Global Connection
Bloch breaks new ground with China Memorandum of understanding opens doors for educational exchange
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UMKC Chancellor Leo Morton and H&R Block co-founder Henry W. Bloch oversee as Lin Yue, deputy director of the JPDE Department of International Cooperation and Exchanges, and Bloch School Dean Teng-Kee Tan sign the agreement for the PDP program.
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BLOCH Magazine
Winter 2011
n Fall 2010, the Bloch School and UMKC administration welcomed Dr. Shen Jian, director general of Jiangsu Provincial Department of Education (JPDE), and a select delegation of personnel from the JPDE to the UMKC Volker campus. The visit focused on the signing of a memorandum of understanding between JPDE and UMKC. The Jiangsu Education Services for International Exchange (JESIE) – a nonprofit organization under the direct leadership of the JPDE, which facilitates educational exchanges – has chosen Kansas City as the site for its first U.S. satellite office. JESIE currently has satellite offices in Canada, the UK and Australia. In China, education reform is a priority. Chinese President Hu Jintao has urged the Chinese people to build a more prosperous society through education, particularly honing students’ sense of responsibility and innovative spirit. The initial signing of the memorandum has opened the door for a continuous strategic initiative between UMKC, the Bloch School and select universities in China. The Bloch School now has several offices in China help to recruit graduate and undergraduate students. In addition, Bloch has helped train Chinese academic leadership through programs like Presidents and Deputy Presidents (PDP), which brought a delegation of university presidents and deputy presidents to the Bloch School to study the liberal arts model. The program will continue with a focus on deans and vice deans. “We are one of the first universities to work with China while they are on the ground floor of change,” Bloch School Dean Teng-Kee Tan said. “Our global initiatives support one of the major tenets of our strategic plan: to expand the Bloch School’s global presence.” “Global perspective is critical because employers now want to hire graduates who have that perspective, who can function in multicultural and diverse teams,” Tan said. “China is the first of a larger global initiative that will include collaboration with institutions across the world.”
Top Photo: UMKC officials and JPDE guests visit the Edgar Snow Reading Room, which archives memorabilia from American journalist Edgar Snow’s life and commemorates the Edgar Snow Symposium, a UMKC tradition. This photo: Cancellor Leo E. Morton presents a customary UMKC gift to JPDE Director General Dr. Shen Jian.
The Henry W. Bloch School of Management
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