Published: February 18, 2008 11:51 am      

Frostburg State wants to expand educational opportunites with China

FROSTBURG - Frostburg State University is seeking to expand its international education opportunities by partnering with Hunan Normal University in China.

"We want to be a leader in global education," said Hank Bullamore, FSU geography professor and interim director of the Center of International Education. "We have to do a good job in preparing our students for work in a global society."

A group of FSU faculty and staff members traveled to China in April to discuss establishing exchange programs for students and faculty.

"We've laid the foundation for a long-lasting relationship that will benefit both institutions, the faculty, staff and students," said John Bowman, vice provost.

Like FSU, Hunan Normal University began as a teacher training institution.

In January, Ken Witmer, dean of the college of education, and several education students traveled to China; they shared their experiences at the FSU Chinese New Year celebration.

"The Chinese New Year's celebration went well - we probably had about 130 people," said FSU biology professor Hongqui Li. During the celebration, which featured Chinese costumes, art and food, the FSU choir sang a song in Chinese.

In March, the choir will perform in Beijing and Hunan Province.

In addition, a proposal to offer FSU's master in business administration program and a three-day certificate program in China has been made, said Ahmad Tootoonchi, associate dean of the College of Business.

"We're still in the early stages," said Tootoonchi, who expects half of the MBA courses to be online and the other half to be a combination of traditional courses and blended courses, which offer a mix of face-to-face and online instruction. For two of the capstone classes, students would travel to FSU.

"It's a mutually beneficial relationship," said Tootoonchi.

In addition to exchange students, Bowman hopes that degree-seeking students from China will enroll at FSU.

"I'm very excited about starting this partnership," said Hang Deng-Luzader, FSU physics professor.

Hunan Normal University is located in Changsha, Hunan Province; it was established in 1938 and has approximately 31,000 undergraduate and graduate students.

FSU already has partnerships with three universities: Northumbria University in Newcastle-upon-Tyn, England; Mary Immaculate College in Limerick, Ireland; and Copenhagen Day and Evening University College of Teacher Education in Denmark.

Contact Jennifer Raley at jraley@times-news.com.