Bryant Answers Critical Need to Address China as a Global Force

SMITHFIELD, R.I., Sept. 25, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Bryant University has welcomed its historic first entering class of 160 Chinese students at Bryant Zhuhai, located in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, China. Bryant has created this unique program with Beijing Institute of Technology Zhuhai (BITZH) to educate both Chinese and U.S. students. The new four-year undergraduate program will prepare Bryant students with the global perspective that is essential for success in today's international business world. 

The academic program in Zhuhai has been designed to mirror Bryant's nationally recognized curriculum vigor and quality of faculty and will be taught in English. The graduating students will receive a Bryant University degree. David Lux, Ph.D., formerly Dean at Bryant's Smithfield campus, has been appointed as the Academic Dean for Bryant Zhuhai. Lux will oversee a full complement of predominantly United States faculty, augmented by several Chinese faculty members. The school will also allow Chinese students the opportunity to study at Bryant University in Rhode Island.

Bryant Zhuhai is the first private joint program where both institutions are privately run. In opening the new academic school, Bryant becomes the first and only American university with a presence in Zhuhai, the first university to establish a partnership with a private institution in China, and the only U.S.-China joint four-year undergraduate business degree program in China.

"China has been a cornerstone of our international strategy," says Bryant University President Ronald K. Machtley.  For more than a decade Bryant has advanced forward-looking education initiatives between China and the U.S. Under the leadership of Vice President for International Affairs Hong Yang, Ph. D., since 2005 the U.S.-China Institute and the Confucius Institute located at Bryant have been leaders in the development of education and cultural programs between China and the United States. Global engagement is a cornerstone of Bryant's strategic plan, Vision 20/20: Expanding the World of Opportunity.

The students in Bryant Zhuhai's entering class of 2015 were selected from among the top 20 percent of all Chinese students taking the Chinese college entrance exam.

Classroom facilities are currently located on the campus of Beijing Institute of Technology Zhuhai (BITZH). On the approximately 800 acres of BITZH campus land, Bryant Zhuhai within three years will develop and build the full campus of Bryant Zhuhai, where ground was recently broken for a new 107,000-square-foot facility, the first phase of which is scheduled to open this May.

A leader in international education, Bryant's decision to establish China as a priority of its international strategy began in 2005. The U.S.-China Institute at Bryant has forged academic, business and cultural partnerships that have provided students and faculty with broad global experiences. The University is also home to a successful Confucius Institute that has educated Bryant students and those in the neighboring high schools in both Mandarin language and Chinese culture. More than 300 Bryant students, faculty and staff have visited China through the Sophomore International Experience since that program was created at Bryant in 2007. 

Bryant Zhuhai's official Convocation will take place on September 29^th in Zhuhai. Bryant University President Machtley, Vice President for International Affairs Hong Yang, Trustee David Weinstein, who has chaired the Board China Committee and other officials from the university will attend. They will be accompanied by Jorge O. Elorza, Mayor of Providence, Rhode Island, who will continue discussions with officials of the Zhuhai Municipal City regarding a Cooperation and Friendship Agreement that will lead to the two as sister cities, dedicated to exploring cultural and economic opportunities for cooperation.

Bryant University in Smithfield, R.I. is a leading private university offering an innovative and uniquely integrated business and liberal arts education. Founded in 1863, Bryant University has approximately 3,700 graduate and undergraduate students from 32 states and 66 countries. Bryant University is recognized as a leader in international education and regularly receives top rankings from U.S. News and World Report, Bloomberg Businessweek, Forbes, and Barron's.  Visit www.Bryant.edu.   

Contact: Ariella Steinreich
Steinreich Communications
201-498-1600
[email protected]

SOURCE Bryant University

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