Chinese Delegation visits UHCL and Houston

Rose Pulido

The Signal

The University of Houston-Clear Lake, with assistance from the mayor’s office, hosted a Chinese delegation from the Beijing Institute of Graphic Communication Nov 8. The delegation was interested in visiting the campus to learn more about the Digital Media Studies graduate program offered at UHCL.

The campus tour was orchestrated through the mayor’s Office of International Trade and Development where one of their primary goals is to build international relationships between the city of Houston, globally, in efforts to create opportunities for international education.

“From our perspective, it’s important to help them [Chinese Delegation] establish a connection with different institutes of higher learning, locally, to see what kind of partnerships can be dreamed up,” said Matthew Shailer, special assistant to the mayor, office of international trade and development. “They have a different perspective when it comes to educating and what is a serviceable, job ready education versus something more classic like liberal arts in the way that we understand it.”

The Chinese delegation presented a list of topics they were interested in learning more about from different universities and technical colleges to the mayor’s office. They toured the University of Houston Main campus and Downtown campus before coming to UHCL. Shailer said the mayor’s office reached out to institutions of higher learning in hopes that a relationship between the Beijing Institute of Graphic Communication and other colleges would be established.

“In China, it’s usually about getting to know you first,” Shailer said. “We’re talking about a different country; they have a different system of education.”

UHCL’s Office of International Initiatives facilitated the visit by welcoming the Chinese delegation to the campus and setting up a day of presentations by faculty from the school of Human Sciences and Humanities that focused on Digital Media Studies. Interim Associate Dean of Human Sciences and Humanities Robert Bartsch coordinated efforts to assist and contribute to the visit.

The delegates were greeted by UHCL President William Staples; the Dean of Human Sciences and Humanities Rick Short, the Dean of Science and Computer Engineering Zbigniew Czajkiewicz, Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs Mrinal Mugdh and Lecturer in Marketing Kathleen Williamson.

Short and Czajkiewicz preceeded the presentations with a brief, welcoming speech. Lectures were presented by Communication and Digital Media Studies faculty Leo Chan, Debra Clark, Anne Henry, Stuart Larson, Ashley Packard and Taleen Washington.

The Office of International Initiatives seeks to build international educational connections with other countries to find opportunities for students to study abroad and to build international relationships.

“Whenever there is a delegation like this, there is a collection of intellectual ideas,” said Sameer Pande, executive director for the Office of International Initiatives. “Today is a globalized world. The academic standards and the way people teach is in competition and in sync with each other.”

Zhang Wenhong, vice dean of the College of Publishing with the Beijing Institute of Graphic Communication said they had three primary motives for touring higher learning facilities in Houston.

“First is to learn from our counterparts in American universities,” Wenhong said. “The second objective is to promote academic and research exchange between our faculty members, and you can tell that they are all young, with their counterparts in the United States. And the third objective is to help our young faculty members to broaden their vision.”

Wenhong said part of the reason for their visit to Houston is because they are looking for more opportunities to have a more permanent and systematic exchange program. Wenhong said the Beijing Institute of Graphic Communication currently has established programs with Canadian universities and British universities. Their undergraduates study for three years in Beijing and then go to their sister universities in either Great Britain or Canada, study there for two more years and obtain a master’s degree.

“It is a two way process,” Pande said. “They learn from us, but at the same time we learn from them. That’s what the beauty of delegation is.”