Odisha institute inks deal with US varsity

The Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) University said here Tuesday that it has entered into an agreement on faculty and student exchange with Metropolitan State University of Denver in the US.

The memorandum of understanding was signed here by Akbarali Thobhani, executive director of international studies at the Denver institute and KIIT Vice Chancellor P.P. Mathur, the university said in a statement.

It was signed after an eight-member delegation led by Stephen M. Jordan, president of the Metropolitan State University of Denver, visited various schools and facilities of the KIIT University Dec 20-21.

They also visited the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS), a social arm of the KIIT.

"The agreement would encourage and support faculty and student exchanges. Both the universities agreed to advance collaborative development and delivery of courses and programmes in addition to promotion of research and scholarly projects," the statement said.

Founded by social entrepreneur Achyuta Samanta, KIIT is a group of professional institutes - KIIT University and KISS - that provide free education and vocational training to more than 20,000 tribal students.

In July KIIT signed pacts with six South Korean universities and one university each from Kenya and Tanzania.