Around Campus
Partnerships continued from page 5
Turkey, Aligarh Muslim University in India, and Winchester University in the United Kingdom, approved just last year. A delegation of university officials led by President David C. Sweet gave YSU’s partnerships with the Beijing and Lunghwa universities a boost when they toured the region in 2007. The group focused its visit on the Asia Pacific region because of its growing economic and political influence in the global marketplace. Florence Wang, a native of Taiwan who lives in Youngstown and a longtime leader in the university’s effort to build global relationships, was part of that YSU delegation. She said university partnerships are an increasingly effective tool for building YSU’s credibility in other countries. “Parents like it. They feel safer sending their students here when we have a partnership with their university at home,” Wang said. “Many parents in China and Taiwan still hope their student can get into an Ivy League school. Our pitch is that YSU has the same things: good education, a safe campus, and the culture you find in a big city – the ballet and the theater and the symphony.” University partnerships have cleared the way for several YSU professors to change places with professors at Lunghwa over the past three years, and YSU has been successful in attracting students from both BTBU and Lunghwa to spend a semester or two on campus. Ten students, five from Beijing and five from Taipei, are enrolled this year. Sending YSU students overseas has been more difficult, however, said Annette El-Hayek, YSU’s international programs coordinator. “Study abroad on a student’s resume really makes them stand out in a crowd, and it’s not just for language majors,” she says, adding that she recommends study in China because the cost of living is much lower there than in
This image of the Great Wall of China was photographed by students on a study tour of China last summer. YSU and William Paterson University co-sponsored the tour.
English-speaking countries such as Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. But language can be an obstacle. Even though Chinese begin learning English at an early age, they usually need additional help with the language when they come to YSU. The language challenge is even greater for American students going to China, El-Hayek noted. Few know Chinese, so most require that anything other than Chinese language courses must be taught in English. This semester YSU sent its first two students to BTBU, which offers more than 50 courses taught in English; Lunghwa offers fewer courses in English, but YSU expects to send at least two students there in the fall. Intensive Chinese language courses are available at both institutions. El-Hayek said YSU is getting proactive about the language issue by offering two campus initiatives – a twosemester Chinese language course and a summer English language camp. Barbara Nykiel-Herbert, assistant English professor, and Cynthia Vigliotti, English instructor, have been coordinators of the three-week Summer English Language Camp for students from Lunghwa since the summer of 2007. An English Department initiative, the camp is held on the YSU campus and offers students from Taiwan opportunities to improve their English language skills through class sessions taught by YSU English majors and through field trips and activities in the community. The camp also provides the student instructors some practical training for careers in teaching English as a second language. Shelly Xiaoli Zhu, an electronic services librarian at YSU’s Maag Library and a native of Beijing, is in her second year of teaching a two-semester Chinese language course on campus. She teaches Putonghua, the standard Mandarin dialect used in Chinese television, radio and government communications, and most of her students have a desire to travel, study or do business in China. Graduate student Tony Angnardo signed up for Zhu’s class after taking a three-week study tour across China co-sponsored by YSU and William Paterson University last summer. A non-traditional student and finance major from Warren, he said the trip convinced him of the importance of learning the language. “In China, relationships are built over time rather than just finding a link on a search engine and clicking away,” Angnardo said. “I got the sense that taking the time to learn their history and their language would show them that a long-term relationship was sought, not just a single transaction.” Zhu requires that her students learn to speak, read and write Chinese because she believes studying the language is the best way to understand the Chinese people. “China is such a big market, there are many opportunities there,” she said. “Learning the language is the best way to be ready to take advantage of the opportunities.” Stories by Cynthia Vinarsky
Photo
Gallery
6
Youngstown State University
ysumagazine.org
Around C
A
M
P
U
S
YSU Campus and Beyond YSU Slashes Out-Of-State Surcharge For Students in Western Pennsylvania
The cost to attend YSU will be drastically reduced for residents of Western Pennsylvania under a new initiative announced in January. The “Western Pennsylvania Advantage” makes YSU, its quality programs and faculty more accessible and affordable to residents in eight Western Pennsylvania counties: Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Crawford, Erie, Lawrence, Mercer and Venango. The initiative, which starts in fall semester 2009, slashes the out-of-state surcharge that residents in those eight counties currently pay. The result is a tuition reduction of nearly $2,500 a year. “This plan will put YSU’s tuition at or below those at other universities in Western Pennsylvania, giving students and their parents more options when considering their educational needs,” YSU President David C. Sweet said. “We also believe that this initiative will further help connect Northeast Ohio and Western Pennsylvania, advancing the educational, cultural and technological future of the entire region.” For more information, contact the YSU Office of Undergraduate Admissions at 330-941-2000 or visit the YSU “Western Pennsylvania Advantage” Web site at www.wpa.ysu.edu.
YSU alumnus John Allen Scott, ’71, president and chief operating officer of Parsons Corp., was awarded an honorary doctor of science degree at YSU’s fall commencement Dec. 14. Scott, of Arcadia, Calif., earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from YSU and a master’s in industrial engineering from Texas A&M University. A member of the YSU President’s Council and the YSU Centennial Capital Campaign, he is a recognized expert in the technologies and processes for the destruction of the world’s stockpile of chemical and biological agents and weapons.
Master’s in Art Education Program Added
Since earning a bachelor’s degree in art at YSU in 1978, Janie Morris has had her heart set on getting a master’s degree. “I have literally been waiting 30 years,” she said. With YSU’s new master’s degree in art education, the wait is over. Morris, an art teacher at Liberty High School, is among eight students enrolled in the new master’s program, which won the approval of the Ohio Board of Regents last summer and was started at YSU this past fall semester. Samuel Adu-Poku, program director and assistant professor of art, said a significant need exists for the program in the Mahoning Valley. “In the first 10 years of employment, art teachers in Ohio need to have 30 credits or a master’s [degree],” he said. “Now, they can hone their skills and keep their jobs, and they don’t have to go all the way to Kent State Samuel Adu-Poku University to satisfy the state requirements.”
Jambar Archives Now Available Online
Locating a particular print edition of any newspaper from the 1930s can be an arduous task. Now, readers and researchers of YSU’s student newspaper, The Jambar, can forget about leafing through all those discolored, brittle pages. Thanks to Salvador Barragan, head of archives and special collections, and Maag Library’s archives department, all 3,240 editions of The Jambar dating back to 1931, comprising thousands upon thousands of news pages, are now available online. “I’m a big believer in digitizing, and we get so many inquiries for old newspaper articles, this will make our research faster,” Barragan said. “We have alumni worldwide who request these papers. Now they’re available permanently online, and they’re accessible all over the world.” Digitizing the student newspapers cost about $14,000 and took four months to complete. Electronic versions of The Jambar newspaper archive are available on the Maag Library Web site by choosing the Collections tab, then Archives and Special Salvador Barragan, head of university archives and special collections, with aging Collections and then copies of YSU's student newspaper, The Digital Collections. Jambar, that have now been digitized.
Winter 2009
7