Bryant, Beijing Institute of Technology initiate partnership

SMITHFIELD – Bryant University and the Beijing Institute of Technology, Zhuhai have initiated a partnership to educate one another’s students at their respective campuses in Smithfield and Zhuhai, China.
Bryant President Ronald K. Machtley announced the development recently in an internal letter to the Bryant community, noting that while the Chinese Ministry of Education in Beijing approved the collaboration on Jan. 29, details and other approvals are still being worked out.
If the partnership evolves as planned, Machtley said, “Bryant will become the first and only American university with a presence in the city of Zhuhai and the only U.S.-China joint business program in Guangdong Province on the southeast coast.”
Machtley is expected to make a trip to Zhuhai in March for a groundbreaking of a new facility there, said Elizabeth O’Neil, executive director of university relations. The start date for classes in Zhuhai may be September, but details are still evolving, he said.
The building, for which renderings are not yet available, is intended to house Bryant’s cooperative program for its first three years, according to Machtley’s letter. Built with funding from the university’s Zhuhai partners, the building will be about 107,000 square feet; half of the space will be dedicated to Bryant’s program, he said.
While the cooperative agreement, which covers funding and capital costs from Zhuhai “in the early years,” has been approved by Bryant’s trustees, it also has to be approved by New England Association of Schools and Colleges, which accredits the university. Machtley said Bryant has filed a request with NEASC to pursue the partnership.
Bryant hosts a U.S.-China Institute, established in 2005, as well as a Confucius Institute, which educates students in Mandarin and Chinese cultural heritage.
The institute at Zhuhai educates about 25,000 students, Machtley said. The city of Zhuhai accounts for about 10 percent of China’s gross domestic product, and has been the location of U.S. offshore manufacturing and industrial operations, he said.
“The program in Zhuhai is intended to mirror our own curriculum and standards of excellence and will be taught in English, with no more than 100 entering freshmen initially in order to ensure it is successful and of very high quality,” the university president notes in his letter. “It is also hoped that this program will be the source of many Chinese study abroad students, as they travel to expand their international knowledge and education and we welcome them at our campus in Smithfield.”
In the works for 10 years, this initiative has been propelled forward by several faculty and staff, including Professor Hong Yang, vice president for international affairs; Interim Provost Rick Joseph; Vice President for Academic Affairs Jose-Marie Griffiths; and Deans V.K. Unni and David Lux, Machtley said.

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