Among the many academic relationships Dalhousie has with universities in China, one of the more significant is that between the Faculty of Agriculture and Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University (FAFU).
For the past 10 years, the two schools have had an incredibly successful 2+2 Bachelor of Science (Agriculture) program, in which graduates earn a Canadian bachelor’s degree and a Chinese degree accredited by the Chinese Ministry of Education.
“Students graduate from this international experience with proof of cross-cultural competence and have the opportunity to work in Canada for at least two years after graduation,” exaplins David Gray, dean, Faculty of Agriculture and principal, Dalhousie Agricultural Campus. “Over the last 10 successful years, graduates of the FAFU-Dalhousie Faculty of Agriculture program have secured highly competitive graduate study positions and high quality jobs in both Canada and China.”
This week, Zonghua Wang, vice-president international of FAFU, spent two days in Nova Scotia visiting Dalhousie campuses in both Truro and Halifax. He met with students from China as well as senior Dal leaders.
Zonghua Wang (centre) meets with Dal President Richard Florizone and Dean of Agriculture David Gray in Halifax. (Danny Abriel photo)
Building on the schools’ history of academic cooperation, Dalhousie is working to collaborate further in the delivery of Dalhousie’s Bachelor of Technology in Landscape Architecture and FAFU’s Bachelor of Engineering in Landscape Architecture, and in the delivery of Dalhousie’s Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Economics and FAFU’s Bachelor of Economics in International Economy and Trade.
“This collaboration will enhance cooperation in professional exchange, student mobility and research cooperation between the two universities and further contribute to academic and research cooperation in these disciplines between China and Canada,” says Associate Dean Academic Claude Caldwell, Faculty of Agriculture.
The proposed expansion of the current collaboration between the two institutions is with a 3+1 agreement: the first three years of the Dalhousie programs will be delivered at FAFU and the final year in Truro. Students who successfully complete both a Dalhousie program and the corresponding FAFU program will be granted the appropriate degree from each institution.