Authors: | Date：2010-03-28 03:23:19

From March 22nd to 23rd, the delegations of North Dakota State University and Dickinson State University of USA visited the A&F. An inters-university cooperation agreement between the A&F and Dickinson State University was signed. Also interuniversity cooperative relationships between the A&F and these two universities were initially established.

On March 23rd, Mr. Sun Wuxue, the president of the A&F, met with the members of the two delegations at the International Exchange Center. These members included Doctor Richard J. McCallum, the president, Hal Haynes Jr., the vice-president, Ms. Ronnie R. Walker, the director of the Cultural Affairs Section, Doctor Woodrow W. Poland Jr. from the Department of Agriculture and Science, who all came from Dickinson State University; and Doctor David A. Wittrock, the dean of the Graduate School, Professor Tom Wahl from the Department of Agricultural Economy, who both came from North Dakota State University. President Sun Wuxue pointed out that China had always been a big agricultural country and 13 years ago the first Agricultural High-Tech Industry Demonstration Zone was established in Yangling. Recently, China had continuously expanded the support and investment to Yangling to promote the agricultural demonstration and popularization. The development of university plays a vital role in improving the competitiveness of Yangling Demonstration Zone. With the speeding up of the globalization process, the A&F pays more attention to cultivate innovative talents with international ideas. Recently, the academic communication between China and America becomes more frequent. This year, the A&F will select more than 50 students and send them to America for further education and advanced study. At the same time, the A&F welcomes more teachers and students of these two universities to study and communicate at the A&F and to establish a strong platform for the expansive prospects of cooperation. He hoped that the effective long-term cooperation relationship could be established.

Doctor Richard J. McCallum, the president of Dickinson State University, briefed the university from the aspects of history origin, development of discipline, teacher resources and international communication. He said that since 1998 the university had continuously developed diversified course design and established all kinds of scholarships to attract overseas students all over the world to study  there. Until now, it has established cooperative relationships with 12 Chinese universities. It is hoped that in the future Dickinson State University and the A&F could expand the scope of cooperation and strengthen the inter-university friendship, achieve information sharing through distance learning, conduct diversified cooperation forms and constantly promote cooperation and communication. Doctor David A. Wittrock, the dean of the Department of Graduate School of North Dakota State University, thought that both universities were comprehensive universities based on agronomy and had many research fields which they were both interested in. With the development of more than 100 years, the graduate programs of North Dakota State University have increased and the university’s global education has been improved instantly. Now the university is encouraging more Asian students, including outstanding students of A&F to further their study there.

During the visit of the two delegations, Mr. Hou Xi, the vice-president of the A&F, together with the principals of the A&F Graduate School, Academic Affairs office, Office for International Cooperation and Exchange, and Science and Technology Administration Division, conducted an informal discussion with the members of the delegations. From the fields of subjects setting, key discipline, science and technology extension and international exchange, Vice-president Hou Xi introduced to the guests the general situation of A&F and especially discussed the undergraduate projects “2+1+1” , “2+2”, and graduate training program. He hoped that in the future both universities could seek cooperation opportunity, conduct exchange of students and launch cooperation of scientific researches in the fields of agricultural economy, natural resources, food security and zoological science.

The two delegations also held informal discussion at the College of Agronomy, the College of Resources and Environment, the College of Animal Science and Technology, the College of Food Science and Engineering, and the College of Mechanical and Electronic Engineering. After getting to know the history of the colleges’ development, the number of teachers and students, the disciplines and majors, and the achievements of scientific researches, the delegation also conducted communications and discussions with related experts of the College of Agronomy in the researching methods of precision agriculture and dry farming, with experts of the College of Animal Science and Technology in the research of breeding of blocks and herds and also the research of practaculture science. In the College of Resources and Environment, the members got to know the research situation of instrument application of the geographical information system and soil alimentology. And in the College of Mechanical and Electronic Engineering, they got to know the achievements of scientific researches in the machinery of tobacco and orchard farming.

The members of the delegations also gave a report for the A&F students at the International Exchange Center. This report was entitled the Opportunity of Agriculture and Natural Resources Management for North Dakota State and was related to the information of studying abroad at North Dakota State University. A&F students asked some questions about the choice of majors, requirement of scores, tuition fees and scholarships.

During their stay at the A&F, the delegations also visited the Museum Garden and the two campuses.

 

 

 

Edited by: Yang Yaorong
Translated by: Wang Qi
Proofread by: Tian Zhiqiang