Cal Poly Pomona And Cal State San Bernardino Partner To Help Enhance Curriculum At New Bulgarian University

A $228,427 federal grant awarded to Cal Poly Pomona and Cal State San Bernardino will help upgrade the public administration curriculum at the New Bulgarian University (NBU) in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Faculty from the two Cal State University (CSU) member institutions will assist NBU in faculty development, curriculum and case study development and introduction of a more student-oriented instruction. Activities will include extended visits by Bulgarian faculty and advanced students to the two campuses, as well as reciprocal visits by CSU faculty to Bulgaria.

The partnership between Cal Poly Pomona and Cal State San Bernardino allows the project to draw participants and resources from both institutions' public administration departments. Cal Poly Pomona's International Center and Foundation will be responsible for the administrative and financial management of the program.

The grant is part of the U.S. Department of State's institutional linkage programs, which support partnerships between U.S. universities and foreign post-secondary institutions through faculty and student exchanges. The institutional linkage program is supported by the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship program, a Fulbright Exchange activity funded by the Department of State's Institute of International Education.

NBU was founded in 1991, soon after the collapse of the communist regime in Bulgaria. Approximately 8,000 students are enrolled at the private university, which offers a more interdisciplinary and student-oriented approach to higher education.