Recordpub.com - KSU partners with Chinese universities

By Dave O'Brien
Record-Courier staff writer
A delegation of academic administrators from Kent State University returned to Ohio from China this week with a handful of signed agreements to form educational partnerships with half a dozen Chinese universities.
KSU announced Thursday it has signed memorandums of understanding with Beijing Normal University, Capital Normal University and Tsinghua University in Beijing, Shanghai International Studies and Shanghai Normal University in Shanghai and Xi'an International Studies University to increase KSU's presence in China and the presence of Chinese universities in Northeastern Ohio.
"It was pretty rigorous, like (Henry) Kissinger's shuttle diplomacy, only university style," said Robert Frank, KSU senior vice president for academic affairs and provost, admitting Thursday he was still suffering from jetlag following the week-long trip.
Frank led a delegation that included deans Timothy Chandler of the College of Arts and James Gaudino of the College of Communication and Information and Mark Holder, chairman of the finance department in the College of Business Administration.
Holder also is director of KSU's financial engineering program, an academic pursuit "wildly popular in China," Frank said.
Frank said Tsinghua University officials were "very excited" about KSU's work with financial engineering, as were officials from one of the schools in Shanghai. "And these are people with very strong finance departments."
Tsinghua is widely regarded, Frank said, as the most prestigious university in China.
"It won its acclaim as an engineering school but now it's a broad, comprehensive university. It has such a reputation. It enhances your credibility so much that anything you do with Tsinghua any student in China is going to want to participate in," he said.
"China is so aware of rankings that when you speak to Chinese schools rankings are the first issue that comes up. They tell you their rankings, they want to know your rankings, what programs you have done," he said. "It's part of our strategy the more you can hook up with high-ranking universities over there the better."
Frank said Gaudino and Chandler had programs in their colleges that were very good matches for programs at Tsinghua. The partnerships may especially benefit the School of Fashion Design and Merchandising, which falls under Chandler's leadership.
"Shanghai International Studies University is very interested in the fashion program. Shanghai is sort of the center of fashion in China, a very trendy city, very Westernized, rapidly moving with lots of opportunities for the fashion folks there," Frank said.
The KSU delegation discussed recruiting Chinese students and faculty to its doctoral programs; programs to allow undergraduate and graduate students to take courses both in China and at KSU; developing joint research and creative programs in many fields; and cultural, faculty and student exchange programs.
"We want faculty exchange around scholarship, and to develop programs that can be offered at Kent State or in China that are unique. During these conversations, we had some or all of those issues addressed with positive steps on each one of them," Frank said.