The Confucius Institute at Texas A&M is a partnership between the university, the Ministry of Education in China and the Ocean University of China. Since its inception in September 2007, the Institute has worked on a number of initiatives to enhance Chinese language and culture education in both Texas A&M and the State of Texas, including the participation of the George Bush China-U.S. Relations Conference in Washington D.C. in October 2007, the first Brazos Valley Worldfest and the “China Today” teachers workshop for K-12 teachers in Texas in November 2007.

Globalization of the A&M campus-at-large is a key emphasis of Vision 2020, Texas A&M’s roadmap for becoming a top-10 public university by the year 2020. As part of this effort, President Murano has expressed a desire to increase the participation of Texas A&M students in international educational experiences.

“We are indeed living in a global society today. As China is taking an increasingly influential role in world politics and economics, it is crucial for us to prepare our students for interaction in the fields of politics, culture, economics, business, and education,” said President Murano. “Through the Confucius Institute and our strengthened partnership with the Ocean University of China, we have opened up a new door for student and faculty exchange opportunities.”

This summer, nine students from A&M will be participating in a faculty-led study abroad trip to China. They will spend 10 weeks in Qingdao to study Chinese language and international communication, take excursions to Qufu, the birthplace of Confucius, Beijing, Xi’an and Hong Kong, and work in various international companies as interns.
Another key function of the Institute is to promote Chinese language learning both at the university and in communities across Texas.

Dr. Randy Kluver, Director of the Institute for Pacific Asia in International Programs Office, is serving as the Founding Director of Texas A&M’s Confucius Institute.

“Learning Chinese as a second language has been a global trend in the last few years,” Kluver said. “In U.S. schools, the number of students learning Mandarin jumped from an estimated 5,000 to 50,000, a tenfold increase, between 2000 and 2005. The Ministry of Education in China predicts that there will be 100 million individuals around the world studying Mandarin as a second language by 2010.”

Named after the famous Chinese philosopher and educator, the Confucius Institute is a program funded by the Ministry of Education of China to promote understanding of Chinese language and culture. The first Confucius Institute was established in November 2004 in Seoul, Korea.

“I’m pleased to say that in less than four years, we’ve witnessed tremendous growth. There are currently 226 Confucius Institutes in 66 countries in the world,” said Consul General Qiao. “The Ministry of Education in China and the Consulate are committed to helping Confucius Institute at Texas A&M University to promote Chinese language and culture, and, ultimately, U.S.-China relations.”

Within Texas A&M’s Confucius Institute, a number of academic and administrative units have joined together to collaborate. The College of Liberal Arts, the College of Education and Human Development, the Institute for Pacific Asia, and the Office of International Outreach worked together to develop the proposal, and representatives from each of the colleges and the International Programs Office traveled to Beijing in January to present the proposal to the Ministry of Education.

Along with academic activities, the Confucius Institute at TAMU plans to sponsor and organize cultural and outreach events on campus. The agreement with the Ministry of Education provides support for additional Chinese language instruction, instructional materials such as Chinese language books and DVDs, and access to a network of institutions worldwide committed to preparing their students for engagement with China in the future. One key factor the Confucius Institute will explore is how to involve teachers, K-12 students and communities in understanding the Chinese culture.

More information regarding the Institute is available at http://confucius.tamu.edu.

Partners Within Texas A&M University

Institute for Pacific Asia (IPA)

IPA serves as a strategic center for long term planning of Asian initiatives and focus, including overseeing initiatives in China, India, and other Asian nations. IPA also maintains meaningful relationships with partner and potential partner institutions through hosting delegations and organizing trips abroad for Texas A&M faculty, students, and administrators, as well as working with Aggies who live in Asia.

The Office of International Outreach (OIO)

College of Liberal Arts

Currently, the College of Liberal Arts has significant research agendas related to China, including a General Social Survey conducted annually in China, and the development of an online archive of empirical data on Chinese society. In addition, the College has recently initiated a new academic minor in Asian studies, and is offering annual study abroad trips to China.

College of Education and Human Development

The college maintains a statewide outreach program through the 20 Education Service Centers located throughout the state, as well as ongoing programs to alumni and other teachers in Texas. It has strong partnerships with many of the largest school districts in the state, including the Houston Independent School District. The Center for Distance Learning Research has a mission of transforming education by developing distance education applications, by supporting research & evaluation, and by providing timely and appropriate professional development, technical assistance and consultation. The Center’s services would provide a tremendous ability to develop innovative and unique Distance learning approaches to fulfilling the mission of the Confucius Institute at Texas A&M University.

Community Advisory Board
for the Confucius Institute at Texas A&M University

The charge to the Advisory Board is to enhance the outreach and effectiveness of the Texas A&M University Confucius Institute by advising the Director and management committee of the Confucius Institute. The board will provide feedback on the mission, goals, and direction of the Confucius Institute. The ultimate vision is to create, maintain and continually improve a high-quality program that succeeds in establishing the Texas A&M Confucius Institute as a critical resource for the citizens of the state of Texas in interaction with China. Specifically, Advisory Board members will:

·Serve as liaisons with community groups, non-governmental organizations, and governmental bodies;