NC State in China Journal
May 30 - Terri Lomax
Before leaving Beijing for Shanghai, we made two more official visits – to the Ministry of Education (equivalent to the U.S. Department of Education) and to China Agricultural University.
Director-General Xu of the Ministry of Education spent four years in the Chinese Embassy in Washington D.C., with responsibility for educational issues in North Carolina and South Carolina, so he was very familiar with the UNC system, our campus, and the NC State Chinese Students Association. In fact, when Chancellor Oblinger asked him how many delegations from foreign universities he normally greeted each week, he said that ours was only the second one he had met with this year; he met with us out of his fondness for North Carolina, his respect for the high level of our delegation, and because of his connections with Vice Provost Bailian Li.
The Ministry of Education is especially interested in institutions that form two-way relationships with Chinese universities, not simply those looking only for increased numbers of Chinese students enrolling. Director-General Xu was supportive of the sorts of arrangements that NC State is setting up with students moving in both directions. He sees the ability of the Chinese students to obtain visas as the biggest challenge as a result of the tightening of restrictions post-9/11 and was encouraged to hear of the success we have had with getting international students admitted to NC State in the past year.
While at the ministry, we also learned more about a new program funded by the Chinese government to train the next generation of academic leaders for China. Called the CSC, the program will fund 5,000 Chinese students per year to obtain their Ph.d. in another country. The slots are allocated to their home universities (with more going to the top universities, such as Tsinghua, Peking, Fudan, and Zhejiang universities), who then decide which students will receive the opportunity and where they will study. Students will be evaluated on their language and academic abilities. Several students will be coming to NC State on CSC fellowships in the first year of the program next year.
At China Agricultural University (CAU), we were greeted by a large electronic sign welcoming our delegation in both English and Chinese. There is a large emphasis on food safety in China after recent scandals, and the government has invested heavily in facilities at CAU, the top agricultural university in the country.
At Shanghai, we will visit Fudan University and the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics.
NCSU Delegation at China Agricultural University
Meeting with Deans and faculty of China Agricultural University
NCSU Delegation meeting with Mr. Xu Yongji, Deputy General of the International Department, Ministry of Education