some private universities or a few universities managed by the Catholic Church directly. Lots of career options in Spain make it the favorite of all.
A number of universities in Spain are constantly ranked among top 300 universities in the world. University of Barcelona, Autonomous University of Madrid, Pablo de Olavide University, University of Almeria and University of Valencia are to name a few.
Established in 1450, the University of Barcelona functions as a public university. You can explore all sorts of programs there, such as bachelor, master and doctorate level degrees. There are 20 departments in the university that also offers a number of online courses for students worldwide. As far as the total registration of students for various programs is concerned, it always surpasses 60,000 with more than 2,000 residing on campus. Scholars from overseas institutions can pursue courses at the university through several exchange programs. However, those who are interested to take up a full-time course will have to clear the Spanish entrance examinations and the university application procedure to study in Spain. You can also become adept in Catalan and Spanish languages by pursuing courses related to them.
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