News

Cogswell Polytechnical Sets Up Programs for Chinese Students

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 08/31/09

Cogswell Polytechnical College, a small technical school in Sunnyvale, CA, will be trading students and faculty with Communication University of China (CUC), a large university in Beijing. The deal was brokered by a Cogswell trustee, Gareth Chang, who runs investment and tech firms and also holds an adjunct professorship at Communication U. CUC is one of the institutions named to China's "Project 211," an effort by the State Ministry of Education in China to raise the scientific and technology standards of higher education in the country.

"I am looking forward to this partnership with CUC and the opportunity to build closer ties to the leading academic institution in the digital media fields in China," said Cogswell President Chester Haskell, "This is a truly global industry and students from both institutions will benefit from exposure to each other."

"CUC warmly welcomes the collaboration with top educational institutions like Cogswell all around the world," said Su Zhiwu, CUC president. "The Animation School of CUC acts as a role model in the fields of animation and digital media education in China. I believe our cooperation will go smoothly due to the professional faculties and facilities of our two institutions. Also, the students and our two institutions will benefit a lot from the further partnership."

The institutions have developed three different programs in which CUC students will participate. In one program, CUC students with sufficient English language skills, appropriate GPA, and faculty recommendations will transfer to Cogswell during their final two years of study at the undergraduate level. While at Cogswell they'll follow an agreed-upon curriculum that will lead to students receiving a degree from both institutions. The first students to participate in this program are expected to arrive at Cogswell in Fall 2011.

Advanced undergraduate students may also be able to take three years of study at CUC and one at Cogswell. At the end of the program students will receive a degree from CUC. One of the highlights of the program is the opportunity to participate in professionally oriented studio projects at Cogswell. An initial group of five students has arrived and will be studying at Cogswell through May 2010.

In the third program CUC students will take a specially-designed, intensive curriculum during the summer term at Cogswell. The agreement also provides an opportunity for faculty from both Cogswell and CUC to teach and conduct research at the other institution.

Cogswell, which has about 260 students, offers bachelor degree programs in digital art and animation, digital audio technology, digital arts engineering, computer engineering, and software engineering. Communication U has about 15,000 students.