Crow serves as host for major U.S. China forum

As the People’s Republic of China looks to build its universities into world-class teaching and research institutions, it is seeking advice from innovative public university leaders in the United States, guided by Arizona State University President Michael Crow.

Crow served as co-host with Sichuan University President Xie Heping the first China-U.S. Forum on University Design June 1-2. This first roundtable of public university leaders focused on the role of higher education in the 21st Century. The theme covered “social embeddedness and regional economic development,” and took place at Sichuan University in Chengdu, China, Phoenix’s "sister city.”

Vice Minister Wu Qidi of the Chinese Ministry of Education led the meeting, with more than forty Chinese university leaders as well as officials for the Ministry of Education, the leadership of Sichuan Province, and Mayor of Chengdu Ge Honglin attending.

In addition to Crow, presidents and senior administrators from the University of Idaho, Ohio State University, SUNY Albany, University of Utah, Colorado State University-Pueblo, Louisiana State University, University of California and Michigan State University led and participated in sessions on university design for the 21st century.

Crow gave an overview of the role of universities in societal transformation and the knowledge economy over the past 30, years and discussed the design imperatives of the New American University. He also chaired a session on the role of the social sciences in the New American University.

The vision of Crow’s New American University model is to create institutions that are both academically rigorous and broadly inclusive, serve the needs of all segments of society, take responsibility for the social, cultural and environmental health of the communities they serve, and are players in regional economic development.

Several other ASU administrators participated in the forum, including Rob Melnick, vice president for economic affairs, Jim Buizer, executive director of sustainability initiatives and special advisor to the president, Zhiyong Lan, professor of public affairs; and Mariko Silver, director of strategic projects and special assistant to the president.

According to President Crow, the idea for the roundtable grew out of meetings between Crow and Wu Qidi, vice-minister of China’s Ministry of Education.

"Chinese universities are facing challenges of immense scale and scope, while seeking to ensure that they are driving China’s knowledge economy,” Crow said, “Vice Minister Wu was intrigued by our New American University model and sees value in understanding the changing U.S. approach to public higher education. There is a lot we can learn from each other—we need to think together about these issues. We see this forum as a great opportunity to build shared knowledge and a tangible network, so it was imperative that we engage a number of America’s most innovative public university leaders.”

ASU and China are partnering on several successful initiatives, including the W.P. Carey EMBA programs in Shanghai and Beijing, the ASU Mars Exhibit, which was the centerpiece of China’s National Science and Technology Week, and various training and research initiatives in sustainable development, including a partnership with the China-U.S. Center for Sustainable Development and China’s Ministry of Land and Resources.

The forum touched on many topics, among them: human capital building for emerging industries; use inspired research and technology transfer; the challenges of and opportunities for university high-tech parks; the role of the university in local and regional economic development; and the role of university achievements on social sciences in local and regional economic development.

This initial meeting focused on the production of a book intended to be a “toolkit” for university design. Each U.S. university president, and selected Chinese university presidents participating in the meeting, will write a chapter of this book, which will be published in English and Chinese and distributed internationally.

The book will be the first publication of the Institute of University Design, which is expected to grow out of this initiative. Higher education leaders from the U.S. and China who are participating in the China-US Forum on University Design will serve as charter members.

The institute, whose U.S. headquarters will be housed at ASU, would undertake and publish research on issues of university design in the 21st Century.

Additional images, taken from Chinese news coverage of the event, can be found at http://chengdu.us/presidents/index.html.