Two years ago, representatives from Jacksonville State University began speaking with specific staff and faculty members from Taizhou University (TU) located in Linhai, China. Conversations involving possible university collaborations took place and resulted in a signed memorandum concerning a joint degree program. Beginning this year, JSU will welcome its first group of TU students to further their comprehension of the English language and their study in the field of computer science.

The joint degree program between JSU and TU began this past fall as the initial cohort of TU freshmen entering the program began study in China. The format of the program is called a 1-2-1, whereby Chinese students complete their first year of study at TU, come to JSU for two years of study and then return to TU to complete their degree.

The first summer the Chinese students spend in Jacksonville will involve an intensive session of study at JSU's English Language Institute (ELI). The first group of Chinese students is set to arrive at the ELI this summer. After completion of the entire program's course of study, these students will have earned a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from both TU and JSU.

JSU will also enroll students from Zhejiang University of Media and Communication (ZUMC) with a projected start time of this summer. These students will be pursuing a Master of Arts in English at JSU. ZUMC students began study in China in a communications concentration last spring with plans to come to JSU to complete requirements for a master's degree. After six weeks of a summer session at the ELI, honing their skills in English and learning about American culture, they will begin graduate study at JSU.

Jacksonville State University continues to develop and expand its academic partnerships with several Chinese universities. Emerging collaborations include work not only with TU and ZUMC, but also with Wuhan University, Zhejiang University and Shanghai Normal University. Representatives from JSU visited these institutions last summer.

While in China, JSU representatives also explored ways to expand JSU's relationship with its long term partner in China, Wuhan University. Building upon a long history of exchange of faculty, the two universities are now looking at an expanded teacher exchange as well as new and expanded possibilities for student exchange programs.

Other cross-cultural projects in development include an additional joint degree with Shanghai Normal University and a summer teacher workshop in the teaching of English as a Second Language for faculty of Zhejiang University, another university in Hangzhou.

The College of Arts and Sciences at JSU is expanding the possibilities of study for college students worldwide, reaching new distances and broadening their depth of knowledge like never before. This initiative is a new beginning for this college, these international students and education as a whole.

As we begin a new year, we welcome a new group of Gamecocks to the JSU family and community at large.

Erin Chupp, a freelance writer for the Office of Marketing and Communications, contributed to this article.