Akanmu Adebayo, executive director of the Institute for Global Initiatives, Kennesaw State University. VIDEO 1  -  VIDEO 2

Kennesaw State University is preparing for its 24th academic year of studying a foreign country with “the Year of Turkey” beginning in August.

“It’s a crucial moment in the relations between the U.S. and Turkey,” Akanmu Adebayo, executive director of the university’s Institute for Global Initiatives, told GlobalAtlanta in a video interview. “And it’s a big deal especially because of the war in Iraq and how that will affect the entire region.”

Dr. Adebayo, who joined the Kennesaw State faculty in 1992, visited Turkey in February to establish contacts and set the agenda for the year’s activities.

“The trip went very well,” he said. “We met with top government officials, city officials in Istanbul and cultural officials who have agreed to visit and speak.”

He was most pleased with his visit to the Istanbul offices of TUSKON, the Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists of Turkey, which is exploring the opportunity of working with the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce to co-host a conference here underscoring investment opportunities in Turkey.

Last year, Murat Yalcintas, president of the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce, a separate business organization that often collaborates on projects with TUSKON, visited Atlanta to promote closer business ties between the U.S. and his country.

While U.S.-Turkish political relations have been strained by the war in Iraq, business ties with Turkey are strengthening, Mr. Yalcintas said in a GlobalAtlanta interview, citing the sharp increase in foreign direct investment that has prompted dynamic economic growth in Turkey.

The Year of Turkey program at Kennesaw State is especially well-timed, according to Dr. Adebayo, since the Turkish community in Atlanta is launching a regional chamber of commerce for the Southeast to establish closer business relations between the region and their native country.

Kennesaw State’s programs have been developed since the 1980s to involve the entire campus, earning it widespread recognition as an innovator in the development of global learning programs.

Today, Kennesaw State is implementing a campus-wide global learning program as part of a “quality enhancement plan” of the Southern Association’s Commission on Colleges.

The university’s “Get Global!” Web site defines “Global Learning for Engaged Citizenship” as an “educational process that enhances one’s competencies for participating responsibly in the diverse, multicultural, international and interdependent world.”

The “Get Global!” program is heralded throughout the campus with numerous banners and posters announcing a variety of events. The program’s goals are to be implemented through 2012, ranging from intense tracking of global learning opportunities to campus-wide engagement in global activities.

The Institute for Global Initiatives already has three component units under its umbrella including the Center for African and African Diaspora Studies, Center for Hispanic Studies and the Office of International Services and Programs. It also is working with other programs involved in international business, including Asian studies, among others.

Of the university’s 18,076 students, 582 are from foreign countries, not counting those who entered as foreign students but now have permanent residency status.

The breakdown of these international students includes 371 pursuing undergraduate degrees and 152 studying for master’s degrees. Fifty-two are enrolled in optional practical training courses and two are in non-degree programs.

Six foreign students are from Turkey, four of them graduate students.