University of the PACIFIC

Twenty-five officials from top universities and central government agencies in China will visit University of the Pacific at the end of this month to see examples of teaching, research and economic development being practiced in higher education in the United States. A delegation from the Advanced Leadership Program for University Presidents of China will visit Pacific during the week of Nov. 29 through Dec. 5 then visit the University of Minnesota to learn how a publicly funded university operates.

While on the Pacific campus, the visitors will observe classes, talk to faculty, staff and students, visit labs and participate in several group discussions with faculty and administrators. Topics they are interested in include faculty recruitment and development, university fundraising, quality assurance in the classroom and how the university works with local and regional businesses.

"We were honored to be selected to represent private universities in the United States," said Phil Gilbertson, provost at Pacific. "We hope that during their visit, we will be able to learn from each other and find ways to improve higher education practices in both countries."

The Advanced Leadership group visit starts in San Francisco with a dinner reception at the Chinese consulate on Nov. 27 and tours of Stanford University and the City of San Jose on Nov. 28. From Nov. 29 through Dec. 3, they will be on Pacific's Stockton campus, with an afternoon trip to the Pacific McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento on Dec. 2. On Dec. 3 and 4, the visitors will tour the University of California at Berkeley and San Jose State University campuses. They fly to Minnesota on Dec. 5.

Pacific was selected from among several dozen universities that asked to be considered for the visit. Pacific was chosen, according to correspondence from the Chinese group, because it is "recognized as one of the most distinctive, student-centered national universities in the United States." Provost Gilbertson has recently made three visits to China to confer with universities in several cities.

The Advanced Leadership Program sends a delegation to the United States annually, but this is their first visit to Pacific.