ERIE, Pa. — A new partnership with the India-based Gandhi Institute of Technology and Management (GITAM) will create teaching and research opportunities at Penn State Behrend — including “2+2 programs” that enable students at GITAM to complete their undergraduate degrees at Behrend.

Each of Behrend’s four academic schools is developing curricular pathways that can support students from India. The effort supports an Association of American Universities (AAU) task force that is promoting collaboration between U.S. and Indian universities.

Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi is one of five co-chairs of the AAU task force.

“The benefit, for our students, is really in terms of global enrichment,” said Greg Filbeck, vice chancellor and associate dean for academic affairs at Behrend. “It’s the ability to travel, and to study abroad, and also to benefit their curriculum and their experiences, as they go out to work in what we know is a global economy.”