DATE: June 05, 2008
CONTACT:
Raymond Sauer, (864) 656-3969
sauerr@clemson.edu
WRITER:
Amanda Brock, (864) 656-5970
brock4@clemson.edu
WRITER:
Teresa Hopkins, (864) 656-1222
hopkin1@clemson.edu
First class graduates from international economics dual-degree program
CLEMSON – Three students from Belgium were among the more than 2,000 students who shook President James Barker’s hand when they received their degrees at Clemson University’s commencement.
Audrey Renier, Alexandru Cupsan and Vittorio Pellizzari are the first students to graduate in the Transatlantic Exchange in Economics (TREE) program. TREE is a course of study designed by Clemson’s John E. Walker Department of Economics and the département des sciences économiques of the Université catholique de Louvain (UCL) in Belgium. The program is one of several Atlantis programs funded by the European Union and the U.S. Department of Education’s Foundation for Post-Secondary Education.
American universities, such as Indiana University, the University of North Carolina, the University of Wisconsin and Virginia Tech, are partners with European universities to offer dual-degree opportunities for both American and European students. The TREE students are the first to earn Clemson degrees under the Atlantis program.
“The Université catholique de Louvain is one of the world’s best universities,” said Raymond Sauer, chairman of Clemson’s economics department. “It is an honor for Clemson to partner with UCL in the TREE program. The students we hosted from UCL were exceptional in the classroom and I am heartened that they took advantage of the opportunity to learn about American culture during their time here, from New York to D.C. to Savannah and places in between, during their stay at Clemson.
“Our students are doing the same in Belgium and Holland,” Sauer said. “The TREE program is a fabulous opportunity, both for our students and students from UCL.”
Ten students from Clemson are now in the program and will earn degrees from the Université catholique de Louvain upon completing their course of study. Students who participate in the program earn two bachelor’s degrees in economics while studying abroad for 18 months. They study at Clemson University, Université catholique de Louvain and the Universiteit Maastricht in the Netherlands. The curriculum brings together business economics, economic development and international economic policy. In addition to traditional classroom instruction, the students visit major economic institutions on both sides of the Atlantic. The students at the Université catholique de Louvain met with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on a trip to Washington, D.C., earlier this year.
“Institutions like Clemson that have the foresight and flexibility to design programs and issue dual degrees are truly visionary in recognizing that the students of today and tomorrow will need specific professional and language skills that will enable them to work in different international settings,” said Frank Frankfort, U.S. coordinator of the Atlantis Program.
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