Representatives from Missouri S&T and China University of = Petroleum (CUP)=20 met recently to sign a transfer agreement between the two universities. = The=20 agreement will allow CUP students to transfer to S&T after their = first two=20 years of study in geology and geophysics.
The signing ceremony was held on Dec. =
2, at the=20
Havener Center on Missouri S&T=E2=80=99s campus.
=E2=80=9CChina =
University of Petroleum=20
is the top university in China with regard to petroleum exploration and=20
development,=E2=80=9D says Dr. Robert Laudon, professor and chair of =
geological sciences=20
and engineering at S&T. =E2=80=9CWe are fortunate to have this =
agreement.=E2=80=9D
=E2=80=9CThis=20
is the first time CUP has partnered with an American =
university,=E2=80=9D says Dr.=20
Stephen Gao, professor of geophysics at S&T. =E2=80=9CThey =
identified S&T=E2=80=99s=20
geology and geophysics as a strong program that would be compatible with =
their=20
program.=E2=80=9D
By drawing top Chinese students to S&T, the =
=E2=80=9C2+2 Program=E2=80=9D is=20
expected to benefit S&T by increasing student diversity, =
familiarizing=20
S&T students with Chinese culture, and providing them with future =
personal=20
connections in China, which Gao says is rapidly becoming a major player =
in the=20
world=E2=80=99s science, technology and economy.
The program was =
conceived by Gao and=20
Dr. Kelly Liu, associate professor of geophysics at S&T. Gao taught =
at CUP=20
from 1984 to 1989; Liu received her bachelor=E2=80=99s degree from CUP =
in 1984 and=20
taught there until 1990. They both earned their master=E2=80=99s degrees =
and Ph.D.s from=20
the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in the 1990s and have =
taught at=20
S&T since 2006.
=E2=80=9CThe idea of the program began in 2007 =
after talking with=20
a professor at a meeting in San Francisco, who began a similar =
program,=E2=80=9D says=20
Gao. =E2=80=9CKelly and I knew that the curriculum of both S&T and =
CUP were similar=20
enough for this to work.=E2=80=9D
=E2=80=9CDrs. Gao and Liu have =
worked very hard to bring=20
this agreement to fruition,=E2=80=9D says Laudon. =E2=80=9CWe are very =
fortunate to have them as=20
members of our faculty.=E2=80=9D
The creation of the 2+2 Program is a =
collaborative=20
effort between members of S&T=E2=80=99s international affairs and =
enrollment=20
management offices, and the geology and geophysics faculty. Also =
instrumental in=20
the program=E2=80=99s development was Dr. Lianzhang Zhu, a visiting =
scholar from CUP,=20
who spent a year at S&T from October 2008 through October 2009.