After two productive days at the AACSB conference, where we learned some valuable information about working with Chinese Universities and institutions, it was time to get busy on our main mission here: to present the BSN concept to the Chinese Universities in an effort to begin to build a possible international partnership that is beneficial to Metro State and our Chinese counterparts.
Yesterday our first visit was with a school called Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications. The school just recently celebrated its 50th anniversary, so they are not much older than us. After waiting for our colleague to arrive, we were escorted into the Industrial Design department where we were introduced to three members of the faculty who greeted us very warmly and were excited to hear about what we were doing. We proceeded to the conference room where about 10 to 12 students were also waiting for our presentation.
Ken and Mick did a fabulous job of explaining both Metro State College as well as BSN to the captivated audience. The students in particular seemed eager to hear all about education in America. One student was so eager to lay a foundation for coming to America to study that he had all sorts of questions for Ken to answer, which he did so graciously while giving the student his card and telling him to contact him if he wanted future information! The faculty were fascinated with the student run business concept that is BSN. After a tour of the department, which included a visit to a 3D simulator, it was time to head to our next destination, but not before making plans to explore the possibility of future collaboration through a variety of possible mediums.
Without time for lunch, we headed to Tsingua University, the "Harvard" of China. The University is located right in the heart of the Beijing Technical area, with offices owned by Microsoft, Sun Communications, and others located right outside the main entrance. One gets the feeling these companies want to snatch China's best and brightest before they can get very far from the walls of the University. Once again we were greeted warmly by a member of the faculty, and once again Ken and Mick delivered the goods when it was time to tout the merits of BSN. After answering questions and giving the students a memento of Metro State, a tour of the new facilities was in order. After exchanging contact info for potential future collaboration, it was time to finally grab something to eat.
After three days of extensive work, it was time to take a well deserved break. Today we headed to the Great Wall to see the wonder in person. I'm not sure what was more impressive, the wall, or the amount of people there to see the wall. Actually, we turned into somewhat of a tourist attraction as well, a good number of Chinese citizens wanted nothing more than to have their picture taken with the group of Americans that were ascending the steep slopes of the wall. After a gondola ride back down the mountain, we headed for the Summer Palace, the former home of the ruling emperors of the Ch'ing dynasty. What a marvelous sight it was, certainly it took years to build and even more to maintain, much like the Great Wall itself.
The symbolism of the Great Wall and the Summer Palace fit in perfectly to our mission. These two great structures were innovative for their time, and took years to build and complete. It is a great reminder that for BSN, our mission here is innovative and will take time to build and cultivate. The first seeds and foundation for this were put down these past couple of days. Hopefully they can continue to grow and connect, much like the Great Wall was constructed and connected over years of building and growth. That would be a great legacy for us, for Metro State and for BSN.
-Brian
At the Great Wall of China.
The Team
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