FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Oct. 31, 2003
CONTACT: Lisa Lacher, (515) 271-3119

DRAKE SIGNS AGREEMENTS WITH TWO CHINESE UNIVERSITIES

Drake University has reached agreements with China's Hebei Normal University and Hebei University of Economics and Business that will enable the institutions to explore faculty and students exchanges and joint programs.

Drake President David Maxwell signed the agreements during a recent trip to Hebei Province, Iowa's sister state. He traveled with a delegation of four other Drake officials and two leaders of Iowa Sister States.

"The agreements are a first step in creating exchanges," President Maxwell said. "There are lots of operational details to work out, but the initial agreements suggest that we are in complete agreement on what we're trying to accomplish. We all want to create opportunities for the exchange of faculty, staff, students, academic information and materials in the belief that the research and educational pursuits of all three universities will be enhanced by this endeavor."

One of the first opportunities to be developed would enable recent Drake graduates, especially those with education degrees, to teach English for a year in Hebei provincial middle and high schools. Both Hebei Normal University and Hebei University of Economics and Business are willing to consider recent Drake graduates as teachers of English as well.

"This would be the biggest addition to educational opportunity that we could offer the most quickly," said Drake Provost Ron Troyer.

Drake officials said they hope exchange programs will be developed to enable Drake students learning Chinese in the Drake University Language Acquisition Program (DULAP) to study Chinese in China. "To become fluent in a second language, it's essential to spend a significant amount of time with native speakers in an immersion environment," President Maxwell said. "Developing exchange programs with the Hebei universities will enable our students to achieve their goals of communicative competence."

Hebei University of Economics and Business is interested in developing joint programs that will help train Chinese students for careers in that country's fledgling insurance industry. "They're not certain exactly what they want in this area, but there's certainly great potential for developing short-term programs that would enable Drake faculty and insurance professionals in Des Moines to teach at Hebei University of Economics and Business," President Maxwell said.

The Hebei Finance Department has expressed interest in sending some of its employees to Drake to study English, finance and public administration.

"However, obtaining U.S. visas for Chinese students could be a major stumbling block for such exchanges," President Maxwell said. When he and Troyer visited the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, they were informed that the U.S. law that applies to visas assumes all applicants intend to become permanent U.S. residents. Therefore, applicants have the difficult task of proving that they do not want to become permanent U.S. residents.

"Students often find it difficult to present evidence consular officials find convincing," Troyer said. "We were told that students wanting to come to Drake would likely be granted visas if there was a history of those students enrolling in our programs returning to China. How to establish such a history if students have trouble obtaining visas is a challenge."

In spite of the potential problems with visas, Drake will go ahead and develop proposals for exchanges and joint programs, President Maxwell said.

"Drake appears to be well-matched in stature with Hebei Normal University and Hebei University of Economics and Business," President Maxwell said. He noted that Drake is ranked No. 1 in academic reputation among Midwest master's universities by U.S. News and World Report magazine while Hebei Normal and Hebei University of Economics and Business are considered the two best institutions of higher education in China's central province.

Hebei Normal University encompasses 16 colleges with a total of more than 20,000 four-year students. There are 12 schools within Hebei University of Economics and Business, which enrolls more than 18,000 students.