|
|
|
Information for Sponsoring Inbound Rotary Clubs Prospective Host Institutions
Sponsoring Outbound Rotary Clubs Rotary Club # 25 |
International Business Student Training in America through Rotary
Program Description for Host (Sponsoring) Institutions
IBSTAR contributes to Rotary's goal of enhancing world peace through understanding, as people from one country experience another, exchanging cultural and personal perspectives
The service project called IBSTAR is sponsored by Rotary Clubs in the Duluth/Superior area, and seeks to expose participants to "for profit "or "not for profit" economic institutions of the United States. The goal is to expand the economic and cultural experiences of aspiring business professionals from countries that are in transition to a free market business structure and philosophy.
The program provides an immersion experience to upper level students or recent graduates of business universities in Eastern and Central European countries, and Russia.
The eight to ten week summer experience, which usually begins the second or third week of July, is in institutions selected to match the interests of the participants. For example: a participant interested in the hotel industry would be sponsored by a local hotel, and a participant whose focus is utility management would be sponsored by a local public or private utility. Non profits such as universities, charitable institutions, and various local convention and tourist organizations have also served as sponsoring institutions for participants whose interests lie in similar areas.
During the program, participants live with "host" families in the community who are usually members of one of the local Duluth or Superior Rotary Clubs, but on occasion, others in the community have provided the trainees with living accommodations.
Participants must be at least 21 years old prior to arriving in the US, and should be in or have recently completed their 4th year of university or college level study toward a professional degree in an economic or technical field.
Applicants for participation must have the endorsement of a Rotary Club in Europe or Russia prior to submission of their application. All applications are screened by these sponsoring Rotary Clubs for appropriateness of the application, language ability, age, etc., and those acceptable are forwarded to the Rotary Clubs in the Duluth/Superior area that are participating in the IBSTAR program. The participating Rotary Clubs then screen the applications, attempting to match the candidates with institutions that have volunteered to open their operations to a trainee. Applications are available for host institution review and selection by January 1st. The institution "hosting" the participant in a professional setting makes the final selection decision.
Each participating host organization is charged a sponsorship fee, and is responsible for providing a meaningful work experience for the trainee.
