A visit to Indonesia by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in March has spurred UF President Bernie Machen and other university heads to travel there to foster relationships with their universities.
Machen will focus on arranging collaborations in the areas of agriculture, sustainability and urban planning, he wrote in an e-mail.
About 20 universities, university systems and colleges in the U.S. will be represented, said Terance Bigalke, director of education at the East-West Center - based in Hawaii - which helped organize the trip.
Institutions represented include Cornell University, the University of Michigan and Miami-Dade Community College, the nation/s largest community college.
The trip will run from July 26 to Aug. 1 and could include visits to educational facilities in four different cities, including Jakarta, the nation/s capital, Bigalke said.
In addition to research partnerships, UF is interested in promoting student exchange between UF and Indonesian universities. Last fall, UF had four foreign students from Indonesia, down from 15 in 1998, according to UF/s Web site.
Bigalke said one of the main goals of the trip is to double the number of students exchanged between the two countries.
About 8,000 Indonesians are currently studying in the U.S., while fewer than 200 Americans are studying in Indonesia, he said.
The Indonesian government, aided by private donors, is paying the expenses of the visitors while they are in the country.
UF will have to pay for Machen/s plane ticket, however, which will likely cost about ,3,000, Bigalke said. UF spokeswoman Janine Sikes said part of UF/s costs will be paid by a sponsor.
Machen/s trip is preceded by one to Iran in November with other university presidents.
