Metropolitan State University of Colorado, Denver, USA

The Metropolitan State University (MSU) of Denver in the U.S. state of Colorado, Denver, is an institution with a very wide portfolio spanning across humanities, economics, computer science, and arts in addition to technical and engineering studies. MSU Denver is one of the highest-rated partners of the University of Pécs, with achievements in both humanities and economics, thanks to the friendly, personal atmosphere that has developed between colleagues on both sides.

The cooperation was brought to life by MSU professors from Hungary, who were once students of lecturers in Pécs - in Budapest at that time. Dr. Miklós Iványi, a professor of UP FEIT, brought MSU Denver lecturers to Pécs in 2010, and we date the establishment of the cooperation from here.

Thanks to the fruitful teamwork, several Denver lecturers and researchers have come close to the education in Pécs since then and some of them have been awarded honorary titles by the Senate of the University of Pécs:

Dr. Vicki L. Golich - Provost and Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs and Professor at the Department of Political Science

Mr. Stephan M. Jordan - past resident of MSU Denver - honorary doctor (2017)

Dr. Sandra D. Haynes - Vice President of Academic and Student Affairs at MSU Denver - honorary doctor (2014)

Dr. Enikő Zsuzsa Balogh - honorary professor (2014)
Dr. Jenő Balogh - honorary professor (2011)

The main elements of the cooperation:

1) Joint preparation for international accreditations

Immediately before introducing the international portfolio of UP FEIT in 2013, 16 Pécs-based lecturers of architecture were hosted by the team the department of Engineering and Engineering Technologies of MSU Denver, with whose help and participation they attended a two-month intensive language training aiming to acquaint themselves with the American accreditation environment. These two months also gave a direct impetus to the preparation of the education of the first international students at the UP FEIT.

Subsequently, in 2015, 13 lecturers of civil engineering and information technology from Pécs spent 6-8 weeks at MSU Denver for a similar intensive language program before the start of the English-language Civil Engineering and Computer Science Engineering courses in the fall term.

2) Extramural training

The “Architecture Minor” 2-semester program of the MSU Department of Engineering and Engineering Technologies is a specialization offered to the students of MSU Denver Civil Engineering major, six courses of which have been accredited by US ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) with the lecturers of UP FEIT Department of Architecture. Since 2014, lecturers of UP FEIT assigned to MSU Denver for 1-1 semesters have been leading the courses.

Details of the program can be found at the following link: https://www.msudenver.edu/cet/
The American coordinator of the program is Dr. Zsuzsanna Balogh.

The training has been running with great success in Denver since its introduction and is already available as a specialization for Civil Engineering students as well as Industrial Design students. Our lecturers who complete a U.S. assignment for 1-1 semesters, as an employee shared with MSU, pursue an activity that is recognized as a resource for the university’s international accreditation process.

Our lecturers who have been assigned to MSU Denver since 2014:

2014-2015: Dr. Ákos Hutter – Dr. Zoltán Orbán

Dr. Attila Fülöp – Dr. Erzsébet Zoltán

2015-2016: Dr. Ágnes Borsos – Dr. János Gyergyák

2016-2017: Dr. Ágnes Borsos– Dr. János Gyergyák

2017-2018: Réka Borbás– Dr. Tibor Dányi

2018-2019: Réka Borbás – Dr. Tibor Dányi

2019-2020: Dr. Tibor Dányi

Tamás Rácz - Tamás Juhász

2020-2021: Dr. András Greg - Tamás Juhász

2021-2022: Dr. Tibor Dányi
Summary of the Architecture minor program 2022 Fall

2022-2023: Dr. Ákos Hutter - Dr. Krisztián Kovács-Andor
Summary of the Architecture minor program 2023 Spring - written by Dr. Krisztián Kovács-Andor

3) Joint scientific work

Since 2015, we have worked together on several international scientific forums, platforms and workshops, including the topic “Humanitarian Technologies” that is also relevant from an international perspective. Other individual bilateral researchers’ collaborations have also emerged in the fields of civil engineering and architecture. Denver colleagues are active members of FEIT’s “Wellbeing” and “BIM” (Building Information Modeling) research groups and have conducted experimental laboratory fracture tests of building materials and construction innovation experiments.

4) Study abroad / student exchange program

PTE offers a wide range of high-quality English-language study programs for incoming international visiting students for one to two semesters. The Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology welcomes predominantly MSU Denver students to its BSc courses offered in English, where American students have the opportunity to learn about the Hungarian language, culture, and traditions in addition to professional subjects.

5) Erasmus + credit mobility

Under the Erasmus + credit mobility program, our students have the opportunity to gain 3-5 months of exchange student experience at the Metropolitan State University of Denver in the fields of architecture and civil engineering. The host university accepts them in the same status as its own students, does not charge any tuition fees and the examinations completed can be accepted as completion of the study obligations at the home institution.