The school, which offered the first and only accredited MBA program in China during the late 1980s, has re-entered management education in the country with the establishment of a certificate program in conjunction with the MBA degree offered by Renmin University in Beijing. The certificate program is being supported with a gift totaling $200,000 over five years from Praxair, Inc., one of the world's largest suppliers of industrial gases.

School of Management officials see the Renmin certificate program as a first step toward re-establishing a UB MBA program in the country. "The new international programs are very much a part of the School of Management's strategy," says Frederick W. Winter, dean of the School of Management. "Our corporate partners want us there, the students want us there and the faculty are excited about returning.

Winter says, "This spring, our executive MBA students traveled to Singapore to see how business is done in Asia; while there, they linked up with their Singapore counterparts. In the future, we hope that teaching faculty will lead field trips of our undergraduate and regular MBA students to either China or Singapore; some will continue their education by serving as interns in Asian companies," he adds. "Some day, some of the Asian students will complete their educations here in Buffalo."

The Singapore MBA program, which began in May, is patterned in concept after UB's executive MBA program, although the structure is different, notes John M. Thomas, associate dean for international programs in the School of Management. A new subject "module" is offered every other month, with a UB faculty member traveling to Singapore for an intensive, two-week stay.

Students will spend the month before each module in preparations with the faculty member in Amherst via electronic mail, and then follow up via e-mail for several weeks after the instructor returns to UB.

Thomas anticipates it will take two years, plus one summer, to finish coursework and receive a degree from UB. Twenty-five students, most senior middle managers, are enrolled in the first class. Many work for high-technology companies, including subsidiaries of U.S. companies based in Singapore.

In offering the MBA program, UB is partnering with the Singapore Institute of Management (SIM), an independent, not-for-profit professional organization. SIM will provide teaching facilities and handle program administration, promotion and marketing. UB will be responsible for the academics.

In China, UB has partnered with Renmin University, one of China's leading national universities. Renmin will offer a new international MBA program, developed by UB, that will be taught in English. UB faculty will teach a set of "unique courses that will build upon the core curriculum offered by the Chinese faculty and prepare students for understanding advanced ideas in finance, marketing and other areas," Thomas says. The UB program also will provide students with management skills needed to do business with Western companies. Upon completion of the program, students will receive an MBA degree from Renmin and a certificate of achievement from UB.

Western New York companies doing business in Asia last year urged the School of Management to develop a focus on Asia because of the history and reputation of UB's MBA program in Dalian, China, Thomas says. Although the Dalian MBA program graduated its last class in 1991, the program is still highly regarded in China, he says.