International Briefs
November, 2006
China, World American Cultural Exchange, 1-2-1, 1-3 What Is This About?
On
October 7, six NMSU professors and administrators departed San
Francisco International Airport, final destination Shanghai, China, the
first stop of a 12 day excursion to three Chinese cities. The purpose
of the trip was to follow up on a visit by representatives of several
Chinese universities to NMSU this past March. The March visit to NMSU
was sponsored by World American Cultural Exchange (WACE), a for-profit
organization linking U.S. and Chinese universities to promote 1-2-1,
1-3 (described below) and other types of student exchange programs. The
reason for the March visit of Chinese educators to NMSU was to explore
with them the feasibility of implementing exchanges with their
universities. Both trips allowed NMSU and a number of Chinese
universities to explore specific proposals for student and faculty
exchanges and to work on university-to-university agreements. In
addition, the NMSU delegation to China was able to discuss additional
exchange opportunities with other Chinese universities not affiliated
with WACE with which NMSU faculty are currently involved.
The
NMSU delegation included William Flores, Executive Vice President and
Provost; Wesley Holley, Associate Dean of Agriculture and Home
Economics; professors Candace Kaye (Education/early childhood), Martha
Rowe (A&S/music), Yu-Feng “Winnie” Lee
(Business/international business); and myself. Already in China and
joining us at our second stop (Wuhan) was Professor Ken Hammond
(A&S/history), and at our third and final stop (Beijing) was
Professor Charles Townley (Education/EMD).
What
are 1-2-1 and 1-3 exchange programs? Quite simply, a 1-2-1 program
allows the Chinese students to complete their first year in China
before coming to NMSU for two years of study, returning to China for
their final year, and earning dual bachelors’ degrees from their
Chinese university and from NMSU. The 1-3 program again allows the
Chinese students to complete their first college year in China before
coming to NMSU for their final three years of study, returning to China
to complete a residency or internship requirement, and like the 1-2-1,
earning dual bachelors’ degrees from their Chinese university and
from NMSU. Either program might take more than the allotted four years,
depending on such unknowns as prior English language proficiency,
course requirements in specific programs, and other articulation issues.
How
successful was the excursion? Of course, the final indicator of success
will be in the numbers of Chinese students participating in and
successfully completing their dual degree programs. Nonetheless, in
addition to our meeting and getting to know all the wonderful and
hospitable Chinese who hosted us; all that we learned about their
culturally rich, varied, and progressive country; and the team-building
and bonding that occurred among our delegation, early indicators of
success include the following:
In the near future, NMSU
will sign agreements with at least four WACE-affiliated universities in
China to bring Chinese students to NMSU on either 1-2-1 or 1-3
programs. Three of the four universities, all in Wuhan City in Hubei
Province, are
Huazhong University of Science and Technology
Wuhan University (China’s oldest universities)
Wuhan Institute of Technology
The fourth university with whom we will sign an agreement, Sichuan Conservatory of Music (a major Chinese music conservatory, located in the city of Chengdu, in Sichuan province), hosted Dr. Martha Rowe. Dr. Rowe’s air travel to Chengdu as well as lodging and meals, were underwritten by the students of Sichuan Conservatory. Time did not permit a visit by the entire NMSU delegation to Chengdu; therefore, the students of Sichuan Conservatory were willing to make this investment to ensure that they were not left out. In fact, Dr. Rowe conducted voice auditions (entrance auditions) for seven Sichuan Conservatory students (four of whom have degrees in music from ENMU). I would not be the least bit surprised were some or all of these students to be the first to come to NMSU under our working arrangement with WACE.
Our
final stop was Beijing where the delegation, without Dr. Flores (who
had to return to New Mexico because of prior commitments), spent four
very busy days exploring multiple opportunities with universities with
whom one or more of our faculty members have had working arrangements.
First and perhaps foremost was Beijing Normal University (BNU) where
Dr. Charles Townley is currently a Senior Fulbright Visiting Professor.
On October 16th, I represented NMSU in an official signing of an agreement linking NMSU with BNU on a number of specific initiatives.
In
addition to BNU, other Beijing universities that we visited and with
whom we discussed specific initiatives, including joint research,
faculty exchanges, study abroad opportunities for our students, and
1-2-1 and 1-3 exchange programs included:
Beijing University of Technology
Renmin University of China
Beijing Agricultural University
A
visit to Beijing without visiting such sites as the Temple of Heaven,
Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, and, of course, the Great Wall
would, quite simply, be incomplete. Not only was our visit not
incomplete, the visits to all those sites were much enhanced by
Professor Ken Hammond’s wealth of knowledge regarding their
historical origins. The trip was—in a word—unforgettable.
 |
2006 International Distinguished Alumni Award
This year, Dr. Enrique Cázares Rivera, who is currently a Director and professor at the Instituto Tecnológico de Estudios Supreriores de Monterrey (ITESM), in Monterrey, Mexico, was selected as our 2006 International Distinguished Alumni Award recipient. Dr. Cázares received his bachelor’s of Science degree in 1979 in Civil Engineering and his Master’s degree in Environmental Engineering in 1983 from ITESM. He received his Ph.D. in 1992 in Environmental Engineering from NMSU. Dr. Cázares is also a researcher in the Center for Environmental Quality as well as the Director of the Civil Engineering Department at ITESM. He is a member of Chi Epsilon, Phi Kappa Phi, the Mexican Society of Water and of the College of Civil Engineers of Nuevo Leon, Mexico. He has received numerous awards and distinctions two of which are: the Award for “The Labor of Education and Investigation,” in 1999 and the “Romulo Garza” Award for Research and Development Technology in 1995 and 1998. He has numerous publications in various areas of environmental engineering
 From left: Son Jorge, Wife Yolanda, Dr. Cázares, son Daniel, Daughter in-law Fatima |
Visitors to Campus
The Department of
Government is organizing a brown bag lunch seminar from 12-1 PM on
November 2 in Breland 333. The guest speaker will be Mr. Charles Snyder and the title of his presentation will be "The Politics of Diplomacy: How Things Really Work." Charles Snyder
served as acting assistant secretary of state for African affairs from
November 2003 to June, 2004. From 2001-2003 he served as principal
deputy assistant secretary acting a policy point person for the Sudan
Peace Initiative, framing policy toward Central Africa and managing
policy planning and budget programming for the bureau. Prior to this,
from 1995 to 2001 Snyder served as director of the office of regional
affairs supporting the assistant secretary on crosscutting policy and
program issues such as democracy, conflict resolution, human rights,
labor, multilateral organizations, public affairs, congressional
affairs, and crisis management.
The brown bag luncheon is open to everyone students, faculty, staff and community members.
International Grant Award
Tom Winfree, Criminal Justice Department,
recently received notification of a $20,000 contract award from the
International Division of the National Institute of Justice to study
youth gangs in an international context. The contract will support
researchers in five nations--the USA, the Netherlands, the United
Kingdom, Germany, and Bosnia-Herzegovina--as they work towards a common
understanding of the correlates and causes of the international
youth-gang phenomenon. Results of their work will be presented at the
2007 European Society of Criminology meetings in Bologna, Italy, and
the 2007 American Society of Criminology meetings in Atlanta, Georgia.
Science on the Border
The
New Mexico Academy of Science in collaboration with the Southwest
Consortium for Environmental Research and Policy (SCERP) has published
a special edition of its journal, New Mexico Journal of Science, subtitled “Science on the Border.”
The publication (Vol. 44, August 2006) is comprised of 14 scholarly
articles from researchers at NMSU, UTEP, Cal State-LA, and UACJ.
Articles range from a detailed analysis of transboundary aquifers to a
look at postpartum depression among Hispanic women living in the border
region. The special edition represents the broad range of science-based
research conducted locally that is relevant to the U.S.-Mexico border,
according to Erin Ward, campus director of SCERP. It was initiated by
members of NMSU’s Border Cluster.
The special edition is
edited by Dr. Kurt S.J. Anderson, an Academy board member and NMSU
Professor of Astronomy. Assistant editors are NMSU graduate students
Edgar Barrantes and Leticia Burbano De Lara.
Office of International
&
Border Programs
|