A group of delegates from Yunnan Radio and Television University (YNRTVU) in Kunming, China, are visiting campus this week, furthering a partnership with Metro State that was formalized in May of this year.

During their first visit to Metro State, members of the Chinese delegation toured the Campus.

The May trip to China, undertaken by President Stephen Jordan and seven faculty and staff members, resulted in a signed agreement formalizing the sister school relationship between Metro State and YNRTVU, committing both colleges to encourage and support faculty and student exchanges and other forms of cooperation. Kunming has also been Denver's sister city since 1985.

"This is the next step in the partnership we formalized in May," says Betsy Zeller, director of the Office of Global Initiatives, who went to Kunming with the Jordan-led trip in May.

Thursday's visit to campus includes a packed agenda for the Chinese guests, including discussions of four projects underway as part of the partnership. The projects under discussion include:

• Modern China, a four-week study-abroad course on modern Chinese history and culture, consisting of two weeks in Denver and two weeks in Kunming. The proposed course would be offered in May and June 2008 and taught by Associate Professor of History Tian Xiaosheng, a native of China, and History Professor Dolph Grundman, who has lectured in China.
• An international documentary film to be developed jointly by Metro State and YNRTVU students as part of the senior-level photojournalism class, Social Documentary. Students will attend class and shoot footage in Denver and Kunming. The proposed course would be offered in June and July 2008 and would be taught by Kenn Bisio, assistant professor of journalism, and Lisa Ortiz, assistant professor of technical communication and media production.
• A short-term (one-to-two-week) faculty exchange program in which Assistant Professor and Director of Hospitality Entrepreneurship Ray Moroye and a faculty member from YNTVRU will travel to each other's institutions to lecture and share expertise, culminating in a jointly written journal article about the exchange.
• A longer-term (one-year) faculty exchange in which one faculty member from Metro State and one from YNRTVU will travel to the other institution to teach a course in their respective native language, and provide some teacher training and lectures on literature in their native language.

The visit also includes a campus tour and a western barbecue luncheon. During the luncheon a representative from Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper's office will present a proclamation declaring Nov. 29 to be Yunnan Radio and TV University Day in Denver.

During their trip to the United States, the Yunnan officials will also visit California State University-Dominguez Hills and sightseeing in Washington, DC and New York.

"When we visited them in Kunming, they were the most gracious hosts I've ever experienced," said Zeller. "From greeting us at the airport to hosting a wonderful banquet in our honor and taking us sightseeing, they treated us extremely well. I only hope we can reciprocate at least a bit of their generosity."

To read more about the Metro State visit to Kunming, go to http://www.mscd.edu/~collcom/artman/publish/china_twv4060607.shtml . Or you can go to http://triptochinapresident.blogspot.com/ to read travelers' blogs of the trip.