Franciscan University of Steubenville is expanding international educational opportunities for its students to include two colleges in India.

Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) were signed by Franciscan University President Father Dave Pivonka, TOR, and representatives of Rajagiri College of Social Sciences and Kristu Jayanti College in separate ceremonies held this spring at Franciscan University.

The agreements build pathways between the colleges and Franciscan University in student exchanges, resident scholar placements, and other collaborative opportunities.

Both India colleges were established by the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate, the first indigenous religious congregation for men in the Syrian Catholic tradition in India.

Established in 1999, Kristu Jayanti College is known for its computer science programs and research centers in biotechnology, commerce, psychology, and management.

Rajagiri College of Social Sciences, founded in 1955, is one of India’s leading schools in the fields of management and social work, with a focus on outreaches to the poor. It also offers one of the leading engineering programs in India.

Speaking at the MOU ceremony for Kristu Jayanti College, Father Pivonka said the opportunity for Franciscan students to develop relations with students from other countries can be an incalculable part of the educational experience, that “expands the Body of Christ and opens the minds and hearts of our students.”

Father Augustine George, CMI, president of Kristu Jayanti College, envisions student exchanges that could last for a month, a semester, or even longer. On the faculty side, there could be livestreamed classroom interactions, faculty exchanges for a semester, and joint collaboration between professors from both institutions focused on research by both faculty and students.

Dr. Binoy Joseph, who teaches in the Rajagiri School of Management, said this is his school’s first collaboration with a Catholic college, and expressed his appreciation for “the overarching Catholic values found in various courses and programs in Steubenville.”

This summer, Father Pivonka and other representatives from Franciscan University will visit both colleges to begin to put in motion the collaborative ideas expressed in the MOUs.

For more information on Franciscan University’s outreaches around the world, visit the Global Academic Partnerships webpage.