Dr. Dick Dudley provided an overview of Doane’s new cooperative programs with the Agricultural University of Hubaii (AUH) in China. A partnership between Doane and AUH will bring Chinese students to Doane to study as well as take Doane students to study in China.
One piece of the partnership is a two-plus-two program, in which students complete two years of education in China, then come to Doane as junior transfers and complete the other two years. A second option for students is a three-plus-one, i.e., three years at AUH and one year at Doane. Students would graduate with degrees from both schools.
During the fall semester, six students from AUH attended Doane in Crete. Two of those students who are at Doane this spring, Jiachen (Christina) Cao and Kaiyi (Cathy) Liu, accompanied Dr. Dudley and described some of their experiences at Doane.
In addition to cultural and cuisine differences, a big difference is in the higher-education options available to students. In China, a student’s choices are dictated by his or her performance on exams. Based on the results, students are placed in specific classes for high school. After high school, additional examinations dictate whether a student can receive technical training or go on to college. Even the colleges available to students are based on exams. Christina and Cathy said that this places a lot of pressure on them.
Christina received an unexpected gift for speaking to the Club. She won the drawing and picked the Queen of Spades to win the accumulated pot of $139. Christina graciously donated her winnings to the Rotary Foundation’s Annual Fund.
