|
OCU Invited to Become First U.S. University in China
Friday, May 03, 2002
Leading the way in providing high quality, value centered U.S. educational opportunities in China, Oklahoma City University announced today that it has been invited to become the first American university to establish a campus in the People’s Republic.
The OCU China campus will be part of the Oriental City of Universities, a consortium of universities located in Lang Fang, China, 30 minutes north of Beijing. It will be set on 65 acres, and will be built to OCU’s specifications.
The invitation to OCU is due in large part to the reputation of the university’s programs oversees, including music, dance, mass communications, and business. OCU’s MBA program in Tianjin, China, which has operated through a local Chinese university since 1986, is currently the top-rated foreign MBA program in the country.
OCU will first seek North Central Association accreditation prior to its planned opening in Sept. 2003. The OCU China campus will offer select courses in a liberal arts curriculum to begin with (music, mass communications, computer science, English literature). Students will complete two years at the OCU China campus, and then be given the opportunity to transfer to the main OCU campus in the U.S. Faculty will come primarily from OCU’s U.S. campus, but will also include Western professors currently teaching in China, and visiting professors from other U.S. universities.
OCU is sending a delegation to China in May for the official signing of an agreement that will signify the commitment to move forward on the OCU China campus project. The ceremony will be held May 20 on the Oriental City of Universities campus.
Dennis Dunham, OCU’s Dean of Enrollment Management, Roberta Olson, OCU’s Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and mass communications Professor Karlie Harmon will attend.
Also making the trip are John Bedford, OCU’s Dean of the School of American Dance and Arts Management, Jo Rowan, Chair of OCU’s Department of Dance, and several student performers, who will provide entertainment at the event.
Several Chinese dignitaries are scheduled to be at the ceremony, and the event will receive full television coverage in China.
Celebrating a century of United Methodist scholarship and service, Oklahoma City University is a comprehensive, private United Methodist university with a liberal arts core curriculum. In a student-centered environment, men and women pursue academic excellence through rigorous curriculum that focuses on their intellectual, spiritual, moral, and physical development to prepare them to become effective leaders in service to their communities. Visit the Web site at www. okcu.edu.
###
|
