Educational initiatives going forward – international and virtual

Facilitating online education at Brac University has been one of Vice-Chancellor Professor Vincent Chang’s most important responses to the Covid-19 pandemic. Virtual classes and the introduction of buX will path ways to the next generation of learning and teaching. Recently, he has been taking steps to strengthen the university’s ties with our international partners.

UK High Commissioner supporter of higher education in Bangladesh

The British High Commissioner to Bangladesh Robert Chatterton Dickson invited Professor Chang and VP International Jonathan Cartmell to his residence last week. The meeting was held under strict precautions due to the ongoing pandemic. Together with the Country Director of British Council Tom Miscioscia, they decided to establish a liaison between British universities and Brac University. The United Kingdom will help to improve higher education in Bangladesh. Such educational endeavours will greatly impact the international culture at the Brac University. 

(from left to right: Jonathan Cartmell, Tom Miscioscia, Robert Chatterton Dickson, Vincent Chang)

OSUN opening up new opportunities for Brac University

In the spirit of internationalization and online education, Professor Chang stayed closely connected to the Open Society University Network (OSUN) leadership team during lockdown. The network actively promotes virtual education and a lively exchange between the partnering institutions. Brac University was able to offer summer online classes to its students with renown institutions like Princeton University, Bard College and Central European University. 

(from left to right: Jonathan Becker, Leon Botstein, Vincent Chang)

While maintaining social distance and taking precautions, Professor Chang visited Jonathan Becker, Vice-Chancellor of OSUN, and Leon Botstein, President of Bard College, a few weeks ago in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, USA. Bard College functions as the basis of OSUN and connects the partners and their initiatives. The three leaders spoke about the successful launch of the network, despite the challenges that the Covid-19 pandemic provided. OSUN links up universities and research institutions globally, which naturally places it in a position to communicate virtually. So, the restrictions imposed by the pandemic didn’t hamper the network’s mission. Going forward, Professor Chang discussed multiple collaborations with Brac University that will improve its educational capacity.