Faculty member contributes hands-on world experience in the classroom

Purdue University Calumet Professor Dolores Rinke shares her experience and knowledge of accounting both inside the classroom and abroad.

Rinke, of Chicago, combines academic knowledge and first hand experience, in part, from her work as a Director of the Chicago Chapter of the Fulbright Association, to teach her accounting students about international, educational and cultural exchange.

Since 1987, she has been a faculty member at Purdue Calumet, where she teaches courses in international business. She has been active in the Purdue University Study Abroad Program, having served as instructor and faculty/student advisor at Cambridge and Oxford Universities.

Rinke initially became involved with the Fulbright Association in 1992 when she hosted a couple who were Fulbright Scholars from Hungary. That her paternal grandparents were from Hungary increased her interest, she said, motivating her to apply for a Fulbright grant.

The Fulbright Association is a private nonprofit organization whose membership is comprised of alumni and friends of the Fulbright Program. The Fulbright Association has more than 7,500 members and programs with more than 150 countries.

"The Association serves as an important vehicle for supporting and promoting international, educational and cultural exchange," Rinke said.

In August of 1992, Rinke traveled to Hungary where she taught a preparation course for chartered accountants to a group of Hungarian accounting students.

Rinke said it was a new experience for her since she never previously had taught accounting based on British standards.

"I soon discovered that most of the students did not have a text book and were depending on my lectures," she said. "After contacting the major accounting firms in Budapest, we were able to secure funding to purchase textbooks."

She said her experience proved to be life changing. She was awarded another Fulbright grant; this time to assist Hungary in preparing for entrance to the European Union.

In 1995, she was nominated for the Fulbright Association Board of Directors. To date, she serves as acting treasurer and chair of the Finance/Audit Committee.

Rinke said her association with Fulbright has made it possible for her to work with the Finance Society of Turkey in developing the auditing profession for the country of Lativa, while providing an increased understanding of other people and their culture.

Students in her international accounting class at Purdue Calumet also benefit, she said, from her first hand experience.

"I can tell my students about various cultures and what is actually happening in the accounting profession," Rinke said. "Many of my students have shared in the consulting experience and have helped develop audits."