Tacoma Community College Instructor Going To Kosovo As Fulbright Scholar

(Editor's note: This is from Tacoma Community College)

Tacoma Community College business-transfer instructor Len Heritage has been selected as a Fulbright Scholar of “Applied or Theoretical Economics or Business Administration” for 2012-13. He will travel to Kosovo in August and spend 2 terms teaching and working on curriculum development at the American University of Kosovo, Pristina.

Heritage, whose background includes both finance and law, will integrate law, accounting and statistics into a single financial accounting course. He will also be assisting instructors with curriculum development and conducting seminars for local businesses on topics such as forensic accounting.

Legislation to create the Fulbright program, which seeks to foster international ties through scholarship exchanges, was introduced by Senator Fulbright and approved by Congress in 1964. Participants are chosen based on academic merit and leadership potential. Approximately 1,200 grants are awarded to U.S. scholars per year, giving them the opportunity to work in any of 155 participating countries.

According to the Fulbright Scholar Program, the Kosovo higher education system has been making slow progress towards a Western-oriented approach since declaring independence in 2008. U.S. Fulbright Scholars have been involved with the transition for almost 7 years.

“Kosovo is a relatively new country that has a very low standard of income – people make about $3,300 per year,” said Heritage. “At the American University in Kosovo, they’re trying to educate the local populace in business and related subjects, with the idea they’ll be able to revitalize the economy and increase the standard of living.”

American University in Kosovo contracts with the Rochester Institute of Technology to provide undergraduate and Master’s degrees. Because the university is accredited, graduates may pursue further educational opportunities in the U.S.

Heritage hopes to make a significant contribution to a community where opportunities are limited.

“There’s no industry to speak of in Kosovo,” said Heritage. “They’re an agro economy, subsistence agriculture.”