Colorado State and Spanish University Create New Opportunity for Student, Faculty Exchange

Note to Editors: Reporters are welcome to attend a ceremony Sept. 6 that will establish a cooperative relationship between Colorado State and the University of Alcala. The event will be held from 2:30-3 p.m. in the President’s Room at Ammons Hall on campus. Interviews and photo opportunities with officials from both institutions will be available immediately following the ceremony.

Colorado State University will enter an agreement with the Universidad de Alcala, Spain, that will open international study opportunities to students from both universities.

An international memorandum of understanding will be signed Sept. 6 by the Universidad de Alcala’s Vice Rector Luis Beltran and Colorado State’s Provost Loren Crabtree at a ceremony on the Colorado State campus. The agreement, under development for two years, formalizes the relationship between the institutions and also establishes an affordable study-abroad program for Colorado State students.

During his three-day visit to Colorado State, Beltran, a leading Africanist, will give a public lecture on "The African Roots of Latin America" at 7 p.m. Sept 7 in the Lory Student Center Room 228.

The lecture is free and open to the community.

Beltran also will give a presentation about the new study abroad opportunity and will be availableto talk with interested students. The presentation will be on Sept. 7 from 4-5:30 p.m. in the Lory Student Center Room 210.

The study abroad program that will be approved by the two schools marks the fourth college-sponsored study-abroad program offered by Colorado State’s College of Liberal Arts. Other liberal arts programs take students to Italy, Czech Republic and Wales. Through the new program, a group of 12 to 25 Colorado State students and a Colorado State Spanish professor will travel to the Universidad de Alcala each spring semester. Students will take four to five Spanish courses in a special program designed for non-native speakers. The Colorado State professor will teach one course, conduct research, provide academic and cultural support to students and develop links with faulty and staff at the Universidad de Alcala.

The Universidad de Alcala, founded in 1499, is a comprehensive university enrolling 16,500 undergraduate and graduate students. The school is located in the city of Alcala de Henares, about 20 miles north of Madrid.

For more information about the new program, contact the Office of International Programs at (970) 491-6793.