China agreements expand education choices
Emily Thungkaew
Staff Writer
Carroll College recently signed agreements expanding the international presence on campus. These agreements will allow expansion of educational opportunities for both students and faculty. Two exchange and one recruitment relationship were established this semester. An agreement with the Hanoi-Amsterdam School, a private high school for gifted and talented students in Hanoi, Vietnam, was made with Carroll College on March 27 2008. Along with the agreement came hopes that Carroll would build a lasting relationship with the school including student recruitments as well as faculty and staff collaboration.
The Hanoi-Amsterdam School agreement was the first of three made in Asia this spring. On April 1 2008, Carroll signed another agreement with Hong Kong Baptist University.
Located in the city of Hong Kong, Carroll students would be able to experience the big city life in one of Asia’s major hubs, and students from Hong Kong Baptist could come to Wisconsin and to experience a small liberal arts atmosphere.
The latest agreement signed was with Lingnan University on April 2 2008. Lingnan identifies itself as “The Liberal Arts School” of China. Because the concept of a liberal arts school is more of an American tradition, Lingnan prides itself on the fact that it can offer a liberal arts education.
Should a student find themself compelled to go to Asia on exchange, they would have a very similar array of major programs to choose from. Though the schools offering exchange for Carroll students are located in China, all classes are conducted in English except for the required Mandarin language classes, which start at a beginners level.
Both President Doug Hastad and Director of International Education, Katherine Hammett, found that English was the primary language spoken in Hong Kong when they visited. President Hastad stated, “Our students will flourish in a very different culture because these courses are taught in English.”
In a discussion with Hastad and Hammett, both hinted that the opportunity to study in China would be beneficial to Carroll’s business students. Because China has a large impact on the world’s economy and the business world, it makes sense for business students to look into spending time in one of the world’s greatest economic capitals.
“There is just too much happening around the globe,” said Hammett. “Any institution in this day and age that’s only European focused is doing their students a disservice.” Hammett Hastad expressed hopes that agreements will eventually be made on every continent.
“The trick is to find the right institution,” President Hastad said. “We need to find institutions around the world in different countries that are a good fit for Carroll College.”
Making agreements with other schools takes a lot of care and contemplation and many trips to China and Vietnam were made before the agreements were signed. The administration wanted to make sure that these institutions were the right choices and that Carroll College was the right fit for them.
Faculty are also excited about the new relationships. Dr. David Simpson said, “I’m delighted that we are expanding outreach.” When asking faculty around campus how they felt about the agreements made, many were unaware that these relationships were established this year.
Because the agreements were made after the deadline to apply for exchange programs in the fall, the deadline was extended to April 30 of this semester. President Hastad looks forward to these positive additions to the Carroll community.
“This year it happened to be China,” stated Hasted. “Last year it was in France, and we feel a sense of responsibility to develop partnerships all over the world so our students can have choices.”
Hanyu Xie, a sophomore accounting major at Carroll, is an international student from Guangzhou, China. She chose Carroll because she liked the small liberal arts feel.
Discussing how the schools in Asia would benefit from this, Xie stated, “They can get to know more about other cultures. It’s great, and we will have more international students on campus. It can make our campus more diverse.”
Exchange student Maxime Gouello from Vannes France, agreed that these new programs would be a positive opportunity for everyone.
“I think it’s very good coming to the U.S., it is a completely different education,” Gouello said.
For more information about the agreements made or studying abroad, visit the Office of International and Off-Campus Programs.