Presidents from eight Chinese universities met with President Jo Ann Gora and university officials this week to discuss China's biggest investment: education.
The men traveled about 11,000 miles, witnessing Muncie's first snow of the year, to attend a series of meetings to advance the process of transferring credits in a dual-degree program between Ball State University and Chinese institutions.
At the meetings, Ball State officials expressed their desire to have more students in the program. Chinese officials wanted to see more degrees offered for their students at Ball State.
Chinese Initiative Coordinator Po Hu said students in the "1+2+1" program attend the first and fourth years of college at a Chinese university and the second and third at an American university, and they receive undergraduate degrees from both institutions. Since 2004, 26 students have graduated from Ball State's 1+2+1 program, and 22 students are studying at Ball State through the program this year.
"[Chinese] students bring diversity experiences and perspective," Po said. "They act as international ambassadors. They bring the modern image of China to students [in America] and revenue to the university."
Chinese students taking part in the 1+2+1 program pay 150 percent regular tuition, but Po said they are willing to pay the higher price.
"There are benefits because some people in China know of Ball State for its 1+2+1 program," he said. "It's promotion for Ball State."
Hu said Chinese students are immersed in regular sophomore and junior classes, and most students in the program have an average GPA higher than 3.5. Language is a barrier for some, and they are often placed in the Intensive English Institute.
Ball State's 1+2+1 program offers degrees in business administration and computer science. Hu said Chinese officials would like to see the university open up a degree in architecture, graduate degrees and 2+2 programs, in which students study two years at a Chinese university and two years at an American university.
Hu said Ball State will not change its academic criteria or lower its standards to accommodate these goals. Chinese presidents agreed to support and prepare their students earlier and to improve curriculum, he said.
"Chinese universities need to collaborate better and increase English instruction," he said. "The biggest challenge for students coming here is speaking English."
Associate Provost Marilyn Buck said managing the program is dependant on collaboration between both parties.
"It depends on how their programs line up with ours," she said. "It's a process of reviewing each institution's curriculum. If the connection is good, the process is pretty simple."
Buck said the educational standards seem to be about the same between Ball State and the Chinese institutions.
"We're comfortable [students] are getting the same level of education from the Chinese universities when they come here," she said.
Hu said before the meetings were over, two Chinese universities signed International Memorandums of Understanding, recognizing collaboration in instructional services and potential growth. These two universities will host exchange programs and field studies with students from Ball State, Hu said.
Hu said Chinese officials proposed establishing a Confucius Instutution at Ball State. The institute is an educational agency developed by the Chinese government to teach Chinese culture in America.
"If they get the green light from the Chinese government, this new initiative would be a huge benefit for students, faculty and the public in general," Hu said.
The 411 on 1+2+1--
- Established in 2001
- Ball State was the second univesity to join the program in 2004
- In 2005, Ball State graduated two students from the program
- 18 American universities, 82 Chinese universities in the program
- Ball State has 22 students in the program
- 26 students in the 1+2+1 program have graduated from Ball State
- Most 1+2+1 have a 3.5 GPA or higher
- 58 percent pursue graduate degrees
- Ball State has partnerships with 23 Chinese universities
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