Strategy for Global Partnerships

Peking University, June 17, 2010: As China is playing an increasingly significant role in the world, the breadth and depth of international exchange and cooperation of Peking University keeps expanding. Problems such as the lack of activeness and substantial proceeding are arising, however. Prof. Lin Jianhua, Executive Vice President and Provost of Peking University, discussed about the situation and strategy of PKU s global partnerships during an interview with Mara Hvistendahl from The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Below is the full text of the article published Wednesday, Peking U. Gets Serious about Global Partnerships.

Prof. Lin Jianhua (File photo)

There was a time when handling international affairs at a Chinese university entailed hosting the occasional delegation and just talking about openness and reform.

For Lin Jianhua, Peking University's provost and point person on international partnerships, those days are long gone. Mr. Lin's job includes jetting around the world, setting up ambitious joint institutes, and exploring collaborations in path-breaking lines of research.

There are delegations, too. But now the provost hosts over 50 foreign university presidents a year.

"It's quite busy," says Mr. Lin, snatching an hour for tea in one of the traditional scarlet-tinged reception rooms where he sees visitors.

Like many Chinese administrators, he has spent the bulk of his career at one institution. He received his bachelor's degree and doctorate at Peking University and later taught chemistry there. Along the way, though, he logged four years overseas as a research fellow two at Iowa State University and two at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, in Stuttgart, Germany. That stint abroad is evident in his fluent English.

As Chinese universities shake off the vestiges of Soviet-style planning and steer faculty priorities toward research and creative thinking, Mr. Lin is part of an effort to rework the university that helped shape him. In addition to international affairs, he oversees research, education programs for nontraditional students, and Peking University's fledgling liberal-arts college the Yuanpei Program since 2001 and the Yuanpei College since 2007.

But internationalization alone could be a full-time job, he suggests. Peking University has agreements with over 250 institutions worldwide. And as overseas universities look for footholds in a rising China, the elite institution is being wooed by many others.

Benefits vs. Burdens

That gives Mr. Lin leeway to be choosy. Since he took over as provost and executive vice president in 2002, he has spent a chunk of his time simply wading through the university's existing relationships for signs of real cooperation. "Only a small portion" of his institution's hundreds of partnerships are active, he says. "There are a lot where nothing has happened."

Early on he asked colleagues to identify partnerships that benefited rather than burdened the university. He has since focused on those and let the others quietly slide.

In brokering new alliances, meanwhile, he seeks out institutions that might help Peking University establish programs in areas where it is weak.

Among the important relationships for Mr. Lin are several with American institutions. The University of Michigan provided faculty members for a new joint institute in social-science research. Last year the Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University worked with Peking University's College of Engineering to unveil what they say is the first US-China joint PhD program. And the University of Southern California may collaborate on professional programs in education and social work.

That many of the university's key allies are American is no coincidence, Mr. Lin says. Despite having spent time in Europe, he finds building partnerships there "very complicated."

"German universities are undergoing a lot of change," he says. "Right now they don't have the time to think about others."

But neither does he limit himself to the West. As China bolsters its international ties and promotes the Chinese language and culture abroad, he has set his sights on the developing world. "We shouldn't only look at US and Europe," he says. "I feel it's very important for the younger generation to understand the world and learn to really care about people."

Michael A. Diamond, an education professor at the University of Southern California who has worked closely with Mr. Lin, says he appreciates the Chinese official's focus. "Provost Lin is one of those rare academic leaders who feel that elite research universities should develop programs addressing the problems faced by societies around the world," he says.

With an eye toward partnerships, Mr. Lin keeps a formidable travel schedule. He toured Latin America in early February. Plans for this year include visiting Cairo University, in Egypt, and exploring collaborations in South Africa.

With so much on his plate, Mr. Lin jokes that the financial crisis that hammered the world's economy has had an unintended benefit: It slowed the influx of foreign guests to his office.

"This year is a very good year," he says, laughing. "There are fewer visits."

Reported by: Mara Hvistendahl

Edited by: Jacques

Source: The Chronicle of Higher Education