The idea of change was on the mind
of international business professor Haryanto when he came to Monmouth
College in 2005. "Change" for him in terms of a new place and new
people, and change for the college's international business program.
Haryanto attended undergraduate
school in his home country of Indonesia. He then attended New York State
University-Buffalo, where he received his master's degree in business
administration. Haryanto joined American Express as the Indonesian
Country Head of Establishment Services. He worked there for four years,
managing the Asian Pacific region. He then started his own successful
consulting company, which is also a field in which he taught some of his
first classes at the University of Illinois, where he studied to receive
his doctorate. After teaching for three years at Illinois, Haryanto
accepted his position at Monmouth while still owning his consulting
company.
Haryanto has traveled all over the
world, including most of Asia, the majority of the countries in Europe,
and all of the United States except for Alaska. So what made him pick
Monmouth? He really wanted a change in environment from the University
of Illinois, and Monmouth College provided the environment he sought.
"I chose Monmouth because it has a
very collegial environment and I really like that I can work one-on-one
with the students," he said, adding that he would have more of an
opportunity to impact individuals at Monmouth and push students in the
right direction. Haryanto likes that he can "see learning happening."
Haryanto has helped develop MC's
international business major. He also helped to develop a senior
capstone experience that focuses on business from a regional sense as
opposed to just focusing on one country of interest and, in the fall of
2008, an international marketing course he helped create will be taught
for the first time.
Besides expanding the international
business program, Haryanto wants students to understand the importance
of being worldly and to understand the differences among countries. As a
person who received degrees in two different countries, he said,
"International colleges are more specialized. You begin with a plan for
life, and no general education requirements. In the United States,
students are given the opportunity to change their mind and try out
different career choices."
While Haryanto makes this point, he
also sees the U.S. as geographically isolated. He feels that college
students should take the opportunity to see other countries and see how
others live. Students are "unconsciously incompetent about the rest of
the world." For this very reason Haryanto teaches about other places in
his classes and helps with Monmouth College’s educational seminars to
other countries. In the past two academic years, Haryanto has taken
groups to visit Germany during either Christmas Break, Spring Break or
in early summer after the end of classes.
