University of Cincinnati grows China ties

The fall semester saw the second cohort of more than 50 students from Chongqing University (CQU) come to the University of Cincinnati (UC) to participate in a joint institute offered by the two schools.

The five-year Joint Co-op Institute (JCI) program for Chinese CQU students offers degrees in electrical engineering and mechanical engineering. Students spend their first four years at CQU alternating between internships and classes, and then spend their fifth year studying at UC.

The first cohort of 56 plus Chinese students graduated at the end of April. "The vast majority of them, 84 percent to be exact, are in graduate schools worldwide. We are very happy about that," said Thomas Huston, a UC professor and co-director of the program.

Some Chinese students chose to pursue advanced degrees right here in Cincinnati, some went back to CQU, and others went to other states or countries such as the UK, Canada or Australia.

The rest of the students are gainfully employed, according to Huston. A couple of them found jobs in the US through Occupational Practical Training program, some found jobs back in China.

"That is a situation we can learn from the Chinese students," Huston said. "I believe a lot of our domestic students short change themselves by being so interested in going out to work right away, as opposed to pursuing advanced degree. That's short sighted, and our students could learn from them about the importance of an advanced degree."

Huston said the Chinese students were doing well. "We have gained the confidence of our colleagues at CQU. Last year the administration staff came with students because they were nervous about how they would do, but this year they did not find it necessary to come."

The program has led to a variety of exchanges between UC and CQU, said Huston. "Our faculty members have been going back and forth over the last five years. We have had 20 or so faculty and staff members coming from CQU to UC for training."

CQU president Zhang Zongyi and a few other school officials visited UC in April and attended the commencement ceremony. "We had a weeklong festival for them. In fact, Zhang extended an invitation to UC president Neville Pinto to visit CQU in the fall of 2019," he said.

That invitation was accepted. Pinto is scheduled to visit CQU in Oct 2019 to help celebrate the 90th anniversary of the school, said Huston, who is himself planning to join a delegation led by Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley in early November to visit China.

The joint program is also growing, with more Chinese students taking part, Huston said. "Our goal is to have about 100 students a year. Next year we will have more than 70 students, and we have 87 freshman students at CQU this year."

Huston said he is also exploring other opportunities, such as offering co-op opportunities in China to American students. After all, mixing of cultures is part of the goal, he said.

"We have a company here in town, a medical device-maker, I would like to have domestic students co-op at its China site in Shanghai where business is conducted.

"I also would like to have a couple of students go to CQU to study for a year, since all courses are taught in English there. However, we need the right students for it to be successful," Huston said.

Aside from the Chinese students in the joint CQU program, there are another 3,000 or so Chinese students on the UC campus.

According to Julia Montier-Ball, manager for international student services at UC, most of the Chinese students are doing "exceedingly well academically", majoring in a variety of disciplines.

"We are helping them to adapt to the US culture, especially learning how to be more assertive. We welcome the Chinese students and other international students to the campus because we certainly want to get more diversified," she said.

Contact the writer at mayzhou@chinadailyusa.com