WSU News Archive

By Hope Belli Tinney, WSU Today

 

WSU delegation in China in September.

 

 

China interest group forms Over the years, numerous WSU faculty members have developed research partnerships with colleagues at Chinese institutions, but WSU as an institution has never had a strategic plan for building relationships there. Prema Arasu, who joined WSU in May 2010, said it is past time for WSU to develop such a strategy, and in December she convened the first meeting of the China Interest Group. Any WSU faculty and staff are invited to take part in the discussions. At the December meeting, about 25 faculty members gathered to share information about their research interests and connections in China, as well as to generate ideas for how WSU can gain a stronger toehold in a country where other universities already have established permanent offices.   Some of the questions posed at the meeting included: Does WSU need to open an office in China? Should WSU pursue joint research institutes with China? What about dual degree programs?   Participants also discussed whether WSU should spend time and resources leveraging existing relationships at some of the top universities in China, or whether, as an institution, WSU should pursue partnerships with lesser known universities on China’s frontier or with mid-size local governments in less developed regions of the country.   Professor Shulin Chen, who was part of a 10-member WSU delegation that traveled to China with Gov. Christine Gregoire in September, said the trip was extremely helpful in building WSU’s prestige and reputation among important Chinese officials. Chen and others at the December meeting said Chinese officials are very concerned about national rankings and name recognition, so anything WSU can do to highlight the former and improve the latter would be extremely helpful. A major accomplishment for WSU during the September trip was a formal agreement with China Agricultural University that would allow for faculty research collaborations and sabbatical exchanges. The agreement also provides opportunities for high-achieving Chinese students to compete for WSU graduate programs and for cooperative research in clean energy, engineering, food science, agriculture and health programs. During the December meeting participants talked about other opportunities for collaborating with the Chinese Agricultural University, but Chen warned that the competition is stiff: “China Agricultural University has a 'Purdue Day,' ” he said.   Arasu agreed, saying the United States isn’t the only country trying to find partnerships in China; universities in Europe, Australia, Japan and New Zealand are also pitching there.   “It’s a mad scramble right now for relationships,” she said. “Everybody’s doing it so we have to come up with unique programs that also draw on our core strengths.”       Global Studies looks for more opportunities WSU is involved in education, research and service activities around the world. But what would it take for WSU to go global?   David Pietz, director of the WSU Global Studies program, said the first step is to help students understand that everything is connected. Most Americans growing up in the second half of the 20th century could afford to be U.S.-centric, but that isn’t the case in the 21st century.   “We believe that everything has a global context,” he said. “We are all influenced by international networks.”   What happens in China doesn’t stay in China any more than what happens in the United States stays in the United States. You don’t have to live or travel abroad to understand that, but it helps. That’s why Pietz would like to see more WSU students study abroad - and more scholarships to help them pay for it. He’d also like to see both general education and major courses infused with global and international learning opportunities. Individual faculty and particular programs are building international components, from research and exchange programs between WSU Tri-Cities and Aalborg University in Denmark to service learning projects that allow students from WSU Spokane to put classroom skills to practical use in Guatemala. But, Pietz said, if individual effort were coupled with more institutional support and a strategic plan, WSU could significantly increase its ability to prepare students for the global marketplace.   Within his own sphere of influence, Pietz is working to develop structured opportunities for students to gain and demonstrate global competencies. WSU students can earn an 18-credit global studies minor, but Pietz and colleagues in international programs are developing a global leadership certificate program that would encourage students to incorporate curricular and co-curricular global/international learning opportunities into their academic careers.

A WSU delegation will return to China this month to continue momentum created by the fall 2010 trip, find new research partners and complete hiring of a WSU China officer. Plans are being finalized but tentative dates are Jan. 9-15.

 

The officer would be a part -time position based in China, said Prema Arasu, associate vice president for international programs and WSU’s chief international officer. Job responsibilities would include assisting with myriad projects, including student recruitment, WSU branding efforts, in-country administrative support for education abroad, faculty visits, research partnerships and tech transfer/commercialization opportunities.

Chinese student numbers double
The number of Chinese students enrolled at WSU has doubled in the past two years, according to fall enrollment data. Of the 1,678 international students at WSU, 679 are from China (including Hong Kong), up from 369 in fall 2008. The next highest enrollments come from South Korea with 148 students and India with 122. About half the international students at WSU are graduate students and half are undergraduates.

The jump in Chinese students mirrors similar increases elsewhere in the United States. According to a story in the Christian Science Monitor, nearly 130,000 Chinese students studied in the U.S. last year, a 30 percent increase from the year before.

Commitment to China
In addition to helping with student recruitment, the officer would signal WSU’s commitment to China.

“The presence of WSU in China shows our commitment and should enhance WSU’s ability to establish long-term relationships with Chinese central and local government agencies, universities or research institutions” said Juming Tang, a WSU professor of biological systems engineering who publishes regularly with co-authors at Chinese universities. Some universities hire a recruiting company in China, he said, but those companies work for many different universities and so there wouldn’t be a particular commitment to WSU.

 

“I would feel more comfortable if I knew that I could always turn to a WSU officer in China for help when needed,” he said. “I am sure that for WSU this is a meaningful and rewarding step to take, if WSU truly wants to become international.”

 

Common strategic vision
Other goals of the trip include following up on education exchanges and research partnerships initiated during the September trip and identifying new partnerships in the area of sustainable building. Mike Wolcott, director of WSU’s Institute for Sustainable Design, will be part of the January delegation.

 

In the past, Wolcott said, his partnerships in China have been on a project-by-project basis, with no formal attempt to align research interests or create a coherent vision of a long-term relationship. With the January trip, he said, he hopes to change that.

 

“We plan to develop a common strategic vision with three universities that we’ve had relationships with in the past,” he said. Those universities are Beijing Forestry, Nanjing Forestry and Northeast Forestry in Harbin.

 

Wolcott’s particular areas of expertise are biopolymers and natural fiber composites. Work in this area would complement already developing WSU-Chinese collaborations in biofuel research since biofuel production can use the organic waste from forestry products.

 

Aiming for NSF grant
Which leads to another goal of the January visit: to build and strengthen research and education partnerships in preparation for applying for a National Science Foundation PIRE (Partnerships in International Research and Education) grant. Requests for proposals will be issued in February.

 

“The NSF has signaled that they will be looking for multi-country/multi-institution proposals,” Arasu said, “and they want to see evidence of ongoing sustainable relationships. It’s only going to work with partnerships that are already in place, and our visit will strengthen the relationship further and facilitate proposal planning.”

 

In 2010, the NSF funded 15 multi-country PIRE proposals totaling more than $55 million. Five of those included work in China.

 

Expediting doctoral studies
According to Arasu, the January trip also will allow WSU to finalize an agreement with the China Scholarship Council (CSC) of the Chinese Ministry of Education to expedite the application process for top Chinese students who want to do doctoral work at WSU.

“WSU has 24 CSC supported graduate students pursuing Ph.D. degrees in various programs”, said Pat Sturko, associate dean of the Graduate School. The highly competitive CSC program provides Chinese students with living expenses and international travel, and the host institution provides tuition waivers.

“The agreement does not specify targets,” Sturko said. “We are looking for the best qualified students who are interested in working with specific faculty in our Ph.D. programs.”

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