KU and ZJNU Sign Joint Institute Agreement

This fall the University of Kansas and Zhejiang Normal University will establish the first-ever joint institute in the field of education between the United States and China.

The agreement, which was finalized by Chinese officials in May and approved by the Kansas Board of Regents in June, will enable ZJNU students to earn dual education degrees from the KU School of Education and Human Sciences, as well as from ZJNU. KU faculty, including those in the Applied English Center, will travel to ZJNU to teach KU curriculum to the students.

The program will offer a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and master’s degrees in special education, curriculum and instruction, and educational psychology and research. The ZJNU students would have to meet the same admissions standards, including English language proficiency, as other international applicants.

“By establishing an educational presence in China, we are not only extending KU’s reach in profound ways but introducing today’s and future educators and practitioners in China to U.S. perspectives and approaches to the education disciplines.  Those bridges are critical to peaceful engagement and the development of mutual understanding” said Charles Bankart, KU senior internationalization officer.

The undergraduate program will begin in the coming 2023-24 academic year with an instructor from the Applied English Center traveling to China to teach advanced-level intensive English while students begin their academic studies. The graduate programs will begin in fall 2024, when KU education faculty will begin teaching at ZJNU in four-week blocks.

Specializing in teacher education, ZJNU is in Jinhua, a city of 7 million people in eastern China, and has about 28,500 students. Both KU and ZJNU are leaders in teacher education in their respective countries. The program will allow ZJNU students to earn a degree from an American institution and work with American faculty without having to leave China.

KU envisions having as many as 90 students in the undergraduate program at any given time, 30 students in the special education program, 70 in the curriculum and instruction program, and 140 in the educational psychology and research program.

Years in the making, the joint institute builds off a long-standing relationship between KU and ZJNU that includes active, cooperative education agreements and programs for student and faculty exchanges. For example, in December 2019, International Short Programs welcomed 29 mid-career and senior professors from ZJNU for a six-month professional development program.

“I am thrilled to see this partnership flourish, leading to new opportunities to create an informed and educated citizenry through educational collaboration. Through faculty mobility, KU and ZJNU have developed a strong bond, deep trust and mutual respect for each other,” Bankart said.