wfn.org | Oklahoma City University will launch China campus

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

May 7, 2002	News media contact: Linda Green7(615)742-54707Nashville,
Tenn.     10-21-33-71B{209}

By United Methodist News Service*

A United Methodist-related academic institution will become the first
American university to establish a campus in the People's Republic of China.

Oklahoma City University has been invited to become part of the Oriental
City of Universities, a consortium of universities in Lang Fang, China, 30
minutes north of Beijing. Set on 65 acres, the school's OCU China campus
will open in September 2003. 

Oklahoma City University's contract with Oriental City states that it is the
first American university to have a campus in China, according to Dennis
Dunham, the university's chief international officer and dean of enrollment
management. Oriental City is the entity authorized by the Chinese government
to bring in foreign universities. 

The China campus will duplicate the Oklahoma campus, building by building,
down to the last brick. "The Chinese want the look and feel of an American
university," Dunham said.

A delegation will go to China for the official May 20 signing of an
agreement that will signify the commitment to move forward with the OCU
China campus project. The ceremony will be held at the Oriental City of
Universities campus. Several Chinese dignitaries are scheduled to attend,
and the event will be televised in China. 

The invitation to establish a China campus is a result of the 100-year-old
university's overseas programs, including music, dance, mass communications
and business, Dunham said. It has operated a top-rated master of business
administration program in Tianjin since 1986.

"OCU has been well recognized for its academically excellent programs, and
we have the opportunity to bring these quality programs to China to further
enhance understanding and cooperation between the two countries," Dunham
said. The country's ministry of education is comfortable with the quality of
the school's academics and is interested in developing similar liberal arts
and business programs.   

"One of the reasons we are willing to work with the Chinese is that we've
been there since 1986 and we have confidence and experience to know that
they will not restrict our academic freedom," Dunham said.

The school will first seek accreditation through the North Central
Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement before its
planned opening in China in 2003. The commission accredits more than 9,000
schools in 19 states and overseas.

In development for the past two years, the OCU China campus will offer
select courses in a liberal arts curriculum-music, mass communications,
computer science and English literature. Students will complete two years at
the China campus and then have the opportunity to transfer to the main U.S.
campus. Faculty will come primarily from the U.S campus, but also will
include Western professors currently teaching in China and visiting
professors from other U.S. universities.

"OCU will provide a gateway for all American students to study at an
American university in China," Dunham said. "Even if the students are
studying at another university, they will be invited to join our campus for
a semester or two and have reasonable assurance of safety and security."
# # #
*This story was adapted from a press release by Christine Berney, Oklahoma
City University news services director. 

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United Methodist News Service
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