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Sacramento State makes connection with Chinese university, alumni

Sacramento State has created a strong international connection with the announcement of a partnership between the University and Yunnan University in China, as well as an alumni chapter in Hong Kong.

The partnership entails a joint certificate program in logistics on the Yunnan campus at the newly opened Wong Sam Hang China America Management Education College. President Alexander Gonzalez and College of Continuing Education dean Alice Tom will make the announcement Oct. 26, at the opening of the Management Education College on Friday, at the Yunnan campus in Kunming, China.

“This new joint certificate program was developed as a specific response to increasing globalization and the interdependence of countries and people on common economic, technological and educational issues,” Gonzalez says.  “We’re meeting this challenge head on, and our ties with Chinese universities will serve us and them well.”

The course will focus on logistics and supply-chain management. College of Business Administration associate dean Chiang Wang and emeritus professor Joel Knowles, along with other logistical experts in the United States, prepared the curriculum for the course.

“Sacramento State can feed a much-needed western influence into the curriculum,” Tom says. “California is the world’s fifth largest economy and is recognized as unique and one well worth studying. Sacramento, as the headquarters of the state government regulating that economy, deepens the University’s appeal.”

Sacramento State is among the first universities to establish a partnership within the southwest region of China, which puts California in a good position to work with universities and businesses in that area, Tom says.

“The eventual goal is to have programs from the entire California State University in that area,” Tom says. “Sacramento State is leading that effort.”

Other goals of the partnership include increased student exchange opportunities; faculty exchanges, sabbaticals, and funding for scholarly work internationally; staff exchanges; and hosts for international students studying at Sacramento State.

Gonzalez will also address the annual Chinese Continuing Education Association conference on Friday, Nov. 2, at Tsinghua University in Beijing. The conference will focus on common goals of U.S./Chinese university cooperation, program quality assessment and assurance and emerging technologies in a globalized higher education environment.

Another highlight of the trip will be the installation of Sacramento State’s Hong Kong alumni chapter. The chapter was founded by alumna Winnie Leung (Business, ’66). There are approximately 100 alumni in Hong Kong.

Currently, 593 international students attend Sacramento State; 40 of those students are from China.

The University already has several student and faculty projects in place with China. Sacramento State welcomed 18 Hubei Province Taxation Bureau staff in August. The group, here for 12 months, is studying the American tax system, business practices and international accounting. Additionally, 11 Guangdong Province government staff arrived in early October for a five-month study trip to learn about the public and private pension and retirement systems used in America.

Also in place are “2+2” agreements signed with three universities—Beijing Normal University, Beijing University of Technology and Hong Kong’s Chinese University—which allow students to complete their undergraduate general education classes in China and finish their degree at Sacramento State. Faculty members are also working on research projects focusing on the health and safety of Southeast Asians in Hong Kong and China, as well as issues related to mental health.