Spartan Daily - Serving San Jose State University since 1934

Photo By Rina Ota / Daily Staff Photographer Qingdao University scholars take pictures at The Lone Sailor Memorial at the Golden Gate Bridge north vista point near San Francisco during their field trip Saturday. [Click to enlarge]

Although Mandarin is the native language of the students and the teachers speak English, everyone in the program shares one language in common - the language of higher education.

A delegation of 29 senior administrators from Qingdao University in China is learning both the academic and administrative sides of an American university.

Besides receiving lectures on such topics as education and career planning, faculty development and student services and administration, the team will plan a model university that uses the best of the Chinese and American educational systems.

"If they were allowed complete control, (how would they) design a perfect university?" said Peter Sterlacci, senior lead of international projects for international and extended studies at SJSU.

Sterlacci said the team will present their design as the final assignment of the six-week program. Instructors and others at SJSU who have participated in the program will be invited to attend the presentation.

Zhen Jia Jiang, dean of the graduate school at Qingdao University, said, "I want to combine two systems into one that is our own."

Many of the instructors delivering the lectures are the SJSU counterparts to the Qingdao administrators.

"It's always a good and interesting experience to meet colleagues, particularly from another country," said Monica Rascoe, vice president for student affairs. "We have so much more in common than not."

Mark Novak, assistant vice president of international and extended studies, said, "This group has a desire to learn what we do. This is about the best student you can imagine."

Interim President Joseph Crowley feels that both Qingdao University and SJSU benefit from the program.

"It's terrific for an institution like this to have the major administrative staff of a significant Chinese university for six weeks learning about American higher education," Crowley said. "What will go with that is a stronger relationship with that institution in China."

To give the team a fuller experience of an American university, Sterlacci said they have been issued identification cards as students in studies in American language.

They are staying in the university's Esplanade dormitories and can use their identification cards to get around San Jose on light rail, he said.

Different Systems and Styles

The program has been designed to be a thorough introduction to American higher education.

On Mondays, the group visits one or two other local universities. The visit usually consists of a tour of the campus and either a lecture or a meeting with senior administrators, Sterlacci said.

Visits to Stanford University and St. Mary's College allow the group to see private institutions. They are visiting Santa Cruz and Berkeley to see the UC system and San Francisco State to see another CSU school. The group is also visiting two community colleges, De Anza College and Cabrillo College.

Tuesdays through Fridays, the morning session consists of classes on university management. The students are invited to interact with the teacher during the lecture.

"We wanted them to experience the American style of teaching - a collaborative style they may not be used to," Sterlacci said.

Afternoons are spent in English as a Second Language classes which have been developed specifically to assist the administrators with academic terminology and other topics pertinent to their needs.

Sterlacci said when SJSU was approached with this opportunity to work with Qingdao University, it was decided that the program would be conducted through the College of Education.

"Mark Miller, the associate dean at the time, developed the curriculum through his office," Sterlacci said. "It was taken over by Xiaolu Hu. She arranged the lecturers and coordinated them to fit with the overall themes."

Hu, chair of educational leadership and development in the College of Education, said she had no problem finding people to teach the classes.

"I called faculty and administrators to introduce the theory and experience of higher education management," she said. "People were delighted to have the opportunity to share their experience."

Before arriving, the members of the delegation worked to improve their English language skills, said Xiaoli Zhou, director of international programs at Qingdao University.

Even so, materials for a class are reviewed ahead of time so that questions and clarifications can be anticipated, and a translator attends the lectures.

Peer Meetings

Each member of the delegation also has a meeting with his or her counterpart at SJSU.

Rascoe met with Dianzhong Sun, the director of students organization, and Hong Jun Chen, the director of students office.

"They were very interested in the degree to which students are involved on campus," Rascoe said. "The degree of student participation and influence - that does not happen in China."

Rascoe said they wanted to attend an Associated Students meeting to see student government in action and were interested to learn that the university provides funds to support student government.

Belle Wei, dean of engineering, met with Jia Min Liu, dean of the college of higher technical training.

"They're anxious to learn the administrative side. How we support teachers and research, and how units organized - support functions, budgets, facilities," Wei said.

A 20-month Project

Sterlacci said the initial contact for the program came in April 2002 through Joseph Wang, whom Sterlacci called an agent who builds bridges between China and the United States.

It started before that, however, when the president of Qingdao University, Jianpei Xu, was presented with the idea, said Zhou.

"He gave it his full support," Zhou said. "I think this was the first time a university organized (such a program) for their whole staff of senior administrators."

Sterlacci said he prepared a package for Wang, which was presented to Qingdao University.

Some setbacks were encountered during the process.

The delegation was originally scheduled to be here last summer, Sterlacci said, but first SARS and then a delay in processing visas pushed things back.

The office of Senator Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., helped solve the delay with the visas, he said.

Qingdao University is located in the city of Qingdao in Shandong province.

"It is one of the 10 largest cities in China," Wang said. "It is one of the most developed cities."

Sterlacci said there are similarities between Qingdao University and SJSU.

"Each is a metropolitan university in a big city," he said. "Each school has about 30,000 students."

Differences

Zhou said she can see differences between students at the two schools. Some of the differences are based on the two cultures.

She observed that teaching methods in America extend beyond book and classroom learning.

She also said American students are more active in assessing the material presented in a class.

"The Chinese students are more reserved in the classroom and in their thinking," Zhou said. "But they are hardworking and better organized."

She explained that in the Confucian philosophy, a person is aware of their position.

"You don't offend people in a higher position than you," she said. "It is respectful, but it is also restrictive."

Tie Zhu Zhang, dean of the college of science and engineering, said he thinks there is a place for Chinese students to participate more in their classes.

"In some basic classes, it is better for teachers to teach more," Zhang said. "In the major classes, I want the students to ask more."

When comparing the two universities, Fang Bo Du, director of the office of the president, said structures in the Chinese system may be too well-defined.

"There are so many independent administrative departments," Du said. "They are parallel with no right to intrude on another's area."

Du said, on the academic side, the colleges in China rely on the university to a greater degree than in America.

"Here, there is more independence within a college," he said.

Benefits of the Program

Zhang said visiting SJSU has been a good experience.

"There is a good job of developing teachers, developing students," Zhang said.

The president of Qingdao University visited SJSU a few weeks ago with government officials from Shandong province, Sterlacci said.

"The officials were impressed with what they saw," he said.

There was a surprise at the meeting as well.

Crowley met two people who knew him from a visit he made to China 21 years ago.

"In February 1982, when I was president at the University of Nevada-Reno, I received an invitation from what was then the China Institute of Mining in Beijing. I went with the dean of the school of mines at UN-R," Crowley said.

During the course of his visit in 1982, Crowley said, Joseph Wang was one of his interpreters, and the president of Qingdao University was a student who attended one of his lectures.

"I didn't discover that until I went to (the welcoming ceremony)," Crowley said. "It was a wonderful coincidence."

Novak said with both schools on the Pacific Rim, there is a natural link between the two that can be fostered.

"With China's growth as an economic power, our students have an opportunity to get involved," he said. "Our students need to become more worldly."

Novak said some cross-university programs are already being discussed.

Out of School

After a full day in the program at SJSU, what do the members of the delegation do?

"Our schedule is very full," Du said. "I spend evenings reviewing the material."

For many members of the delegation, this is their first trip to the United States, Wang said. He is serving as a tour guide for them on the weekends.

On Saturday, many of them took a trip to a winery in Sonoma and shops in San Francisco. Along the way, they stopped at the corporate headquarters of Intel in Santa Clara and Oracle in Redwood City and at the Golden Gate Bridge.

The group has previously visited Fisherman's Wharf and Monterey. They have also attended a Warriors basketball game and had a Thanksgiving dinner at the Park Plaza San Jose Airport hotel.

The program at SJSU will end on Dec. 19.

Wang said the group will then visit Los Angeles, Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon. After that, it will spend time seeing Washington, Philadelphia, New York and Boston.

On the East Coast, the group will visit Harvard, Yale and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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