University of Nottingham celebrates 0 anniversary of its Ningbo operation

THE University of Nottingham celebrates the tenth anniversary of its Ningbo operation in China this year. Prof David Greenaway, the vice chancellor, talks enthusiastically about its overseas campuses in China and Malaysia and the word internationalisation is up there at the fore. It is about being more joined up across borders, he said. In one sense it comes naturally to business, They grow to a certain size, try to expand their markets and they look overseas. To some extent that happens with higher education.

"We often forget that for centuries scholars have gone to other countries to learn, to study and to sit at the feet of giants.

"It has always been important to the university.

"In the first instance, we have seen bringing students from different countries to the university and this city as important.

"It adds to diversity by putting students from different ethnic, cultural and religious backgrounds together where they learn to listen and respect each other and co-exist without tension and conflict.

"The other dimension is that our own students learn something about other parts of the world and other cultures. That's all important.

"But to really get the best out of internationalisation, we encourage our own students to do the reverse by spending time overseas. We have taken that further by developing the campuses in China and Malaysia.

The idea for a Chinese campus came from a business relationship formed between the former vice chancellor Sir Colin Campbell and Prof Yang Fujia, a highly respected and well connected nuclear scientist and academic.

The Ningbo campus was formally opened in 2006 and is now home to almost 6,000 students.

Today, in front of the main university building which resembles Nottingham's Trent Building, a lush parkland is growing up. An English garden and Chinese garden sit side by side, symbols of the joint venture.

Where does internationalisation take the university?

The mix in Nottingham is about right with one quarter international students and three quarters UK students, said Prof Greenaway. The campuses in Kuala Lumpur and Ningbo will need to grow, especially Ningbo if it is to become more diverse. About 93 per cent of the students are Chinese.

"We have to find ways of getting students from other parts of Asia and the world to Ningbo, said Prof. Greenaway. That is beginning to happen. It is as much a priority for the Chinese government as it is for the university.

Persuading UK students to study in Ningbo is not as easy as it may sound. They leave behind girlfriends or boyfriends, family and involvement in sport football, rugby, hockey, cricket.

But there may be other ways of encouraging UK students to experience Ningbo such as summer schools, said Prof Greenaway, giving them some deep immersion in the culture.

Nottingham was in the vanguard of universities exporting Higher Education overseas. Newcastle and Southampton are now in Malaysia teaching engineering and medicine respectively and are smaller operations.

"We are the only university with two broadly-based campuses, said Prof Greenaway. Our Ningbo campus has been a successful experiment for the Chinese, giving its government confidence to award more licences. New York University is establishing in Shanghai and Duke University in Kunshan.

"The Chinese government is not going to open the floodgates but they have understood that Ningbo is an experiment which has enriched rather than in any sense compromised the development of Higher Education in China.

The halls of residence on the Ningbo campus are divided between those for Chinese students and those for international students and the rules are different.

Chinese students must be back in hall by 11pm when the doors are locked. International students have their own accommodation partly because they may only be at the campus for a term.

International students complain that this restricts integration, that the language of the 70-plus societies is in Mandarin and that the opportunities to learn about different languages and cultures becomes limited.

The international students are making their views known, all part of the growing pains of the university. The students are discovering their voice.

Last November, Madam Zu Yafen, the chair of the university's partner, Wanli Education Group, raised the issue at its board meeting suggesting the time was right for more integration of halls, moving on from the regime when the campus was established.

"At the time, the easiest thing was to build a hall for international students coming for a semester, said Prof Greenaway who is encouraged by the bolder student voice.

The strong and enviable relationship the university has with the Chinese authorities municipal and central government has to be copied by Nottingham as a city, he says. A previous twinning was allowed to wither by the city council. But a further visit by the authority leaders, deputy leader Graham Chapman and chief executive Ian Curryer with the university hierarchy has helped rekindle the relationship with enthusiasm.

"It doesn't make any sense not to have Nottingham and Ningbo as twin cities, said Prof Greenaway.

"We need to follow up the last visit in September with more visits.

A formal invitation is being sent to the Mayor of Ningbo to lead a delegation to the city this year which will form part of the celebrations of the tenth anniversary of UNNC (University of Nottingham Ningbo China) this year.

The relationship is likely to be selective, concentrating on those areas where there can be mutual advantage.

Pharmaceuticals and healthcare are obvious because of the sectors heritage with Boots and the current strengths at both city universities and BioCity.

"That is a very good area to target, said Prof Greenaway.

Advanced manufacturing is of particular interest to the Chinese, an ar

LINK:	http://en.nbwh.gov.cn/art/2014/4/2/art_1325_52066.html...
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