LINCROFT – An 18-member delegation of directors, deans, and faculty from Zhejiang College of Construction in Hangzhou, China, was welcomed earlier this month to Brookdale Community College’s main campus, here, by new Brookdale president Maureen Murphy.
The group also visited the Freehold campus to specifically witness the Brookdale-Rutgers partnership through which students holding associate degrees can earn a Rutgers degree at the Freehold branch.
The visit to Brookdale focused on the delivery of academic and learning opportunities and how two-year degree programs transfer to four-year degrees. Brookdale professors Edward O’Neill and Mike Qaissaunee discussed Brookdale’s architecture, engineering and technology associate degree programs. A campus tour of the classroom and laboratory facilities followed, led by Dr. Janice M. Thomas, director of Brookdale’s International Education Center.
The Chinese delegation also spent a week at Rutgers University, hosted by Mike Finkelstein, senior adviser for strategic partnerships, International School of Sports Marketing and Business.
Yun Zhou, leader of the delegation, said through an interpreter that their monthlong study tour would provide participants a better understanding of the U.S. higher education system and the relationships between two- and four-year institutions. Zhou is library director and associate professor of library science at Zhejiang College of Construction.
The delegation’s U.S. tour began at Tufts University in Boston, Mass. After visits to Rutgers and Brookdale, the delegation continued on to Philadelphia and Washington D.C. Their tour was to conclude at Washington State University, Bates Technical College, and St. Martin’s University, all in the state of Washington.
