Yale to host training program for Chinese university leaders

Yale has been selected as the co-sponsor of China's first University Leadership Program for senior university administrators ever held outside of that country, the Chinese minister of education, Zhou Ji, announced in Beijing on March 22.

In August, the Advanced University Leadership Program will bring together the presidents and chief administrators of approximately seven of China's leading universities for advanced training in the structure, organization and best practices of university administration.

Minister Zhou stated, "China is committed to bringing its major universities to world-class status. Yale University, with its global reputation and its long association with China, was the obvious partner for the Advanced University Leadership Program. Most of the university presidents and vice-presidents have traveled abroad frequently, often to the United States. This will be the first formal training program by the Ministry of Education held outside China. It will be important for our educational leaders to examine and study how Yale and other of the world's foremost universities are structured and administered."

Yale and Chinese ministry officials have agreed that the topics considered will include models for strategic and developmental planning, policies of the transfer of technology from universities, faculty appointment practices, and strategies for strengthening academic departments and schools.

President Richard C. Levin stated, "Yale University is deeply honored to have been selected as the co-sponsor of this major initiative by the Chinese Ministry of Education. The large investment by the Chinese government in its system of higher education is both remarkable and inspiring. We look forward both to sharing best practices and to learning from one another. This is an important opportunity for Yale to deepen our connections to China, where we already have more than 50 different collaborative projects underway in 16 cities."

The program, which will last for two weeks, will be inaugurated this August following the Ministry of Education's International Education Summit, to be held in Beijing.