MANSFIELD, PA—Mansfield University has signed a new partnership agreement with Dialian Jiaotong University for the exchange of students.
The signing came at the Chinese University President Delegation, hosted by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) in Washington, DC on January 11-13. The delegation consisted of high-level representatives from 15 Chinese universities.
Assistant Professor Brad Lint, English and Modern Languages, represented Mansfield at the meeting and to witness the signing of the new agreement by Vice President Guan Tianmin of Dialian Jiaotong University. President Fran Hendricks signed the agreement for Mansfield beforehand.
MU was one of only three American universities invited to this event. Troy University and Coastal Carolina University were the other two.
Lint provided an overview of MU, highlighted accomplishments of our Chinese students and visiting scholars, and unveiled Mansfield’s new Mandarin virtual tour.
The attendees were joined by representatives from the U.S. Department of State Education, who were on hand to describe the state of study abroad in the U.S. today. They noted that in 2014-2015, there were a total 974,926 for-credit international students in the US – a 10% increase over the previous year – and of these, 304,040 came from China.
Next year, MU will celebrate its 10th year in partnership with AASCU and the U.S.-China Cooperation on Higher Education and Professional Development (CHEPD) Program. 1+2+1 dual-degree program.
In this program, Chinese students spend their sophomore and junior years in the U.S.as they work to complete degrees at MU and at their home institution. So far, 22 students have completed the program, with another five scheduled to graduate in spring 2016.