Clark welcomes visitors from partner school in China

A longtime international partnership is being strengthened through the renewal of a 10-year agreement between Clark University and Hefei University of Technology (HFUT) in China. Faculty and administrators from HFUT recently visited the Clark campus to connect with their colleagues in Worcester.

Under the partnership, six to eight Clark faculty teach each semester at HFUT, which is a public university located in Hefei, the capital of China’s Anhui province. HFUT students in this program earn a bachelor’s degree in International Economics and Trade. While some students choose to complete their degree in Hefei, others take advantage of the opportunity to spend their senior year at Clark, where they can remain for a fifth year to earn an accelerated master’s degree.

HFUT students who study at Clark also participate in a summer program where they take one course for credit and another noncredit course to introduce them to living and learning in the United States.

Visiting Clark from HFUT were Zhang Sihong, dean of the International Affairs Office; Hong Jin, dean of the HFUT School of Economics (SOE); Liu Qing, director of the SOE Department of International Economics & Trade; Dai Qianzhi, director of the SOE International Education Center; Zheng Yuanqin, vice-director of the SOE International Education Center; Wu Feifei, vice-director of the Department of International Economics & Trade; Zhou Tongtong, SOE foreign affairs secretary; and SOE teachers Zhu Chen and Zhu Xiaoxuan.

While at Clark, the HFUT representatives attended a faculty workshop hosted by the School of Management, toured the library and technology labs, enjoyed dinner with President David Fithian, and “engaged in meetings regarding renewing our current agreements, strengthening our ties, and exploring further collaboration,” said Sarah Lopolito, associate dean and director of the Office of Global Engagement.

“The visit from the HFUT representatives was the first to occur in person at Clark since the pandemic and reinforced the importance of person-to-person connections in strengthening and developing all of Clark’s international partnerships,” Lopolito added.