Yerevan State Faculty Visit Fresno State

Two groups of faculty and administrators from the Faculty of Economics at Yerevan State University visited Fresno State from October 30th to November 26th.

On October 30th, Dr. Hayk Sargsyan, Dean of the Faculty of Economics, accompanied by Dr. Toros Torosyan, Chair of the Department of International Economics, arrived in Fresno to spend an intensive nine days of meetings with various administrators and faculty of the Craig School of Business. This was their first trip to Fresno State and their first opportunity to meet with many faculty of the Craig School of Business.

Barlow Der Mugrdechian of the Armenian Studies Program and Liz Shields of the Department of Finance at Fresno State organized the visit and coordinated meetings with faculty. Emil Milevoj of the University Business Center assisted the visitors in a variety of ways.
Dr. Sargsyan and Dr. Torosyan had the unique opportunity to attend the Armenian Studies Program lecture by Peter Balakian on his new book The Burning Tigris on November 2nd. They were particularly impressed by the large turnout and they enjoyed meeting with the many community members in attendance.

Fresno State President Dr. John Welty had a private meeting with the visitors on Monday afternoon, November 3rd, where he had the opportunity to discuss the current Fresno State-YSU partnership. Dr. Welty has been invited to visit Yerevan State University in the Spring of 2004.

The meeting was followed by a special reception in honor of the guests, attended by more than 10 faculty from the Craig School of Business who had traveled to Armenia as part of the joint project.
A visit to the Henry Madden Library also left a deep impression. The Library provides opportunities for students to conduct research using the internet.

Later that week Dr. Sargsyan met with interim Dean of the Craig School of Business Dr. Karen Bowerman and Associate Dean Professor Garo Kalfayan, who discussed how the Craig School of Business is organized. Dr. Sargsyan shared how his School of Economics is organized and governed and exchanged many ideas with the Fresno State administrators.

Dr. Torosyan spent much of his time at Fresno State working on plans on how to extend the four-year partnership between Yerevan State University and Fresno State. The deadline for the new grant is December 5 and requires an extensive application process. Dr. Torosyan had several very productive meetings with Dr. Dan Griffin of the Grants and Research Office and with Barlow Der Mugrdechian to help crystallize goals for the new project.

Dr. Sargsyan and Torosyan also met with Dr. Luis Costa, Dean of the College of Arts and Humanities. They discussed a broad variety of topics of mutual interest in a very enjoyable way.

Dr. Sargsyan continued his visit to California by traveling to California State University, Northridge, where he met with Mrs. Hermine Mahseredjian of the Armenian Studies Program and met with Dr. Fred Evans, Dean of the School of Business and former Fresno State Dean of the Craig School of Business.

There are many Yerevan State graduates in the Los Angeles area and plans are under way to form a Friends of Yerevan State University branch in Los Angeles. This would be a support group for the University as well as a way for graduates to stay in contact with each other.

Before they departed for Armenia, the visitors were shown the more than $30,000 of computer equipment, printers, and other office material, purchased by the project, which was being shipped to Yerevan State University. This equipment will be used in the Faculty for department offices. The project has already provided complete internet access for the students and faculty.

On Sunday November 9th, Professors Lusine Grigoryan and Hayk Mnatsakanyan arrived in Fresno and stayed until November 26th. Professor Grigoryan is Chair of the Department of Business English in the Faculty of Economics and Dr. Mnatsakanyan is acting Chair of the Department of Finance and Accounting. It was the first visit to Fresno and the United States for both.

Dr. Grigoryan met with and observed the teaching methods of various professors from the Department of Linguistics. She was particularly interested in applying some of these new methods when she returned to Armenia. The Business English Department provides English language courses exclusively for the students enrolled in the Faculty of Economics. Therefore the English is very specialized and requires terminology specific to a business curriculum.

Dr. Mnatsakanyan is developing new curriculum for courses to be taught in his department. He was particularly interested in applying computer skills for new methodology in his courses. Dr. Mnatsakanyan was particularly interested in the usage of computers for teaching and also in distance learning techniques.

Both Professors Grigoryan and Mnatsakanyan were impressed with Fresno State and the greater Armenian community. Fresno very much reminded them of Armenia with its open land and nearby mountains.

The project will continue in the Spring when two more visitors will come to Fresno State.

The partnership program between Yerevan State University and Fresno State has been funded by a grant from the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.