Chinese delegates visit university
PRESQUE ISLE — Officials with the University of Maine at Presque Isle hosted delegates from Siyuan University, located in in Xi’an, China, Feb. 7-8, during a visit meant to strengthen connections and explore new partnerships between the two institutions.
Chinese delegates tour UMPI 
— During their two-day visit to UMPI, Chinese delegates took time out of their busy meeting schedule to take a campus tour. Here, campus tour leader Erin Benson, director of admissions, far right, shows the delegates UMPI’s Art Room. Taking part in the tour are, from left: Hualong Tong, deputy director of international cooperation and exchange at Siyuan University; UMPI students Lijing Zhou and Shulei Zhang; and Yanbo Zhou, chairman of the Siyuan University Board.
Yanbo Zhou, chairman of the Siyuan University board, and Hualong Tong, SU deputy director of international cooperation and exchange, spent two days at UMPI as part of a larger, two-week visit to the United States to meet with universities and government officials. In addition to their stop in Presque Isle, their itinerary is expected to include visits in Massachusetts, Minnesota and New Mexico.
According to UMPI Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Michael Sonntag, the university’s relationship with Siyuan has been developing over the course of the last two years. Right now, there are about a dozen Chinese students from SU completing their bachelor’s degrees at UMPI. UMPI’s ties with this and other Chinese institutions have also helped to open doors to new learning opportunities for the local public school system: during their visit, Chinese delegates also met with SAD 1 officials to discuss collaborations with Presque Isle High School.
“Our relationship with Siyuan continues to grow in exciting ways,” Sonntag said. “We have learned so much about the culture and educational experiences of the Chinese students, all of which inform us about our strengths and weaknesses and suggest paths to innovation and creativity in our future programming, activities and other campus events. The students are a delight to have on campus and all reports indicate they are enjoying their experience with us.”
Siyuan University currently serves about 18,000 students and it has an historical strength in engineering and technology.
Officials from the Chinese university met with UMPI’s executive administration on Tuesday to discuss potential “3+1” or “2+2” degree program articulation agreements. Such programs would be designed collaboratively by faculty from UMPI and Siyuan and would allow Chinese students to complete two or three years of their degree program at Siyuan and the final one or two years at UMPI. In completing the program, students would earn both a Chinese and a U.S. degree.
According to the Chinese officials, the value of programs like this to Chinese students includes both the U.S. degree credential and the solid introduction to American culture. Sonntag anticipates that such a program, once running, could bring 20 to 30 students to campus.
“While many Chinese students have limited knowledge of Maine before their arrival, they generally know about New England and its historical strength in education,” Sonntag said. “This knowledge leads them to colleges and universities in the region. It is my hope that this cooperation and others we develop will help to promote not only UMPI, but also Maine and the considerable strengths and opportunities found in The County. All the possible interconnections and opportunities are what keep this really exciting.”
