first undergraduate

students from China

By BETH LAKEY

Staff Writer

Forty students from the Peoples Republic of China will be attending Troy State University this fall as the first participants in a unique partnership between TSU and six universities in China.

After 20-plus hours of travel, the initial wave of students arrived Tuesday night, according to Curt Porter, dean of International Programs. They spent Wednesday morning going through orientation specifially designed for the international student population

The remaining Chinese students in the program are scheduled to arrive around 2 a.m. today.

Students will be housed in the Rotary Living and Learning Center-Pace Hall.

"This will be the first group of undergraduate students from China to study at Troy State University," Porter said. "We have had graduate students from China enroll on a regular basis."

Porter said the students are enrolling at TSU through a dual-degree partnership with six universities in China based in Shanghai and Beijing: Suzhou University, Xian Petroleum University, Xian Science and Technology University, Fujian Teachers University, Tianjin Medical University and Ningbo University.

He explained the program is structured as a 1-2-1 format, with students completing their freshman years at the Chinese universities, attending TSU for their sophomore and junior years and returning home to complete their senior years.

The students will receive degrees from both TSU and their home universities, Porter said.

"This format allows Chinese undergraduate students the rare opportunity to study in the United States, because it assures that they will have to return home to complete their degrees," Porter said.

Porter said the Troy community has offered its help to the Chinese students by donating bicycles for their use. TSU’s Student Government Association led the drive to solicit the used bicycles.

SGA President Meryl Jones of Ozark said more than 50 bikes have been donated to be distributed among TSU’s international students, which has become a growing population on campus.

More than 250 students from 52 nations enrolled at TSU last year, Porter said. He expects this new program to "significantly increase" the university’s international student population.