Hamilton College President Eugene M. Tobin will depart from Hancock International Airport on Saturday, June 17, as a part of a nine-member delegation of U.S. educational leaders to the People's Republic of China and Hong Kong.
The two-week trip, which includes stops in Beijing, Xi'an, Chengdu and Hong Kong, is being coordinated by the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, with sponsorship by The Henry Luce Foundation.
The delegation will meet with university presidents and government officials responsible for higher education and educational reform in China. Meetings with college faculty and students are also planned.
Tobin said Chinese higher education is undergoing momentous change brought on by a move toward privatization. Members of the delegation, therefore, will be prepared to discuss issues of attracting and retaining students, curricular concerns, career counseling functions, building endowments, and the value of a broad-based education in the face of pressures brought on by students' vocational interests. The visit also will form the basis for discussion about potential exchange programs.
Including Tobin, the delegation includes Thomas Cole, president of Clark Atlanta University; Shirley Laska, vice chancellor for research at the University of New Orleans; Terrill Lautz, vice president and secretary of The Henry Luce Foundation; Kathryn Mohrman, president of Colorado College; Louis M. Ricci, president of Erie Community College; Henry Riggs, president of Harvey Mudd College; Charles E. Stikes, president of Bunker Hill Community College; and Barbara Turlington, director of the Office of International Education at the American Council on Education.
