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The International University of Grand-Bassam (IUGB) is an independent and nonprofit institution of higher education located in the city of Grand-Bassam, Department of the same name, region of Sud-Comoé in the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire. With the support and cooperation of Georgia State University (GSU) in Atlanta, Georgia and the Government of Côte d'Ivoire, IUGB opened in January 2005 and was formally established as an accredited institution of higher education in Côte d’Ivoire in May 2007. Its main objective is to provide an American-style curriculum to students from Sub-Saharan Africa. It is the first University in French speaking Côte d'Ivoire with English as language of instruction.

History
The International University of Grand-Bassam (IUGB) opened its doors in 2005 as a private partnership, offering an American-style curriculum in English.

Project Link years
The story of IUGB started in 1994 with “Project Link”, an initiative created in Côte d’Ivoire by a team of GSU academics, administrators and student representatives. The purpose of Project Link was to provide a platform for educational exchange and cultural awareness to GSU students, faculty, and staff on an international level. In order to support this initiative, the Ministry of Higher Education of Côte d’Ivoire and GSU signed a formal agreement. Later, under the leadership of Steve Langston, GSU Vice President for Public Service, a local coordinating committee was formed at GSU.

In 1995, GSU provided tuition waivers for “Project Link Scholars”, an association of Ivorian students interested in exchange study at GSU through Project Link.

In 1997, GSU President, Carl Patton visited Côte d’Ivoire to renew the Project Link agreement and expand it. Under the leadership of Langston, GSU created the Office of West African Programs. Langston assigned Assistant Director of the Office, Samuel Koffi to work on site on the creation of an international university in Côte d’Ivoire. In 1998, the Government of Côte d’Ivoire and GSU signed a memorandum of understanding to work together on the establishment of an international university modeled on the American style of higher education. As a result, GSU worked on a planning grant for an institution named “International University for Development in West Africa”.

AED - early years
In 2000, the Agency for Education and Development (AED), an American non-governmental organization, was founded to collect government funds and support the creation and development of the new university. In spite of changes in the political landscape in the country at the end of 2000, GSU collaborated with Côte d’Ivoire through AED. In 2002, AED commissions the Center for Business and Industrial Marketing (CBIM) of GSU to conduct a marketing study in Côte d’Ivoire.

In the period from 2004 to 2005, the Côte d’Ivoire-Georgia State University partnership reached two important milestones: 1) AED, with administrative support from GSU, created a pre-university program with a two-year core curriculum; 2)  thirteen students started classes at IUGB as it opened in January 2005. According to records, students completed their freshman and sophomore years at IUGB and were transferred to GSU to complete their Bachelor’s degrees. In 2006, enrollment at IUGB reached 76 at the beginning of academic year 2006-2007. Within 3 years, it expanded to 145. The Office of West African Programs ended and the Project Link Scholars program is administered by the Director of the Office of African American Student Services and Programs.

Foundation years
On May 16, 2007,  the Presidential Decree n° 2007-477 of the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire formally established IUGB as a University in Côte d’Ivoire. Two days later, on May 18, 2007, Saliou Toure, a University Professor and former Minister of Higher Education of Côte d’Ivoire, is appointed as IUGB’s first President. GSU and IUGB mutually agreed to renew their formal relationship in a memorandum of cooperation on July 26, 2007.

In the Fall of 2008, the IUGB student enrollment reached 125 and the first two cohorts of IUGB graduates arrived at GSU in Atlanta, Georgia. In October 2008, two teams of experts from GSU and Côte d’Ivoire, worked on the third and fourth year of the IUGB curriculum leading to the development of a 5-year business plan.

Political crisis years
In spite of the political and social instability after the October 2010 presidential elections in Côte d'Ivoire, IUGB remained open. By the end of the post-electoral crisis, 17 new IUGB transfer students enrolled at GSU. Around December of the same year, the student enrollment at IUGB reached 250.

Recent years
In January 2012, 265 students enrolled at IUGB of which 43 were exchange students at GSU. On 27 July, 2015, IUGB awarded for the first time Bachelor’s degrees to 23 students.

On March 6, 2017, IUGB was honored by the visit of  Andrew Young, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, former mayor of Atlanta, U.S. congressman from Georgia and founder of  the Andrew J. Young Foundation. On March 7, 2017, Young joined Daniel Kablan Duncan, Vice President of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, for a ground-breaking ceremony on the site of the new 51-ha IUGB campus. This new infrastructure is scheduled to cover four zones on education, students life, administration and sports. In the Fall of 2018, 48 students graduated while 813 enrolled full time at IUGB with a significant number from 24 countries.

Board of Directors
IUGB academic policies and strategic planning are enacted by a Board of Directors made of twenty members of which four represent the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire; two, the AED; one, Georgia State University; four, the Partners Council; four, the private sector and four other private personalities selected by the IUGB President. The Board also initiates fund raising for University projects. The President manages the University operations according to the plan set by the Board. A senior executive team including the President himself, the Chief Operations Officer, the Vice President for Academic Affairs and the Deans of the schools, is responsible for implementing University policies and programs as recommended by the Board of Directors.

Strategic plan
The IUGB 2016-2020 strategic plan aims to reinforce the University vision and principles in building an American-style education for graduates of international stature. This plan lists three main initiatives for reaching these goals including
 * a framework for financial stability;
 * resources for building and equipping a new campus;
 * international recognition of IUGB through U.S. educational accreditation.

Academic organization


IUGB aims to deliver education that is relevant to the Sub-Saharan Africa region, build international partnerships and create outreach programs and services for the local community. To this end, the University is organized in 3 schools including the School of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), the School of Business and Social Science (BSS) and the Undergraduate Preparatory Program (UPP). While the main administration and campus are in Grand-Bassam, the University maintains offices and a Center for Continuing Education 20 miles away, in the economic capital city of Abidjan. As of Fall 2018, 82 Faculty (37 full time, 45 part time) were teaching undergraduate programs in the 3 schools.

Undergraduate Preparatory Program
The Undergraduate Preparatory Program (UPP), is a foundation program  intended for students interested to join the main IUGB degree programs. Under the guidance of its Director, it prepares students for university level work through intensive courses in English, technology and mathematics. UPP students are officially registered as IUGB students with access to all academic, welfare, social and cultural resources.

School of Business and Social Science
The School of Business and Social Science (BSS) provides a Liberal Arts core curriculum in addition to institutional degree majors and minors. From May 2014, the School started offering a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA),  a  Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Political science, and a Bachelor of Science in Political science and a Bachelor of Science in computer information systems. The School also offers minors in several business related fields of interest.

School of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics
The Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics school (STEM) offers the Bachelor of Science in Computer Science (BS CSC), the Bachelor of Science in Mathematics (BS MATH) and the Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering Technology (BS MET). STEM has also minors in Mathematics, Computer Science and concentrations in Database & Knowledge Based Systems, Network & Mobile Communications, Information Technology & Mobile Application Development.

Center for Continuing Education
The Center for Continuing Education (CCE) provides training in non-academic programs and professional fields including Leadership development, Faculty development and Teacher training, Language acquisition and Testing preparation and examination.

IUGB Foundation
The IUGB Foundation Inc. is a nonprofit organization founded in Atlanta, Georgia on February 20, 2012 by Doris Martin, John Hicks and Samuel Koffi. The Foundation is organized for charitable and educational purposes. Its objective is to promote the development of leaders by providing to IUGB students, Faculty and the administration, scholarships, fellowships, grants, and loans for academic intents. Since the beginning of 2018, the Foundation's Executive Director is Amini Kajunju who previously served as the President and CEO of the Africa-America Institute (AAI), one of the oldest nonprofit organization in the U.S.

Student life
In the Fall of 2018, the size of the IUGB student population reached 813 including several countries. A significant number of students live in three residential halls located in the vicinity of the main campus. Student organizations, programs, activities, and other leadership opportunities are part of the co-curricular learning experience in both schools. In particular, a Student Government Association (SGA) protects students rights and upholds their interests in academic, institutional and campus affairs. The SGA also engages students in internal activities and community outreach programs to help expand their learning experience. Besides their academic activities, students interact through internal clubs and organizations they run themselves. For example, there are religious, speech, political science, and business clubs supported by the IUGB Student Life and Services department. Cultural programs helps student participate in local and international cultural excursions, administration-sponsored study trips, and other learning activities.

Affiliations
IUGB is a member of the Worldwide Universities Network (WUN) and the Association of African Universities. In addition, IUGB has several notable international partners including Georgia State University, the University of Houston and University of South Africa. the Global Liberal Arts Alliance as well as in South Africa, Burkina Faso, Mali, Morocco, Chile, France, India, Jamaica and Slovakia.