The Dominican Republic's Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology Ligia Amada Melo de Cardona arrived in Logan Aug. 23 with 56 Dominican students bound for Utah State University. Under the leadership of President Leonel Fernández Reyna, the Dominican government is investing $4 million in the second phase of the Presidential Higher Education Program for Superior Students to fund the educations of the students at USU.
The government previously picked up the $1.5 million tab, including tuition, room, board and books, for the inaugural group of 36 students, all of whom are making successful progress in their respective degree programs or have graduated.
Forty of the new Aggies are freshmen entering various undergraduate programs, including engineering and business, and the remaining 16 are graduate students.
USU Interim Provost Noelle Cockett welcomed the students to the university at a luncheon held Aug. 24, and called them ambassadors of their home country. "Through you, we hope to further strengthen the university's ties with the Dominican Republic," she said.
Minister Amada de Cardona told the students to take advantage of the opportunity their government had extended.
"In this life, you need to make the most of the opportunities and experiences you are given," she said. "You are all very intelligent and capable, and your achievements lay the groundwork for future generations."
USU President Stan Albrecht traveled to the Dominican Republic last April to sign the second phase of the scholarship agreement with President Fernández, who served as the country's president from 1996 to 2000 and was elected to a second term in 2004.
"Utah State University enjoys longstanding research and educational ties with the Dominican Republic," said Albrecht. "We look forward to further strengthening our joint programs, which benefit our students and citizens on both sides of the border."
Utah State's joint educational, research and development affiliations with the Dominican Republic reach back to the early 1980s, when the university began training Dominican government employees in irrigation engineering. Since that time, millions of dollars provided by varied sources, including the U.S. Agency for International Development, the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of the United States, as well as the Dominican government, have funded numerous USU-led training and technical assistance projects in irrigation and water resources. The university received a presidential commendation from the Dominican government in 2004, recognizing USU's efforts in strengthening the country's National Institute for Hydraulic Resources and its Water Users Association.
This past year, Utah State started a joint program, funded by USAID, to develop a master's program in public administration at the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic's largest public university and the oldest university in the Americas.
During her visit to Logan, Minister Amada de Cardona will meet with USU officials to discuss proposed joint educational programs in biotechnology and instructional technology, along with continued opportunities for faculty and student exchanges and research collaboration.
The minister is accompanied on her visit by her grandson, Juan Luís Lozada Cardona, who is a graduate of Utah State and was recently named president of the Dominican Republic's newly formed USU Alumni Chapter. Lozada is scheduled to meet with USU alumni program personnel during his visit.
