University of Minnesota Morris Chancellor Janet Schrunk Ericksen and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Dean Jordan Cofer recently traveled to Kazakhstan to meet with officials from Baitursynuly University (also known as A.Baitursynov Kostanay State University) and, at the invitation of the Minister of Science and Higher Education, Sayasat Nurbek, to participate in a national conference on higher education in Kazakhstan.
In September and with the support and participation of Minister Nurbek, UMN Morris and Baitursynuly University (BU) signed a memorandum of understanding that will bring BU students to Morris for classes beginning in 2026 as part of a dual degree program. Students in the program will earn a bachelor's degree in Computer Science from UMN Morris and a bachelor’s in Computer Engineering from BU.
Prior to arriving on the UMN Morris campus, BU students will take online courses taught by UMN Morris to help prepare them to spend their third year in Morris, where they will take courses in Computer Science and in other areas to fulfill UMN Morris general education requirements.
Ericksen believes both universities will benefit from this arrangement and plans to send UMN Morris faculty to Kostanay in the future, for short term teaching or even for a semester, and she looks forward to welcoming leaders and faculty from BU to Morris in the next year or two.
Dr. Seitbek Kuanyshbayev, rector (president) of BU, stated that the cooperation opens up new opportunities for access to world-class knowledge and experience for BU students.
