On 4 December 2007, Dr Jonathan Shaw and AIT President Said Irandoust met with Dr Paul Beresford-Hill MBE, the Director-General of the Mountbatten Institute, and his colleagues Ajai Randhawa and Isabel Hedges, for further discussions on a possible collaboration between AIT and the Mountbatten Institute.
The Mountbatten Institute is an exchange organization established in 1984 to support the internationalisation of the workplace. Its mission is to foster international and cross-cultural understanding through experiential education, practical training and residence abroad, and to provide opportunities for personal growth and professional development. This is very much in-line with AIT's own orientation towards professional programs which stresses the importance of work experience and reflection with the help of academics.
Next year, it is expanding its successful internship programme to offer interns an opportunity to earn an MBA based on workplace, experiential learning. The MBA is being granted by the American International College, and the Mountbatten Institute is exploring options for collaborating with partners in Bangkok who can deliver Part II of the degree. In an earlier meeting on October 25, it was agreed that AIT Extension would be the best partner for Mountbatten in this collaboration, and we will explore all options for bringing the students together with AIT students.
The meeting was very positive, and AIT and Mountbatten Institute are confident that we can deliver an exceptional program together. The Mountbatten Institute is looking at various options in Bangkok for Part II, but Dr Beresford-Hill and colleagues were very impressed with AIT's facilities.