Interim Dean of Letters, Arts and Sciences Ken Keller has returned from two weeks in China with greater insight into that country and an enhanced appreciation for Metro State and its role in this society.

A cultural anthropologist who has taught at Metro State for 23 years, Keller spent two weeks as a guest lecturer at Guangxi Normal University in Guilin, China. His visit was part of an exchange program organized by New England University.

“I had been trying to get to China for years,” Keller said. “As an anthropologist specializing in Southeast Asia, I had a personal interest. I also went hoping to develop an exchange program between Metro and China.”

China has an enormous need for English-speaking teachers, Keller said. Chinese children typically begin studying English in the second or third grade and continue through college.

“They have a very good grasp of reading and writing English, but because travel is so limited, there are not a lot of English speakers and their conversational skills are very poor,” Keller said.

Keller originally planned to present eight two-hour lectures on cultural anthropology, but when his hosts learned of his administrative background, they asked him to speak about higher education in the United States and his observations of their system.

Keller said the differences couldn’t be more striking. Chinese students take an exam in middle school that determines if they qualify for college or are more suited for vocational training. University spots are limited, so high school and college students are motivated to learn and perform.

Metro State’s mission to serve nontraditional students is difficult for the Chinese to comprehend, Keller said. “At Metro, we focus on retention and worry about enrollment. Over there, because of the population and resources, that’s not a concern.”

Metro State’s integration with its community also was alien to the Chinese. “There is no sense of community service,” he said. “There’s no understanding that a university can have a major economic impact on a community.”

Keller said some faculty members already have voiced interest in teaching in China, and he hopes to facilitate bringing a Chinese professor to Metro State in the spring or fall of 2006.