Tuesday, June, 12th, 2018 Campus Engagement
A committee has been formed under the auspices of the Provost and the Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences to review and assess the operation of the Confucius Institute (CI) at Tufts. The Committee will provide recommendations concerning the status of the Confucius Institute at Tufts—including the renewal of Tufts’ Memoranda of Understanding with Hanban/CI Headquarters and with Beijing Normal University (BNU), which are scheduled to expire in June 2019. The Committee will deliver its recommendations to the Interim Provost, Deborah Kochevar, and to Dean of Arts and Sciences Jim Glaser by November 20, 2018.
Background on Tufts’ Confucius Institute:
The Confucius Institute (CI) at Tufts University is a non-profit educational collaboration between Tufts and Beijing Normal University (BNU). CI is funded by Hanban/CI Headquarters, the Chinese National Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language, and is hosted by Tufts, with BNU as Tufts’ Chinese university partner. It has a Board of Directors, with 5 Tufts-appointed members and 4 from BNU, who approve the development program, annual plans, budget proposals and financial accounts. The Chair of the Board is from Tufts, as is the CI Director (Prof. Mingquan Wang), and there is a Chinese Institute Director appointed by BNU (and approved by Tufts). Tufts’ MOUs with Hanban/CI Headquarters and with BNU can be found here.
According to Tufts’ MOUs with the BNU and Confucius Institute Headquarters, the scope of Tufts’ CI activities includes:
Mandate of the Review Committee:
The Committee will provide an assessment and recommendations to the Provost and the Dean concerning the future of the Confucius Institute, specifically:
In developing the assessment and recommendations, the Committee will consider:
The Committee will submit a report summarizing its findings and recommendations to to the Provost and the Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences by November 30, 2018. The Committee welcomes questions and comments by contacting reviewcommittee@tufts.edu.
Review Committee Members:
Joe Auner, Dean of Academic Affairs for Arts & Sciences
Diana Chigas, Senior International Officer & Associate Provost, Chair
Executive Associate Dean of Arts & Sciences (TBA, currently Jim Hurley)
Charles Inouye, Professor, International Literary & Cultural Studies, A&S
Mary Jeka, Senior Vice President of University Relations and General Counsel
Man Xu, Professor of History, A&S
Xueping Zhong, Department of Literary and Cultural Studies and Director, Chinese Program, A&S