Six University of Toledo administrators, including former president Dr. Lloyd Jacobs and interim president Nagi Naganathan, will travel to India this month for a master of business administration program’s commencement ceremony.

UT will pay $37,400 for the officials to fly from Detroit to India. Their destination is Coimbatore, India, Toledo’s sister city since 2010, where UT offers an MBA program in partnership with PSG Institute of Management.

In March, 2005, UT established its South India business program in conjunction with the nonprofit, private university.

About 70 students will graduate in what will be the program’s ninth commencement ceremony on April 18.

The half dozen UT administrators will attend the ceremony and participate in other events. The travelers are Dr. Jacobs; Mr. Naganathan; John Barrett, interim provost and executive vice president for academic affairs; Gary Insch, dean of the College of Business and Innovation; Thomas Gutteridge, senior vice provost, dean of academic administration and interim dean of the College of Social Justice and Human Service; and Johnnie Early, dean of the College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.

“These international partnerships are not simply a function of the courses taught; it is a function of the relationships,” said Mr. Naganathan.

Each year, UT sends at least one representative from the business college and provost’s office to India for the commencement; the president is always invited and attends when his schedule allows, according to spokesman Meghan Cunningham.

In 2011, four UT officials made the trip along with then-Mayor Mike Bell. The city paid for the mayor’s air fare. No city officials are scheduled to make this trip.

The host institution will provide accommodations for the visiting UT administrators.

Dr. Jacobs, who stepped down as president June 30 before his contract expired, will accompany the group in an ambassadorial role, he said. His travel cost will be picked up by the president’s office and not from the up to $15,000 in travel reimbursements he was allotted under an amended contract trustees approved in June.

That agreement provided for the reimbursement of “reasonable travel and lodging expenses” during Dr. Jacobs’ fellowship with the Council on Competitiveness in Washington, in addition to a $392,700 a year salary for three years, a one-time $150,000 payment, and other benefits.

He, Mr. Naganathan, and Mr. Gutteridge will travel from April 13-22. Mr. Naganathan will participate in the graduation ceremony and also be a guest of honor at an environmental conference with the host institution.

Dr. Jacobs said he will give a talk at an event before the commencement.

“It’s a common thing for a former president to do some ambassadorial work,” he said.

Mr. Naganathan said Dr. Jacobs was “instrumental” in supporting the program and has taken care to specifically highlight the partnership in India.

Mr. Barrett will deliver the commencement speech, while Mr. Early will meet with PSG’s pharmacy leaders as UT works to further develop a partnership with that program, officials said.

“I think that I see this as an investment rather than an expenditure,” Mr. Naganathan said of the trip costs.

Such visits help ensure the program’s sustainability and creates international connections, he said.

The program, which has graduated an estimated 550 to 600 students since its start, is a revenue generator, said Anand Kunnathur, executive associate dean of UT’s business college.

In the past three years, the program brought in more revenue for UT than it has cost to operate, according to a financial breakdown provided by the university. UT received $434,250 in revenue from instructional fees so far in fiscal year 2015, while expenses came to $189,935.

Toledo faculty travel to India to teach classes, while other courses are taught by PSG faculty who have been screened by UT. Students earn a UT degree, and Toledo benefits from the partnership because it boosts the university’s international visibility, said Mr. Kunnathur, who praised UT’s partner as “a very highly reputed institution” in India.

Contact Vanessa McCray at: vmccray@theblade.com or 419-724-6065, or on Twitter @vanmccray.

First Published April 2, 2015, 4:00 a.m.