TO:	The Freeman Advisory Committee
FROM:	Regina Entorf, East Asia Research Librarian, Thomas Library
	Gary Gaffield, Assistant Provost for Academic Programs, Provost's Office
	Margaret Goodman, Assoc. Prof. of Biology, Biology Department
	Stephen Smith, Assoc. Prof. of Anthropology, Sociology Department
	Wendy Smith, Asst. Prof. of Management, Management Department
DATE:	April 1, 2002
RE:	Travel Grant to China for Curriculum Development and Evaluation of Study Abroad Programs, Summer 2002

ABSTRACT:

We request funding from the Freeman Foundation Grant for Development of Undergraduate Asia Studies for travel to China to visit study abroad programs. A Wittenberg committee of three professors, a librarian, and an administrator will visit facilities and interview program representatives in Shanghai, Hangzhou, Beijing and Hong Kong. The trip will take 20 days and cost approximately $3,208.40 per person or $16,042.00 total (see attached budget estimate).

OBJECTIVES:

1. To familiarize ourselves with, and evaluate, study abroad programs in China, thus becoming campus authorities in this first year of a four year cycle;
2. To strengthen institutional relationships between Wittenberg and existing study-in-China programs;
3. To commence dialogue with the programs in order to make them more responsive to Wittenberg's needs;
4. To develop additional programs (particularly in Management, Pre-Medicine and Anthropology) that will attract members of the Wittenberg community to China while satisfying our curricular expectations; and
5. To evaluate existing information resources in China (hence at Wittenberg) and to create channels for expediting further information exchange.

GROUP RATIONALE:

This rationale is a summary statement for the group travel proposal. Below you will find individual proposals from each member of the committee.

This group came together as a mechanism for facilitating five separate proposals. Each member has specialized reasons for visiting one or more academic institutions in China. The fact alone that many of our destinations are the same would justify unified action. However, there is additional benefit to be gained for Wittenberg and Freeman objectives through our group action. Collectively we represent a variety of academic perspectives: administration, information sciences, academic fields (social science, natural science, business). The fact of our near ideal distribution of perspectives means that we complement each other as evaluators of programs and will be sources of information to a wide spectrum of audiences.

Stephen Smith is the only member of the group who has studied Chinese language or traveled in China, so he has acted as organizer for the group.

Wittenberg University Proposal for the Freeman Foundation Undergraduate Asian Studies Funding Initiative, Appendix 1

Expanding Asian Content in the Curriculum (pp. 4-5): "Each year, we will award up to eight travel grants ... An equal number of curriculum development grants will be awarded. Initial grantees will include a Management department professor interested in Japanese business organization ... and several members of the Biology department are working with our medical anthropologist of Japan to initiate a summer study abroad program at the Zhejiang College of Traditional Chinese Medicine."

Expanding Student and Community Interest in Asia (p. 6): To "assure that study abroad experiences meet the needs of our students and complement our curricula, we propose to support travel to East Asia annually by a faculty member and/or administrative staff member to strengthen established institutional ties and explore additional programmatic possibilities. We propose, in particular, to identify new opportunities for study abroad for majors in management (where there is strong student interest in East Asia), and for short term/summer programs suitable for students in majors where departmental requirements have historically hindered participation in regular academic year study abroad programs."

In keeping with Wittenberg's proposal to the Freeman Foundation, it is the intention of this travel group to strengthen institutional relations with appropriate programs in China so as to facilitate the use of those programs by Wittenberg students and faculty. We take as our mandate the Freeman goal of building interest and enthusiasm for East Asia. Collectively, we will investigate existing programs, negotiate for improvements, and develop new program elements to further meet the needs of the Wittenberg community.

Our interests are in:

• Study abroad programs that are optimally user friendly, making it easy and pleasurable, as well as educational, for Wittenberg students without any specialized background to study in China.
• New programs in China that are tailored for the curricular and scheduling needs of Wittenberg students.
• Teacher programs where Wittenberg professors can teach their specialties in a comfortable and receptive environment in China.
• New information resources that can be made available to students on the Wittenberg campus.

ABSTRACT OF INDIVIDUAL GOALS:

In the Individual Proposal section below, each participant presents an elaborated prospectus of his/her intended goals. In briefest form, these goals are:

Regina Entorf: To investigate existing informational resources at the institutions we will visit, to determine what additions to the Wittenberg library system may be called for, and to improve information exchange between those institutions and the Wittenberg campus.

Gary Gaffield: To represent the Provost's Office and its concerns. To provide a perspective during discussions in China that is based on institutional objectives and priorities. To gain direct knowledge of opportunities for study abroad and for developing summer field studies that will assist in institutional planning.

Margaret Goodman: At the Zhejiang College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, to develop a summer field study program combining TCM and an introduction to Chinese culture that meets appropriate standards for introducing pre-med students to TCM, a significant "complementary therapy."

Stephen Smith: At the Zhejiang College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, to develop a summer field study program combining TCM and an introduction to Chinese culture that meets appropriate standards in social science. At the Zhejiang University Yuchuan campus, to strengthen the relationship between LCCC/Wittenberg and the Zhejiang University International Affairs Office. Also, to evaluate the new Valparaiso University Hangzhou Education Center for LCCC students and faculty.

Wendy Smith: To strengthen institutional ties, create a summer field study program, and establish internships in China for Management students; to lay the groundwork for developing similar programs in Japan and Korea.