European Delegates, CSUH To Formalize Agreement To Start MBA Program in Austria

The Austrian secretary for commerce, finance and European affairs for the Province of Styria will lead a delegation visiting Oakland Friday, Feb. 20, to finalize an agreement for a new international MBA program with California State University, Hayward.

Austrian delegates and college officials will meet at 1 p.m. in the atrium of the university’s Oakland Conference Center, 1001 Broadway, to sign a memorandum of understanding between FH-Joanneum Technical University and Cal State Hayward. It will establish “educational and scientific cooperation” between the institutions and define the terms for the executive master’s degree program.

The event will include a luncheon address on “Bringing Together Business and Education,” by Herbert Paierl, the Austrian secretary of commerce, and Norma S. Rees, president of Cal State Hayward.
University officials anticipate an April opening for the first group of students in the Transnational Executive MBA program, known as TEMBA Europe, in Graz, the hometown of California Governor Arnold Schwartzenegger.

Cal State Hayward previously offered an Austrian Executive MBA program in Vienna, where 134 students in 10 separate groups earned master’s degrees.

The TEMBA program is designed to enable corporate executives to earn master’s degrees. In addition to extended weekend classes once a month, students work in teams to develop international marketing programs for firms contracting with Cal State Hayward.

No university general fund money is used to support TEMBA programs, including Friday’s event in Oakland, as TEMBA student fees pay all program-related expenses.

Graz Delegates

The international visitors arrived in Los Angeles Monday for trade talks with business owners in the region. After these trade discussions, delegates will visit the state capitol for discussions on international trade opportunities with elected officials in Sacramento. They will wind up their trip Friday in Oakland.

Austrians attending the Oakland event include Peter Launsky-Tieffenthal, the Austrian consul general posted to Los Angeles; Bita Rasoulian-Mahmoudi, the deputy consul general (Los Angeles); and Donald Burns, honorary Austrian consul general (San Francisco). The Austria delegation includes entrepreneurs and business executives, the CEO of FH-Joanneum Technical University, and the director of Joanneum Research, a government research facility.

There also will be five delegates from the Austria media, including representatives of Austrian National Broadcasting and four daily newspapers.

Media Contact: Nancy Ackley, (510) 885-4295