UM China campus remains on back burner

After three years of preparation and negotiation, the University of Montana still doesn’t have its sought-after Chinese branch-campus because of governmental and economic issues.

UM President George Dennison said plans to partner with a university in Xiamen, China, are slowly moving forward, and he remains optimistic about the situation.
“It has to be on their schedule, not ours,” Dennison said.

Maureen and Mike Mansfield Center director Terry Weidner said UM hopes to partner with Xiamen University of Technology to establish an English-speaking university to offering UM programs in China.

Weidner, who has been the most involved in the plans, said one reason for delayed progress is an “internal dispute” in the Chinese Ministry of Education about foreign involvement in education. Weidner hasn’t been in direct talks with Chinese representatives, but he said progressives and conservatives in the government disagree on the extent of foreign interests’ role in Chinese universities.

David Sun, a San Francisco-based venture capitalist, and Paul Marcus, a businessman based out of Boston and Beijing, are the primary negotiators on UM’s behalf in China. Weidner said they are also leading the private investors who would pay the “up-front costs” of creating a campus in Xiamen.

Sun, who was connected to UM through an alumnus, gave UM the Xiamen campus idea after the Chinese Education Ministry issued a decree in 2003 that encouraged foreign cooperation with national universities. China’s state-run economy was then opening to capitalism, and universities entered the open market as well.

The UM satellite campus in China would be a for-profit institution, and that creates another sticking point, Weidner said. Because UM would prepare the school’s curriculum, UM would receive a share of the profits once the campus is up and running.

China’s communist government runs all public universities, controlling curriculum and keeping tuition rates at a minimum. UM’s satellite campus in China would be a private university, so it would charge a higher tuition rate.

Suhan Chen, a Chinese UM graduate student from Beijing, said she thinks little progress has been made in UM’s plan due to cost. Chen received a bachelor’s degree in journalism in China and went to a Japanese university for a master’s degree in Asian and Pacific studies.

Chen said she paid 3,000 Chinese yuan, or $400, per semester when she began her undergraduate education in 1999 at Jilin University, one of the top 15 universities in China.

Tuition increases since Chen graduated have been negligible.

Chinese students at the prospective Xiamen campus would receive two degrees: One from UM and one from the Xiamen University of Technology. Chen said a public university degree guarantees Chinese students a job, and a private degree isn’t very rewarding.

Students from UM wishing to study abroad in Xiamen wouldn’t be allowed to attend classes, but could serve as mentors, with a ratio of one mentor to every 10 Chinese students.

Chen said local students in Xiamen might be willing to pay a higher tuition to study at an English-speaking university in China.

Xiamen University of Technology has about 10,000 students. Of those, 2,800 are part-time, non-traditional students so UM’s program may appeal to them the most.

However, Chen said most Chinese students would rather study in English-speaking countries to learn the language.

“I still think studying abroad is still better because it exposes you to a different environment,” Chen said.

Because of China’s expanding economy and one-child policy, Chen said increasing numbers of Chinese parents have the means and the dedication to send their children abroad.

UM justified the Xiamen campus plan with the point that some Chinese students might not have the means to study abroad or have difficulty obtaining a visa.
Dennison highlighted the Chinese UM satellite idea in his 2004 State of the University Address, saying it would provide an alternative revenue source since state funding is on the decline.

Weidner said although the Xiamen campus will offer specific areas of study, like international business, UM must wait for a definite “yes” from China before figuring out details.

“We’ve done everything we can to get things ready on our side,” Weidner said.

For now, Weidner said he’s focusing on other, more pressing projects, such as the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Conference this week, titled “The China Threat: Myth or Reality?”

Dennison said more than 20 U.S. university presidents and vice presidents, including UM Provost Royce Engstrom, will attend a higher education conference in China at the end of October. Weidner said he wasn’t aware of the conference, and doubted that the Xiamen campus would be on the agenda.