Aviation management students to exchange campuses this year

Isaac Nettey, associate dean for the College of Technology, at the European Business School in Oestrich-Winkel, Germany. Photo submitted by Isaac Nettey

Credit: DKS Editors

Ich bin Amerikaner.

This German phrase meaning “I am American” will become customary for Jesse Long, sophomore aviation management major, as he meets new faces in Germany this fall.

The College of Technology recently teamed up with the European Business School in Oestrich-Winkel, Germany. Long is attending for the school’s highly acclaimed aviation management program.

“I have always wanted to travel to Germany and I couldn’t let this opportunity slide by,” Long said. “I have heard that the school is a beautiful place and it will be an experience of a lifetime.”

Long took German courses in high school and at Kent State and said he is looking forward to practicing his Deutsch with the citizens in and around Oestrich-Winkel.

EBS first contacted Isaac Nettey, associate dean for the College of Technology, in 2007 in an effort to establish exchange programs with select schools in America. On Jan. 9, 2009, Kent State and EBS signed an agreement.

“I thought it would be a good bridge between what we do here and what they do there,” Nettey said. “Sort of a cross fertilization. No university in Ohio has such an exchange program in aviation management.”

Nettey recently visited EBS and described his experience as extraordinary.

“It’s a very rich setting close to the river Rhine, which you can see from the university,” he said. “It also has excellent proximity to Frankfurt Main, which is one of the largest airports in the world.”

The College of Technology has international programs in Turkey and India, but Nettey said they do not compare to the exchange program with EBS. The partnership with EBS is purely an exchange program where a student pays Kent State’s tuition and goes to Germany.

“At this point, there is no other opportunity that’s richer than this type of an exchange program, largely because of its partnership with Lufthansa, which is one of the largest international carriers in Europe,” Nettey said.

Munich, Germany native Virginia Fabricius is an EBS student studying aviation management. She said EBS has an excellent reputation as Germany’s second best university for economics and management. She said she sought after a university where expectations and workload were high, and EBS suited her needs.

“(EBS) has very challenging courses and the material is taught quickly, but in a comprehensible manner,” she said. “I think the organization is really good and there are many different languages offered.”

EBS also welcomes students without a background in German. The entire curriculum is taught in English, but students will take a crash course on German culture and language so they can actively engage in their surroundings.

Any student who completes at least one year in Kent State’s aeronautics program can apply to EBS. The entire application can be completed online.

Nettey said students can actually expedite their education by studying abroad and assures students they will not break strides as they march toward graduation.

“The process of applying was fairly simple and was done all online,” Long said. “Recently I scheduled my classes and got a room, so the next step will be flying there and getting everything set up.”

Sebastian Blumenthal is from Muenster, Germany and attends EBS because of its impressive aviation program. He is a second year aviation management major and said EBS is the only university in Germany to offer such a program. He enjoys the studies and the atmosphere.

“The people at EBS are great and so are the lectures,” Blumenthal said. “EBS provides exactly that kind of study and surrounding I looked for.”

Blumenthal isn’t always studying, however. He likes to barbecue, hang out and drink German beer next to the river Rhine. He said students can also enjoy the “big city life” in the surrounding areas.

He and Fabricius will embrace the exchange opportunity and come to Kent in January 2010. He is excited to visit the U.S. and take part in the American college life.

“I’m looking forward to meeting great people, (and) learning from Kent’s lectures and way of teaching,” Blumenthal said.

Contact technology reporter Rebekah Maple at [email protected].