University of Maine and Ukraine proceed with international exchanges (06/02/96)

University of Maine and Ukraine proceed with international exchanges

ORONO, Maine - The University of Maine has a well-established international program. An existing exchange program between the university and Kharkiv State University has been in operation since 1988. Nevertheless, while students from Kharkiv State pursued various disciplines, University of Maine students who went to Kharkiv were primarily language majors wanting to learn Russian.

Since Kharkiv State does not have disciplines such as agriculture, engineering, arts, etc., Dr. Bohdan M. Slabyj, in the College of Natural Resources, Forestry and Agriculture, requested permission to travel to Kharkiv to establish contact with other institutions of higher learning. In the spring of 1993 he visited Kharkiv, and Rector Alexander Cherevko, of the Academy of Food Technology and Management, visited the University of Maine in the fall of 1993. An exchange agreement was signed by the president of the University of Maine, Dr. Frederick Hutchinson, and Rector Cherevko, representing a consortium of four institutions of higher learning in Kharkiv.

In 1994 Dr. Slabyj submitted a proposal to the USIA/Samantha Smith Memorial Exchange to fund an exchange for one academic year for four American and four Ukrainian undergraduate students starting in the fall of 1995. The proposal stipulated that the Ukrainian students meet TOEFL requirements, while American students were scheduled to take intensive Ukrainian in Kharkiv during their first semester, which would prepare them to take courses for credit during the second semester. The program was approved and funded, but no American students could be identified who wanted to participate.

Subsequently, the program was modified by having American students go to Kharkiv for eight weeks, while Ukrainian students would come to the University of Maine for one semester. The USIA budget was fixed but the rearranged program required additional funds. If it were not for the generosity of two vice-presidents and two deans the program would have died. All this was taking place during the budget crises between the Congress and the White House, and it took the assistance of Sen. William Cohen's office to assure the arrival of the Ukrainian students for the beginning of the semester.

The week of registration and then the second week, the add/drop period, were bewildering, but eventually all difficulties were overcome. Maksym Tishchenko, from the Agrotechnical University, is studying mechanical engineering; Vasyl Goncharenko from the Construction and Architectural Institute is taking business courses; Olena Nekhis from the Academy of Food Technology and Management is studying economics and English; and Anton Voloshyn from the Industrial Art In-stitute is taking arts and computer courses.

The American students will be leaving in mid-May and returning mid-July. They do not speak Ukrainian or Russian. These students are registered for three credit hours at the University of Maine and will work on a project in the institution of their interest.

Andrea Perley, an environmental engineering major, will work on water quality; Jacob Bogar, a mechanical engineering major, will work on hydraulics; and Michael Stevens, an art major, will study restoration of paintings. All three students are on the dean's list. While the program is primarily academic, there is also a social and cultural facet, involving some travel and sightseeing.

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