GIP ASSISTANT DEAN STEVE BARNES BUILDS RELATIONSHIPS DURING MINI-RESIDENCY IN KAZAKHSTAN
March 2025 — Steve Barnes, assistant dean of Graduate and International Programs at Penn State Dickinson Law, sees his job not as recruiting in the traditional sense but as building relationships. He has forged many of them over the past 10 years in Kazakhstan, where he recently returned for a 10-day residency.
His stay included conducting 24 interviews with Master of Laws (LL.M.) student candidates, giving lectures at partner universities, hosting dinners and orientations with admitted students, and meeting with applicants, rectors, international coordinators, and professors. He also caught up with Penn State Dickinson Law LL.M. alumni and their families, taking many pictures to commemorate the occasion.
It was Barnes’ first of several visits to Kazakhstan over the coming year. Future residencies will include guest teaching engagements at one of the four Kazakh universities that partner with Penn State Dickinson Law. He enjoys building new connections and strengthening existing ones during each visit.
“We have enrolled and graduated 51 Kazakh students over the past 11 years and look forward to welcoming as many as 15 students in the next academic year,” said Barnes. “Our Kazakh alumni are enormously loyal, and they often become the best ambassadors for the program.”
One of those alumni is Samgat Yermekbayev ’18 LL.M., chief Advisor to Kazakhstan Minister of Science and Higher Education Sayasat Nurbek and first-vice rector at Kazakhstan’s Satbayev University, one of Penn State Dickinson Law’s partners. Barnes describes Yermekbayev as an “amazing, remarkable human being” who sings the praises of Penn State Dickinson Law and Penn State University wherever he goes.
“We can associate more than 30 Penn State Dickinson Law students to him as well as 22 visiting scholars in Penn State’s Engineering and Information Sciences and Technology colleges,” said Barnes.
Yermekbayev’s experience illustrates the benefits of relationship building on several levels. Barnes first met Yerkmekbayev in Kokshetau in November 2015 in the family home of a Penn State visiting scholar. Yermekbayev had exceptional credentials but delayed enrollment for one year to improve his English. Barnes and others from Penn State Dickinson Law noted Yermekbayev’s impressive drive and work ethic. After a year of strengthening his language skills, he received his acceptance letter.
“We have met so many remarkable students through our mini-residencies, whether on my own or with Penn State Dickinson Law faculty colleagues,” said Barnes. “Our Kazakh students are so committed and bring so much to the Law School and larger university community.”
Spreading support beyond Kazakhstan
The Kazakh community in University Park has grown over the past two decades. Daniyar Tolgonbayev ’09 LL.M. was a member of the first LL.M. cohort at the Penn State Dickinson Law University Park location. Now a partner in the Dentons office in Almaty, Kazakhstan, Tolgonbayev has maintained direct connections to Penn State Dickinson Law through family and friends he encourages to study there.
One of his associates at Dentons is also an alum, whose spouse is enrolling with another Dentons associate from Kazakhstan this fall. Barnes is particularly thrilled that Tolgonbayev’s 16-year-old son, Temirlan, was recently admitted to Penn State’s undergraduate program. Should he enroll, he will join a tight-knit community.
The Kazakh word for “village” is ауыл. Students from Kazakhstan have formed their own ауыл in University Park, where roughly 50-70 Kazakh students are annually in residence. Graduates of the Penn State Dickinson Law LL.M. program at University Park play a critical role in expanding that village.
“At Penn State, they celebrate Ramadan together, and they celebrate Nowruz, the Persian new year, and the national and cultural holidays and festivals of their classmates. There really is a strong personal connection to where they reside as an ‘ауыл,’” said Barnes.
Upon returning to Kazakhstan, students spread the word about the program. They stay in touch with each other and with the Law School’s Graduate and International Programs team, acting as de facto representatives for the Law School.
In 2023, Minister Nurbek visited Penn State Dickinson Law at University Park with a delegation including Yermekbayev. That trip helped pave the way for the continued collaboration abroad, also integrating other Penn State colleges.
Barnes, who receives at least one invitation to a family dinner with an alumnus every time he visits Kazakhstan, loves seeing alumni like Yermekbayev flourish back home. “That is what gives the work meaning. You are working and learning with individuals and their families, and more often than not, you meet second and third generations who are supporting the opportunity for their son or daughter to come to Penn State. You do not know it until you are in the family home. Being able to witness that is special,” said Barnes.
