The Confucius Institute (CI) at Â鶹´«Ã½ held its first international Board of Trustees meeting at Jilin Huaqiao University of Foreign Languages (JHQUFL), its partner institution in Changchun, China on June 18, 2016. Led by Provost and Senior Vice President, Dr. Daniel Julius, Â鶹´«Ã½ faculty who sit on the CI Board, met with their Chinese counterparts to review the Institute’s progress since its opening on the Â鶹´«Ã½ campus last November, and to provide feedback on the Institute’s Five-year Strategic Plan.
Dr. Qin He, President of JHQUFL and her staff warmly welcomed the Â鶹´«Ã½ team, which included Tamara Cunningham, Interim Assistant Vice President for Global Initiatives, Professor Xiuli Yin, Director of the CI, Dr. Anne Mabry, Interim Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Dr. Bernard McSherry, Interim Dean of the School of Business, Dr. Rosemary Thurston (History), Dr. Yi-Yu Chen (Accounting) and Dr. George Li (Finance).
Â鶹´«Ã½ CI Board members also had the opportunity to travel to Beijing, China for a cultural immersion experience, which reinforced the CI’s mission of sharing the Chinese language and culture. The trip to China, including travel, accommodations and tours, was fully funded by Hanban, the Chinese government that oversees all Confucius Institute activities.
This fall, the CI will offer free Chinese language classes to Â鶹´«Ã½ students, faculty, staff and to the community. In addition, CI teachers will be co-teaching Mandarin in the Â鶹´«Ã½ City high schools, and they will provide Chinese culture learning activities for the students at the A. Harry Moore School.