St. Mary’s University has forged a new partnership with Wuxi South Ocean College in the People’s Republic of China that will foster international educational opportunities between the two institutions.

The memorandum of understanding between the two institutions was signed during a ceremony Wednesday on the campus of St. Mary’s University.

“St. Mary’s University is committed to educating students who will one day be leaders in our increasingly international society, and developing partnerships abroad is an important part of that educational process,” said St. Mary’s President Charles L. Cotrell, Ph.D. “This agreement with Wuxi South Ocean College will help create a bridge of understanding between two leading economic powers, allowing students and faculty from both institutions to learn from each other. The result is a more international educational experience for students here at St. Mary’s and for the visiting students.”

A delegation of officials from Wuxi South Ocean College, including President Zeng Honglu, Ph.D., and five members of Wuxi’s Board of Trustees, were on campus for the memorandum signing. The school is a private college located in Jiangsu Province of China.

Wuxi students will take undergraduate-level courses in selected business areas including marketing, international business and information systems management, and computer science. The visiting students will spend three semesters at St. Mary’s.

The memorandum includes provisions to expand into other subject areas and graduate-level programs as the agreement progresses. The Chinese students must meet strict requirements, including English proficiency, in order to participate.

This agreement is part of a concerted effort by St. Mary’s to internationalize the educational experience by partnering with institutions both in the Americas and overseas. Last fall, St. Mary’s signed a research agreement with Instituto Tecnólogico y de Estudios Superiores de Occidente (ITESO), a Jesuit university in Guadalajara, Mexico. Earlier this year, St. Mary’s also entered into a cooperative agreement with the University of Applied Sciences – Schmalkalden in Germany to allow business graduate students to complete coursework and earn degrees at each institution.

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