Dr. Jonathan Adams, associate professor at the School of Communication, travelled to the Mukdahan Thailand, to visit the campus of Ubon Ratichani University in May and secure a signed cooperative agreement between the College of Communication & Information (CCI) and Ubon’s Department of International Affairs. A signing ceremony took place on May 20.

The agreement is a starting point for what is hoped will lead to funded projects and collaborations between CCI and Mukdahan-Ubon’s Departments of International Affairs and Information Technology. The collaborations may include visiting faculty, joint research projects or teaching opportunities in Thailand.

Thailand is a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which plans to commence a European-Union style economic zone by 2015. It will bring many changes to the region and CCI is investigating funding from sources whose interests are on improving education, infrastructure or technologies for the benefit of the people who live in the area.

The agreement is the brainchild of Adams and Dr. Anchalee Ngampornchai, a research associate with the School of Communication, who is originally from Thailand. A colleague of Ngampornchai she met during her doctoral studies, Artchara Akkanit, now teaches in the Department of International Affairs at the Mukdahan campus. The Mukdahan campus, which also specializes in information technology, is expanding in hopes of becoming a regional institution and is reaching out to make international agreements. After several months of discussions, Adams, Ngampornchai and Akkanit decided to move forward with such an agreement.

“We are in discovery mode right now. Currently, our agreement is to explore mutual opportunities and to decide the best way to expand the agreement,” said Adams.