Background to the Project History of the Project Purpose of the Project How you can Participate Support for the Project Background to the Project Since the advent of democratic government in South Africa in 1994, South African higher education institutions have expressed their need for major transformation and have sought expanded international cooperation. After many years of isolation during the apartheid era, South African universities and technikons have been entering into partnerships with higher education institutions in the United States and throughout the world. In the past decade, U.S. higher education institutions also have understood their need to link more proactively with partners abroad in order to build a more international experience for their students and a foundation of global knowledge and expertise for their faculty. History of the Project The Partnerships Project is a project of the Higher Education Forum of the U.S.-South Africa Binational Commission (BNC). The Higher Education Forum was created in 1997 to assist the Human Resource Development and Education Committee of the Binational Commission to facilitate cooperation between people engaged in higher education in the two countries and to discuss policy transformation and issues of common interest. Approved in 1999, this project is one important way of carrying out the Forum's objective "to serve as a vehicle for systemic educational exchange and collaboration between U.S. and South African higher educational institutions." The project is being coordinated by the African Studies Center at Michigan State University, which is soliciting information for the database from U.S. higher education institutions. The International Education Association of South Africa is the South African organization that is soliciting information for the database from South African institutions." Purpose of the Project The South Africa-U.S. Partnerships Project has two main goals: to share information about existing higher education partnerships through an on-line database of partnerships, and to promote successful and mutually beneficial partnerships by proposing guidelines for and fostering discussion of best practices in international partnerships . How You can Participate We welcome information about partnerships in which you are involved. You may complete the "Questionnaire on an Institutional Partnership in South Africa" and send it to us by post or e-mail. People involved in partnerships may wish to comment on the draft guidelines about best practices in international partnerships, mentioned above. Send us an e-mail message at ussalink@msu.edu and let us know if you are willing to have your comment made available publicly. Support for the Project We acknowledge the U.S. And South African Departments of Education for initiating this project. We are grateful for funding for this project from the Kellogg Foundation as part of its commitment to support the U.S.-South Africa Binational Commission's Higher Education Forum. The grant is being administered by the American Council on Education. Major staff time and funding for the project also is being provided by Michigan State University through its African Studies Center. South Africa-U.S. Higher Education Partnerships Project Homepage http://isp.msu.edu/ussa/ If you have any questions or comments on this webpage contact africa@msu.edu Joe van Deventer, Website Developer Last Updated: January 2001