China Turfgrass Program Graduates Highly Employable
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EmailIn 2003, MSU signed agreements with four Chinese universities leading to joint bachelor of science degrees being granted to Chinese students from both MSU and their home Chinese universities.
Summary:
MSU-China Turfgrass Joint B.S. Degree Program (a.k.a. MSU China Turf Program)
Background
In 2003, MSU signed agreements with four Chinese universities leading to joint B.S. degrees being granted to Chinese students from both MSU and their home Chinese universities. The four Chinese universities are Beijing Forestry University (BFU), Sichuan Agricultural University (SAU), Northeast Agricultural University (NEAU), and Suzhou Polytechnic Institute of Agriculture (SPIA).
The Program
Students first enroll in one of the cooperating universities for one year of intensive English, followed by two years of undergraduate study. Students then apply to MSU and, if their TOEFL and academic scores qualify, they are accepted into MSU as transfer students. For their junior year, students remain in China, and MSU sends 14-16 professors each year to teach MSU courses to program students who all congregate at one of the Chinese universities. During Fall of their senior year, students come to the U.S. and are placed in supervised internships at golf courses or in research laboratories around the country. The following Spring semester, students return to China, where they take their remaining MSU courses, and then graduate in a ceremony conducted by MSU in Beijing, China.
Over the past six years, students obtained valuable internship experiences from numerous prestigious golf courses in Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon and Wisconsin.
At the beginning of the program, five Chinese professors spent two semesters each studying at MSU in order to teach required MSU courses in China, in English. Currently, three of those professors remain involved in teaching in the program two at BFU and one at SAU.
Successes
To date, six cohorts of students have completed the program, totaling 303 students. Another 51 will graduate Spring 2014, bringing the total number of graduates to 354. Gainful Employment - Placement Rate: 85 percent of graduates of the program are employed in the field (China) while the remaining 15 percent pursue graduate studies.
For More Information
Yusong Mu (ymu@msu.edu )
Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences
Plant and Soil Sciences Building
1066 Bogue Street, Room 266
East Lansing, MI 48824-1325
phone: (517) 355-0271 x1161
