Educational partnerships with China, part one

The first of a two-part series on the University of Nebraska’s growing exchange of educational opportunities with China, this article discusses the importance of China on the world stage and the partnerships that have been developed between the Nebraska university system and Chinese universities.

By Jane Hanson

On Aug. 8, 2008, the Olympic “Bird’s Nest” stadium in Beijing was the site of pageantry, protocol and fireworks for the 2008 Summer Olympics, as China very visibly stepped out on the world stage. If by any chance you missed the television coverage of the opening ceremonies at the Summer Olympics, you might not understand fully the need for a connection between China and the University of Nebraska. You might even ask yourself why events halfway around the globe, in a time zone 12 hours ahead of Nebraska, could have so much significance. The answer is that China, with a population of 1.3 billion people, has impacted world markets through the manufacturing of world goods, the import of raw materials and the processing of its own natural resources, on an unprecedented global scale. If you have any doubt of this, walk through any mall or strip mall in America and make a count of the “Made in China” labels. It would be much more challenging to find labels on merchandise that do not carry the words. In order to sustain such economic growth, China must educate its work force, and it is turning increasingly to foreign universities to assist in this process. This article will focus on the role of Nebraska’s premiere public university, the University of Nebraska, and its growing exchange of educational opportunities with China.

Former Senior Vice Chancellor of Academic and Student Affairs Dr. Finnie Murray noted that the University of Nebraska at Kearney (UNK) has grown in its numbers of Chinese students, from three in 2004 to more than 130 currently. Ninety-five percent of UNK’s Chinese students are undergraduates, which he feels creates more cultural impact than a higher percentage of graduate students. He stated he believes that undergraduates are more likely to find time to participate in campus activities and to form relationships with American students. Dr. Murray also mentioned, as evidence of these interactions and relationships, that more than 500 people attended the Chinese New Year celebration this year and that the campus newspaper regularly prints articles in Chinese characters. “For students to come to a place where they can become close friends with American students, it gives extra added value,” he said. For those students who need to learn language skills, the English Language Institute at UNK offers support to all qualified students who want to learn English at a mid-sized university, such as UNK, where the focus is on teaching and learning in a safe environment.

UNK is a member of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, and together with the Chinese Education Association for International Exchange, they have organized 1+2+1 programs for Chinese students. The students study their first undergraduate year in China, their sophomore and junior years in the U.S. and then complete their senior year in China. Students receive a degree from both UNK and the Chinese university. The intention is that students will study business, science and engineering in Nebraska, but reports indicating that students studying teacher education and arts and sciences are not uncommon.

The Chinese universities want their students provisionally admitted to graduate programs so when they complete their undergraduate degrees in China, they can return and complete their graduate degrees in Kearney. China’s improvement in lifestyle has meant that more young people have the expectation of college educations, so these universities are sending students that have the potential to become faculty later. Dr. Murray indicated that the University of Nebraska has more than 12 active collaborative agreements with Chinese universities, although UNK statistics show that the majority of the Chinese students come from Gansu Agricultural University in Lanzhou and from Shandong University in Wei Hai. Dr. Murray also reported that there are hopes to establish a trilateral collaboration in graduate programs between universities in China, Korea and the U.S. to study the teaching of English to speakers of other languages.

Dean of International Studies and Programs at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) Tom Goutierre, stated that Chinese student enrollment reached 134 last year, with that figure including more graduate than undergraduate students. UNO has institutional agreements with several Chinese sister universities: Hangzhou University; University of Petroleum in Beijing; in Guangzhou Province, the South China Normal University and Sun Yat-Sen University for programs in the Colleges of Public Affairs and Community Service, Business, International Studies, and Information Science and Technology. The contacts gained from interactions provide enrichment on campus that is integral to the concept of international education and provide a base for friendship and positive diplomacy in the future. Dr. Halla Kim, associate professor of philosophy and coordinator of the East Asian Studies Workshop at UNO, helps promotes China and its cultural heritage, along with the Japanese and Korean cultures. He believes that Nebraska has much to gain from increased visibility and student experience in the form of increased trade, as former UNO students return to China as educated future decision makers. Dean Goutierre also emphasized the importance of international students and education to Omaha, as broadening horizons with educational, cultural and fiscal benefits. “Not only the Chinese, but together with the presence of other students on campus, this makes a total of 13 hundred international students and 30 million dollars for the Omaha economy.”

For those Chinese who arrive without English proficiency, a major concern is how to remedy gaps in academic English language skills. Dean Goutierre of UNO stated that most Chinese graduate students appear to arrive with credible English vocabulary, reading and writing skills but need intensive work with pronunciation and conversation. The ILUNO (Intensive Language) program helps international students planning to pursue an undergraduate or graduate degree in the U.S. to achieve the English proficiency necessary for success in university-level classes.

At UNO, the 1+2+1 program students must achieve proficiency levels determined by the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) exam prior to beginning their studies. Dean Goutierre also identified a great need for more courses to study Chinese as a second language, not necessarily to study Chinese literature. UNO hopes to add for-credit courses in Mandarin (beginning and intermediate, in the initial stages) to its offerings in the fall of 2010 through the assistance of the Confucius Institute.

UNO previously had a joint MBA program with Beijing Petroleum University, and six of its business faculty been involved in activities related to China studies, in areas such as environment, loan defaults, economic growth, tax and public finance and demography. UNO’s International Studies developed a project managers training program for China’s National Petroleum Company that was very successful. Dr. Yong Shi, who has been at UNO since 1991, was instrumental in these initiatives, as well as in helping more than 30 Chinese scholars from 15 different Chinese universities to conduct research and academic exchange with different colleges of UNO. Since 2004, he has been actively working with the Chinese Academy of Sciences to establish China’s first national research center, “the Chinese Academy of Sciences Research Center on Fictitious Economy and Data Sciences.” The Chinese Academy of Science is eminent in China for scientific projects and research, as well as in technology transfer. In the last five years, more than 10 Information Science & Technology, College of Business Administration, University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) and University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) faculty members and graduate students have visited, worked and studied in this research center. Information Science & Technology actively collaborates with the center to support joint research projects, organize prestigious international conferences in both Omaha and Beijing and promote business and community service on behalf of Nebraska.

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