FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Expanding trade and business relationships between the United States and China have opened up new opportunities in electrical engineering education for both countries, according to Neil Schmitt, professor of electrical engineering and interim dean of the College of Engineering the University of Arkansas.

Schmitt traveled to China recently as part of a six-person delegation representing the Education Society of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). Led by Marion Hagler of Mississippi State University, the delegation visited three Chinese universities to assess the state of computer engineering education in China.

"There is a tremendous push toward advancement in China," explained Schmitt. "They realized that they were behind at one point and developed the 211 Program to address that. Now, although they still have weaknesses in some areas, in many ways their computer programs are equal to or more advanced than many of those in the United States."

In the 211 Program, the Chinese government determined to speed up advances in education by focusing resources on 100 universities, which receive additional funding and support. Of these 100 universities, 30 are designated to receive even more support, to become the best of the best.

"Adjusting for population size, it would be as if the United States selected 25 universities on which to focus its support," said Schmitt. "Of course, in China, all universities are public; there are no private institutions."

Schmitt visited three universities that are part of the 211 Program: Beijing Institute of Technology and Tsinghua University in Beijing and Chengdu University of Electronic Science and Technology in Sichuan Province. He found the educational programs to be very similar to those in the United States in terms of content, but things were quite different in the educational process.

Universities are typically much larger in China. Students are admitted into a specific University and study major by national exam. Competition is fierce and changing majors or institutions is difficult to impossible. Retention is not a problem - more than 90 percent of all Chinese engineering students graduate. Like their American counterparts, Chinese engineering students participate in co-operative education programs that give them actual industrial work experience.

"We were surprised to find that Chinese universities are as interested in maintaining relationships with industry as are U.S. universities, and for the same reasons," Schmitt said. "In addition to helping keep their curriculum current, industrial contacts provide a source of funding for individual faculty research projects."

The ratio of faculty to students is much higher in China and a class that might typically have 10-30 students at the University of Arkansas could have 300-400 students in China. Courses are taught by lecture and students do not ask questions of the professor. Classes are not broken into smaller recitation groups for study as is common in many American universities.

"Undergraduate students have very little access to their professors," said Schmitt. "One graduate student was surprised to learn that graduate students in the United States can talk with their major professors daily, if necessary. He indicated that Chinese graduate students might only be able to meet with their major professor once a month."

The delegates met with 10-15 faculty members at each university, in addition to undergraduate and graduate students. They toured laboratories and other facilities, which are at least on par with many in the United States, according to Schmitt. In addition to teaching and computer laboratories, Schmitt points to the fully digital library at Beijing University, which has all of its holdings online for students to access at any time.

"Chinese students appear to have relatively free access to the Internet," Schmitt added. "On several occasions I randomly sat down at a computer and was able to access anything I wanted. There may be some blocking going on, but we didn’t encounter it in technical information."

Many of the Chinese faculty members spoke English and Schmitt believes that the delegation got a fair picture of the state of computer engineering education, including problem areas, such as faculty salaries. The typical assistant professor will start out making U.S. $125/month, while his students will earn U.S. $1000/month when they get their undergraduate degree. However, faculty members can also work as consultants and, once hired, they have a job for life, according to Schmitt.