Hong Kong

The Study Tour provided a tremendous opportunity to view four universities that are very different than one another, and located in very different areas of China. Each institution has its endearing qualities. In coming days, I hope to provide a summary of my observations. For now, though, I'll post some more pictures of Hong Kong.

Back at the Excelsior Hotel in Hong Kong, we have been joined by another fifty colleagues from around the world to participate in the Global Summit. Our days are structured and facilitated by a professional consultant that was hired to lead us in a process of positive inquiry regarding the future of campus housing.

Enjoy the views of Hong Kong!

Shanghai and Fudan University

Sightseeing in Shanghai was negatively impacted by construction and smog. We were to spend some time on The Bund, the entertainment district with British architecture. But the area is under construction to install new subway lines in preparation for the 2010 Expo, so we went across the river to view The Bund from the other side. Unfortunately, it was too smoggy to see across the river. That left us to go shopping at Shanghai Xin Tian Di, which was great fun. After much haggling, many treasures were had by all!

Fudan University houses 13,000 students in 3-, 4-, and 6-person rooms. They have a student services structure, including student associations, counseling staff, and live-in hall staff (facilitators) who have programming responsibilities. International students live in separate quarters with enhanced amenities, as do graduate students. They also house over 2,000 faculty and staff. They have implemented a residential college, modeled after Cambridge. They rely on a property management company to operate some of their housing. They have a system for custodial services and preventative maintenance. The counseling center is consistent with those at universities in the United States.

The halls are not air conditioned, so the chief student behavior concern is the use of forbidden electrical appliances in an attempt to cool the air. We had good dialogue about how to best meet the needs of international students.

Tsinghua University, Beijing

Tsinghua University is nearly 100 years old. It is a comprehensive university, with an historical emphasis on science and technology. It has been referred to as the "cradle of engineers" and is often compared to MIT in the U.S. It is very much like most large universities in the U.S. The university has over 31,000 students, and is a member of our international housing association, ACUHO-I.

There is a Vice President for Student Affairs who oversees financial aid, career services, counseling, tutoring, and disciplinary management. The Foreign Student Affairs office oversees all aspects of college life for international students. And the Property Management Center oversees the dormitories, canteens, student union, and judicial affairs. In addition to housing the 31,000 students, they house several thousand faculty and staff.

The housing program includes many aspects similar to the U.S. There is a live-in graduate staff member who oversees each dormitory, and student leaders help coordinate matters within the buildings. The room assignment process is on-line. Cultural and sporting activities are provided for students' development, and student satisfaction surveys are conducted regularly. Good attention is given to students' physical well-being; classes stop at 4pm each day and everyone encouraged to participate in physical activity for one hour. The sports fields and courts were very busy during this hour!

The staff told us that universities house all students because its hard to manage student behavior if they're living off campus, and because the local community doesn't have available space. Tsinghua once had eight students living in each room, but have moved away from this to four-person rooms and suites. International students have separate living quarters with a higher level of amenities and a higher cost than the other buildings. The university contracts with property managers to provides some of their student housing. Students pay the equivalent of about $200 per year for their university housing. This income doesn't even pay the interest due on the construction that the Property Management Center oversees; the national government supplements the budget to cover operating costs.

Tsinghua requires that Marxist theory be taught in the classrooms. The student services staff said they do allow for demonstrations on campus, so long as the demonstrating isn't against the national government. Financial aid, career services, and housing are seen as critical aspects of college life, and faculty who want to advance their careers serve in administrative roles within one of these three offices. This leads to a very holistic approach to the development of the student, meaning that the student's body, mind and character are all of great importance.

Beijing sightseeing

We flew from Guiyang to Beijing on Tuesday, January 6th. From the airport we boarded a tour bus to go to the Great Wall. Our guide shared facts and figures regarding Beijing, as well as information about the Great Wall. Beijing has a population of 17 million people. (To put this in perspective, the population of New York City is approximately 10 million people.) Five million people in Beijing are transients. The transients come into the city from the rural villages to find work in construction and other labor roles. They typically only go home once a year to take their earnings back to their family and to celebrate during the two-week period of Spring Festival and the Chinese New Year, which is about to begin right now.

During the 2008 Olympics hosted in Beijing, vehicle traffic was restricted in the city to reduce smog. This worked well, so they have maintained restrictions, and once a week everyone must take public transportation and personal vehicles are not allowed on the road. There is a commitment to keep subway and bus fares low to encourage use of public transportation. Also as a result of Olympic preparations, the city gained three new subway lines.

We went to the Ba Da Ling section of the Great Wall, the best-preserved section. We climbed the stairs to the top this section of the wall. It was a strenuous 50-minute climb. The steps are steep and it was very cold and windy. The views were amazing; the mountains are beautiful! Sections of the wall could be seen in every direction. It was very rewarding to make it to the top of the wall! Its daunting to imagine how backbreaking it must have been to build these walls. The tour guide told us that the walls were built by prisoners. Its called the largest cemetery in the world because so many workers died and were buried there.

So much history is represented by the wall. The first section was built in the 7th century BC. Some sections were built with grasses to simply block the view of the territory. Other sections were built with rocks and boulders to provide self protection. During the Qing Dynasty, over 2000 years ago, various sections of walls were linked together. In total, there are 3,270 miles of wall.

We closed the night with shopping at the Silk Alley. This was an adrenaline rush as we made our way through the hundreds of booths with silk, jade, pearls, and many other products, Merchants work hard to recruit shoppers into their booths, and bartering is rampant and competitive!

Guizhou College of Finance and Economics

After four days of traveling, we have arrived in Shanghai and finally have internet access again, so I'll do my best to catch up on the last two cities we've visited.

Guiyang is a city located in the mountains of southwest China. We were hosted there by the Guizhou School of Finance and Economics. We stayed at the campus hotel, which was very nice.

After we arrived on January 4th, we were bused to the Qing Ancient City, where native minorities live and sell their wares. We saw cobblers working on the streetside, and many food stands and trinket shops. We were lead by a group of English-speaking students. They helped members of our group barter for good prices on purchases of silk scarves and jackets. We were joined there for dinner by the Director of Foreign Affairs and other university officials. Both at the Ancient City and on the drive to and from, it was obvious that this province is economically disadvantaged.

Our second day in Guiyang was spent on the campus. We had a welcoming ceremony with the president of the university. He and the Director of Foreign Affairs the gave us an overview of the university.

The campus is located on the side of a mountain, so its very, very hilly. There are 17,000 students, and they (like all Chinese universities) are required to live on campus. These students scored very high on the national college entrance exam in order to be selected to attend this business school.

We met with a group of 20 students. They come from all over the country, including Inner Mongolia. We learned that first year students live together in eight-person rooms in single gender buildings. The second year students are assigned to buildings with four-person rooms, and they can select their roommates. They will remain there for the remainder of their years at Guizhou. Graduate students have separate quarters.

We toured the library, the history museum, and the School of Business. The 'dormitories' are spartan. They are not heated (it was 35 degrees and rainy while we were there). The rooms have a sink and a pit toilet, both of which are located on the external balcony outside the bedroom. The dormitories do not have hot water.

The students had lots of questions for us about our universities. They asked us about heating our buildings; they'd clearly like to have heat in their rooms, whether or not they could control the temperature or the fan speed!

They aren't allowed to have visitors of the opposite gender in their dormitory. They were astonished that many of our schools allow 24-hour visitation. Upon hearing this, one student asked how we handle pregnancies. The students said that in China, if a student becomes pregnant, she would be "fired" from school (although no such consequence for the male involved). One female student told us that a pregnant student would go to a small hospital and get an abortion; completing the college degree is too critical to her future success to have a baby and leave school. They again seemed amazed that in our colleges and universities, a student may choose to have the baby and remain in school.

One student asked if it is true that at American universities, students can go on trips. Guizhou students aren't allowed to leave campus, and these students were particularly concerned about how one would keep up with their studies if they were out and about visiting or going away on weekends. In China, students spend about four hours a day in classes, and then they study for much of the rest of the day. Some do hold on-campus jobs, but even those whose family live in Guiyang are not to leave campus. They said that they typically go home once during the year (during the Spring Festival, which begins in two weeks and lasts through the Chinese New Year).

It was eye-opening to learn how tremendously committed the students are to their studies. They live a tough existence, and are simply appreciative of the opportunity to be in school.

Our visit closed with a banquet and a variety of students' musical performances native to this province.

Meetings & Tour at Sun Yat-Sen University

Our second day in Guangzhou began with introductions and a welcome speech by Dr. Li, the Vice President of the university and a greeting by Dr. Qi, the Director of Student Affairs. Then Dr. Lu, Director of Real Estate, gave an overview of student housing at the university.

Sun Yat-Sen is a comprehensive university with 36 schools and colleges, and is over 100 years old. It has four campuses, and includes a medical school and five hospitals. There are 83,000 students: 32,000 full-time undergraduate, 27,500 graduate students, 4,000 doctoral candidates, 1,500 international students, and 18,000 post-grads. There are 30,000 faculty and staff members.

All full-time students are required to live on campus for their entire academic program. The housing needs are obviously enormous. Housing consists of mainly hi-rise facilities, as land is a prized commodity. Housing is also offered for faculty and staff; a total of 13,000 people are housed in faculty/staff apartments.

"Student Affairs" is sparsely staffed. They espouse their duties to be: 1) political and ideological management; 2) financial aid; 3) daily management; and 4) counselor training and management. "Counselors" are staff members who are assigned to incoming classes of first year students and advise them in a holistic manner throughout their college career. This includes academic advising, personal development, and personal/academic assistance.

Their housing facilities are primarily red brick with green tile roofs. They consist of "ancient and historic buildings", according to Dr. Lu. That means they're very old! The only new facilities are on the "Mega Campus" which is three years old (located on an island with nine other university communities and a shopping center), and houses 17,000 people. As you can imagine, quantity and volume are quite the themes! This is one enormous operation!

Students are housed in rooms with 2, 4, 5, or 6 students. The four person rooms we toured are smaller than the typical 2-person rooms in the U.S., but they have a small bathroom attached. Students pay 750-1500 RMB per year for housing, which is the equivalent of $100-200 in the U.S. dollars. The government provides the land for the buildings, and the university and local government provides for construction and maintenance costs. They keep no financial reserves.

There are no student staff members. Instead they have volunteer coordinators in each building and on each floor. Student programming is provided via incentive money given to the floors that are kept the cleanest and have the best safety records. (Slightly different than in the U.S.!) The top residence halls receive about $500 per year in programming funds. The students' activities are coordinated by these student volunteers with guidance from the Counselors. Students stay in the same hall, the same room, typically with the same roommate the entire time they are in college.

It was a fascinating day! I had the pleasure of eating lunch with the Director of Real Estate, with the assistance of an interpreter. While touring I had a first-year student approach me because she was eager to practice her English; that became a great discussion about her background and her experience at SYSU. Then at our closing banquet, I ate with two students who are looking to do graduate work in the U.S. Before the young man, "Nicky", knew where I was from, he began talking about wanting to study Urban Development at the University of Kansas, "where they have a very good program". You can imagine that the rest of the evening was spent with us becoming fast friends, as he was thrilled to learn more about KU! I believe they'll pursue KU as a matched set, and it would be fantastic to have these bright young students in Lawrence!

Guangzhou and Sun Yat-Sen University

We left Hong Kong and entered China through border patrol at the train station. The 1.5-hour train ride was a great way to see the countryside. With small mountains in the distance, most of what we saw along the railroad was land being farmed in small plots. Workers toiled with hand implements and watering cans draped over their shoulders on bamboo poles. It appeared as if they live in the corrugated steel shacks on each section of land. Even as we rode through the city of Shenzhen, there was a mixture of high-rise apartment complexes with corrugated steel shacks in between. The contrasts were stark.

We were met at the airport by representatives from Sun Yat-Sen University. A bus took us to their campus hotel. After lunch, we spent the day sightseeing. We went to the Chen Clan Academy and Museum, the Guangxiao (Buddhist) Temple, and had a dinner cruise on the Pearl River.

Food has been delicious, and certainly interesting! "Crispy chicken" includes the whole chicken. Fish platters includes the whole fish. Shrimp still have their eyes. I truly enjoyed both squid and eel. And my chopstick skills have improved dramatically. So even meals are adventurous!

Study Tour - Day 1

Jet lag is ceasing, so it must be time to get on with our journey! The study tour participants had dinner together last night. With a brief lesson on Chinese etiquette and practice being served as if at a banquet (which we'll experience every other night - once in each city), we're ready to begin.

Our group consists of 26 people (17 men, 9 women). The Executice Director and the Director of Education for our association, ACUHO-I, are with us. And there are three business people associated with our field who are participating (an architect, a furniture manufacturer, and a private housing developer). The rest of us are directors of housing at schools throughout the U.S., Australia, Scotland, and England.

We board a bus early this morning, then take a train to Guangzhou (pronounced Gwan-jo). We'll have an afternoon of sightseeing, and a dinner cruise on the Pearl River.

By the way, I finally managed to get some photos posted, so hope you enjoy!