First Students Enroll in Anqing Exchange Program

SALISBURY, MD---In fall 2010, juniors Blake Lovelace and Daniel McElwain became the first Salisbury University students to study in China as part of a new semester-long Salisbury Abroad program at Anqing Teachers College.  In turn, seniors Zhou Qian and Gao Xuan, and graduate student Wang Yang, were the first Chinese students to come to SU from Anqing.

“I’ll admit, I was very nervous to visit a foreign land prior to my arrival in China,” Lovelace said.  “But I was greeted with open arms by the students and teachers of Anqing Teachers College and by the surrounding community as a whole.”  A sociology and medical technology major from Capitol Heights, MD, he said he has acclimated well to the cultural and geographic differences. 

Both students are studying intensive Chinese language and taking courses in English on Chinese culture and civilization.

“Over the semester we’ve become familiar with living in China, attending the school, and traveling around Anqing itself, including getting food at the ‘canteen’ or one of the dine-ins and taking the bus downtown and going shopping,” McElwain said.  An international studies major from Easton, MD, he is one of three SU students who earned prestigious Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarships for study abroad for the fall semester. 

Yang, who goes by Sherry, came to SU to study through the English Language Institute, which just opened this fall to provide instruction to non-native speakers.  “I want to get my master’s degree in education with a track in early childhood education,” she said. 

The sister institution partnership between SU and Anqing Teachers College is the result of multiple delegation visits between the two campuses.  SU Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs Diane Allen and Anqing Vice President Zhang Qun officially signed a memorandum of agreement this summer.  SU faculty from the departments of education specialties, social work and finance visited ATC during fall 2010. 

“These new semester-long opportunities for international exchange for both students and faculty mark a deeper commitment to the globalization of the SU learning experience,” said Dr. Brian Stiegler, director of SU’s Center for International Education. 

In addition to China, SU began a semester-long Salisbury Abroad program in Ecuador in fall 2009 and Estonia in fall 2010.  A program is planned for Spain starting spring 2011.

For more information call 410-543-6030 or visit the SU Web site at www.salisbury.edu.