Nearly 5,000 U-M alums live in China
By Jeremy Allen
The Ann Arbor News
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) - More University of Michigan students come from China than from any other country in the world outside of the United States.
In fact, with nearly 2,500 Chinese students at the start of the 2014-15 academic year, it's the most well-represented region outside of Michigan, with more students than California (2,428), more students than New York (2,170) and more students than Illinois (1,978).
Understanding how valuable the relationship is between the country and the university, the school recently announced that it is expanding that international partnership and launching a new program for engineering students in China who want to earn a Master of Management degree at the Ross School of Business.
According to U-M officials, the partnership is with Shanghai Jiao Tong University, one of China's leading universities, and the UM-SJTU Joint Institute.
The expansion also will create new opportunities for faculty research and student exchange between Ross and the SJTU Antai College of Economics and Management, The Ann Arbor News reported.
U-M partnered with SJTU to create the Joint Institute in 2006, and there are now more than 1,000 undergraduates studying computer, mechanical and electrical engineering. More than 20 full-time faculty members teach the courses in English.
"As a global business school, partnerships such as this are key to providing a world-class business education and giving our students direct experience in the global economy," Ross Dean Alison Davis-Blake said at a special event last week in Shanghai announcing the expanded programming.
"This new partnership will benefit Michigan Ross and SJTU by broadening international engagement for our students and faculty and providing a truly unique, cross-disciplinary educational experience for the JI students to leverage their engineering experience with business fundamentals."
The new Master of Management program for the engineering students will begin in July. The students will study accounting concepts in China before coming to Ann Arbor for nine months to join the Master of Management program at Ross.
The Joint Institute students will then return to SJTU to finish the program with a seven-week, action-based learning capstone project led by Ross faculty at a multinational corporation based in China.
"One of the goals of JI is to make our programs more international. Through this new partnership with the Ross School of Business, we bring our international collaborations to a new level and a new territory," Peisen Huang, dean of the UM-SJTU Joint Institute, said at the event.
"I believe this unique educational model, incorporating engineering and business, will create terrific career opportunities for our students. The initiative also offers a timely response to the Chinese government's recent call for national focus on innovation and entrepreneurship."
Last year, the joint venture became the first U.S.-China collaboration to win the Heiskell Award - one of the highest honors in international higher education - in the partnership category.
U-M launched the Ross Master of Management program in 2014. It's designed to give non-business undergraduates a core grounding in business principles. Officials at U-M said the program is ideal for engineering and liberal arts undergraduates looking to add business acumen to an impressive bachelor's degree.
U-M President Mark Schlissel is scheduled to make his first trip to China this summer. He will meet with the leaders of several Chinese partner institutions in order to strengthen relations with international alumni.
During the visit, which will take place from July 5-11, Schlissel will engage with U-M students and faculty who are in China, as well as with the leadership of several Chinese universities and members of the Chinese media.
Nearly 5,000 U-M alums live in China.
Published: Tue, Jun 09, 2015
