Projects in Russia

Distance Education in Stavropol UM has partnered with Stavropol State Agrarian University (SSAU), Stavropol, Russia, to create a Regional Distance Learning Center (RDLC) in southern Russia where access to technology and the Internet is highly varied. The RDLC will host Internet-based and video-conference classes on ssau

veterinary sciences, and small agricultural business management. The RDLC also will host email, listserv, and file transfer protocol (FTP) server support.

UM professors Mark Varner, Robert L. Hill, and Senior Extension Specialist Dale Johnson, have been working with professors from five Russian agricultural and veterinary colleges to get the project up and running. The Center is located at Stavropol State Agrarian University (SSAU), which is in an area of Russia distant from Moscow, and has few opportunities for continuing education for vets or for small agri-business owners.

The project is not limited to developing the distance learning center. The UM team is assisting their Russian colleagues with modernizing the agricultural curriculum in Russian universities. Dale Johnson traveled to Stavropol in March and October 2007 to begin planning the small business management certificate program. The program will teach farmers and agricultural business owners to use computer software to improve business efficiency and how to identify products that will provide the farmers with the best return. It is expected to be operational in early 2009.

The project is funded through a grant from Higher Education for Development (HED), and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). UM and SSAU's Russian partners are Daghestan State Academy of Agriculture, Kabardino-Balkaria State Academy of Agriculture, Gorsky State Agrarian University, and Don State Agrarian University.

agrojournal

Agro-Magazine: UM and Moscow State Agro-Engineering University developed an electronic journal on agriculture, food safety and other issues. Agro-Magazine publishes joint works of Russian and foreign scientists. The articles are published in Russian and English.

The project is in effort to fill the need for published research. Historically, professional journals and published research have not been available in Russia. (Hill, Varner, Miller)

Moscow State University of Environmental Engineering (MSUEE): UM's Dr. Richard Weismiller, a soil scientist, has been holding classes with MSUEE environmental students by weekly video-conference. The students also visited UM in January-February 2008, where they sat in on soil and water classes, toured two waste water treatment plants, and visited the Chesapeake Bay.

Meat Safety Conference, April 2006: The University of Maryland and The Russian Academy of Agricultural Sciences hosted a three-day conference in April 2006, aimed at informing government and industry officials in both countries about meat and poultry processing and inspection and creating a forum to discuss harmonization of food safety standards. Researchers, meat and poultry processors, and government officials were some of the 200 people who attended the conference.

Novgorod State University: UM has also partnered with Novgorod State University and Purdue University to assist in the development of an environmental science curriculum. The partnership comprised three phases, and involved faculty members from Novgorod State spending time at UM. In June 2001, a delegation led by President Mote visited institutions in St. Petersburg and Moscow. During the visit, new agreements were signed with St. Petersburg State University and St. Petersburg State Technical University. In addition, the delegation had discussions with the Russian Academy of Sciences regarding the terms of an umbrella agreement that will be signed later this year.

For more information, contact Ann Leger

Last updated: 04/11/2008