Program eases transition for students from China

The second of three proposed agreements between Sacramento State and universities in China to ease the transfer process for Chinese students was formalized earlier this month.

A delegation from Beijing Normal University met with President Gonzalez and several faculty and administrators to sign a memorandum of understanding that will establish a “2+2” program to allow students from Beijing Normal to complete their undergraduate general education classes in China and then finish their degree at Sacramento State, says Greg Wheeler, associate dean for undergraduate studies.

Wheeler says the key to the program is not just getting students to study here, but having the coursework aligned—which can be enough of a challenge when students transfer to Sacramento State from U.S. universities. “It’s tougher when it’s from another country. The syllabi can be hard to translate,” he says.

The agreement also calls for exploring additional postgraduate and semester abroad programs, visits between the two campuses, investigating opportunities for faculty and staff exchanges, and identifying additional areas of cooperation.

The agreement is the latest milestone in a relationship with Chinese universities that has been developing over the last few years, Wheeler says. The University signed a similar agreement with Chinese University in Hong Kong in 2004 and will sign another with Beijing University of Technology this spring. The first students from the Hong Kong school could arrive in the fall.

Wheeler says the connection with Beijing Normal is especially gratifying because it is considered one of China’s top universities and Sacramento State is one of only two schools on the West Coast with this kind of tie. San Francisco State is the other. “It’s thrilling to be aligned with this university which is number one in China in so many categories,” he says. Among the areas Beijing National is known for are teacher education and math. The delegation visited with faculty from those and other departments while at Sacramento State.

The agreement with Beijing University of Technology will be the first between the university and a public university in the United States.

After students take their general education courses in Beijing and pass Sacramento State’s English language requirement, they will be able to enroll in a number of majors. The goal is to have them in several disciplines to give them a broad exposure to campus and broad exposure to students from Sacramento State to the Chinese students.

Students will still need to get a visa, which has been somewhat difficult in recent years. Wheeler says the program has been designed to be dual-track so students who don’t get a visa to study at Sacramento State can still graduate.

Among the benefits for the Chinese students is that it is much less expensive to study in the United States for two years than four. Usually students came as freshmen or as graduate students because transfer courses didn’t match well.

Academic Affairs may develop a number of other similar programs and currently early work is being done in Korea, Taiwan and Malaysia.

A United States college degree is highly sought in China, Wheeler says. American education is highly valued and China is modeling itself after the United States in areas such as technology and business. And most of the students plan to return to China where a strong base in American culture is an asset.

There are no plans at this time to institute a similar “2+2” for Sacramento State students to study in China. Numerous study abroad programs are available for Sacramento State students to study in China and several other countries. Information is available from the Office of Global Education at 278-6686.

— Laurie Hall