Center for International Business Education & Research

For more that 20 years the University of Connecticut School of Business housed one of the important CIBERs located in universities throughout the U.S. During its tenure, the UConn CIBER was mandated to increase the competitiveness of U.S. business in the global marketplace. The UConn School of Business first received the CIBER grant from the Department of Education in 1995 as part of the Higher Education Act. Our vision of the UConn CIBER was to emerge as a recognized leader in global business education and become a significant national resource for international business teaching, research and outreach with a strong emphasis on innovation and manufacturing – which we did successfully for over 2 decades. We were truly global in terms of both our participants and our perspectives. The UConn CIBER worked closely with other schools and units of the University especially the Office of Global Affairs, the Department of Modern and Classical Languages, and the various area centers.

The UConn CIBER programs concentrated in three main areas: Academic Programs, Business and Academic Outreach, and Research Programs. These areas filtered down into five principal objectives:

  • Provide programs with focus on International Business and Manufacturing for students at the undergraduate, MBA and Ph.D. levels
  • Provide funds and facilities for faculty to internationalize the business curriculum and to conduct research in the area of international business with emphasis on Manufacturing
  • Provide businesses in the region with international business management education and instruction in foreign languages and cultures, which will enable them to enhance their leadership positions in today’s global economy
  • Develop and spearhead the capabilities of the nation’s colleges and universities, with special emphasis on community colleges and minority serving institutions, in international business education geared toward Manufacturing
  • Emerge as a national resource for management education on Manufacturing

Our focus at CIBER during the last 2014-2018 grant cycle was Manufacturing and Global Opportunities. The programs were designed and coordinated by faculty members of the UConn School of Business and other academic units of the University, with the assistance of the CIBER Director and the Advisory Council.

2018 was saw shifting priorities in Washington, with funding for CIBERs lessened, thus we were not awarded another 4-year federal grant. Since then, we have aligned our international priorities with university mission, student need and state priorities and are grateful for the time we contributed to the national education of international business.