MC Signs Partnership with Central China Normal University

Pictured are MC Global Education Director Mei-Chi Piletz, Jenie Zhang, an instructor at the university in China, MC Vice President for Academic Affairs Ron Howard and his wife, Kathy, both of Clinton, and Ken Qiu, a global education staff member from Clinton. This summer for two weeks 17 students from the school in China are studying at the Christian university in Clinton.

Mississippi College welcomed 16 students and one instructor from Central China Normal University for two weeks of intensive English classes on the Clinton campus.

Besides seeing some of the cultural attractions, enjoying the food and making new friends in the Magnolia State starting in late July, the contingent from the institution in Wuhan, capital of the Hubei Province will also visit New York City and Los Angeles. They are staying in the USA for one month.

“We’ve put a lot of effort into making this happen,” says Mei-Chi Piletz, director of the MC Office of Global Education.

The international summer camp on the Clinton campus isn’t just open to China. Nations around the world can send their students to MC for intensive English classes for summers to come.

Mississippi College leaders, including Piletz, and Vice President for Academic Affairs Ron Howard plus other global education staffers welcomed the group at a dinner Sunday July 21 on the Clinton campus.

MC officials signed the memo of understanding with Central China Normal University in January 2012. This is the first wave of summer camps for international students. Mississippi College will send some of its students to study at the institution in East Asia in future years. At least one MC student has already received a graduate degree from the school in Wuhan.

Mississippi College leaders have penned similar partnerships with other universities in China and France and with the higher education ministry in Saudi Arabia.

A native of Taiwan, Piletz has served as director of global education at Mississippi College since October 1, 2012 after 17 years of higher education experience at Jackson State University. The Christian university is home to more than 200 international students, with the vast majority coming from China.

Founded in 1903, Central China Normal University is among the first institutions of higher learning in China to offer doctoral and postgraduate degrees. The university has signed cooperative academic agreements with over 70 nations, including the United States, Germany, Japan, Russia, Australia and New Zealand.

For more information, contact Mei-Chi Piletz at 601.925.7635.