SC State, Kenyan university strengthen global partnership through cultural immersion program

Graduate students explore leadership, research and business during two-week exchange.

ORANGEBURG, S.C. — Graduate students and faculty from United States International University-Africa (USIU-Africa) in Nairobi, Kenya, are spending two weeks at South Carolina State University as part of the third International Cultural Immersion program hosted by the College of Business and Information Systems.

The exchange strengthens a growing partnership between the two universities while giving doctoral students firsthand exposure to American higher education, business practices, government and culture. Through classroom instruction, site visits and discussions with faculty and community leaders, participants are developing leadership, research and cross-cultural skills for an increasingly interconnected global economy.

The program also supports SC State's efforts to expand international partnerships and prepare students for careers that extend beyond national borders.

"We have an obligation to prepare our students to have impact and in order to have impact on business, you need global and international experience," said Dr. Matthew Guah, dean of SC State's College of Business and Information Systems.

"Of course, we know American businesses serve customers internationally and the better you understand the needs and requirements of your customer, the better business you have. So we have an obligation to prepare them to have international impact," he said.

Guah said the partnership also creates opportunities beyond the classroom, including research collaborations, business relationships and future student recruitment.

"Secondly, because these are doctoral students, … most of them are mature. Almost all of them are parents. So there's an opportunity for them to send their children here. There's an opportunity for their businesses to partner with businesses locally, and there's also an opportunity for them to partner with our research faculty and staff," he said.

Shared commitment to global learning

USIU-Africa shares SC State's commitment to preparing graduates for leadership through international experiences, said Dr. Timothy Okech, dean of the Chandaria School of Business.

"As a university, we pride ourselves as far as impressing transformative teaching, learning and research; therefore, we believe for us to be able to realize this, then we need to ensure that our students are well prepared for the global market," he said.

Okech said USIU-Africa intentionally incorporates global experiential learning into its curriculum.

"We can be able to expose our students to what is happening in the developed world so that they can be able to see how things are on the other side and be able to duplicate. Also, apart from that, we are preparing human resource for the global world," he said.

He said transformative teaching extends beyond the classroom.

"It's about having hands-on experience, being able to see practically what is happening. That's why in the program we have various industry visits for our students. With the kind of students that we have — some of them are industry executives, some of them are entrepreneurs — learning how things are being run is very important," he said.

The visiting scholars are enrolled in USIU-Africa's Doctor of Business Administration program, which Guah said serves as a model as SC State works through the approval process for its own Doctor of Business Administration program.

"We are an R2 institution, which means we don't only teach, but we're supposed to do research, and we're supposed to have graduate programs and graduate schools where research is done. Right now, the College of Business has done a Doctor of Business Administration, or DBA, proposal which is going through the process of approval by the university.

"Now we are collaborating with a school that also has a DBA. So we kind of learn from their process," Guah said.

During their stay, participants toured the SC State campus, visited Orangeburg cultural institutions, attended an Orangeburg County Council meeting and participated in lectures on entrepreneurship, project management, research methodology, international trade and economic development.

"They were able to learn how governance is done in terms of what we call public administration. I believe they really learned a lot," Okech said.

"We've had very many good speakers… So this is what we've been yearning for, and we strive to ensure we expose our students appropriately," he said.

Learning beyond the classroom

For Joyce Mwende, the visit marks a return to SC State after participating in the program in 2024.

"As students, it's such a big thing for us. We're grateful for the opportunity just to come by here to interact with the teaching faculty, the professors. Basically, we're just leveraging on our research. We've been having lectures, learning about the state and the economy and everything," she said.

Mwende's dissertation focuses on leadership and organizational change within nongovernmental organizations in Kenya.

"I didn't just think about this topic when I started my doctorate. I've been fortunate to work in non-governmental organizations. I was looking at sustainability if you're a donor-funded organization. Once the donor leaves, are you going to be able to proceed?" she said.

"My supervisor was very helpful. He helped me look at my thought from a research perspective. I had an idea, but then I had to work it out from a research perspective.

"So it's been good, and I can't wait really. I work for an international organization, and I can't wait to get to share my results with my employer. I believe it's going to help us," Mwende said.

She also praised the hospitality she experienced during the exchange.

"We always appreciate the good hospitality from Dean Matthew Guah and his team. He's been very good to us… Here we're really learning about leadership and being a student of leadership, that's something good. To be the best, you must be able to serve the people," she said.

Mwende said attending an Orangeburg County Council meeting offered valuable insight into public leadership and civic engagement.

"Being from Kenya, it was such an experience…. People listen to each other. The public is allowed to participate. We've learned a lot. It might not be that way back at home, but we believe that change starts somewhere.

"We must be that change back in our country. So we've come here to learn. Most of us are just professionals, senior people in organizations. We don't know what the future holds. Maybe we'll have leadership positions in the country, making decisions so we will be that change that our country needs," she said.

"We're learning, we're very grateful, we're meeting very good people around here. You can be sure we will be back again," Mwende said.

Building leaders for tomorrow

Johnmark Ndetto said the exchange has provided practical lessons he hopes to apply in Kenya.

"Fortunately, I work for Coca-Cola, so I've been to Atlanta a lot. I thought I had experienced Southern hospitality, but clearly I haven't. South Carolina's been amazing, especially the university. It's been demystifying…. We felt at home," Ndetto said.

"We've had some very intellectual discussions. We've learned a lot. It's been such an amazing experience. I definitely know why Joyce is back here. Hopefully they'll let me come back again," he said.

Ndetto said his doctoral research focuses on leadership because of its potential to create positive change.

"I chose leadership because of just the leadership in Africa and just trying to see if I can make some change. My dissertation is Effective Adaptive Leadership in Performance Organization on E-Commerce Platforms," he said.

He said discussions on entrepreneurship and access to capital were especially valuable.

"If I could take [that information] back home, it could totally make a difference because we have some geniuses back home, but they don't have access to … capital," Ndetto said.

He said cultural immersion experiences help students see successful ideas in practice.

"You got to see that something is possible. It's not just theoretical, it's actually practically working somewhere. So just to see the practicality, it gives you hope that you can implement it on the other side," he said.

Okech said the partnership reflects both universities' commitment to preparing graduates for leadership in an increasingly interconnected world. 

"At the end of it all, we just want to ensure our students are well prepared not only for the local market, but the continental and global market, as well. This collaboration is one thing that we value," Okech said.