Duke University plans master’s program in China

A partnership between Duke University and the city of Kunshan, China might provide more educational opportunities for Chinese students, but some faculty have questioned the feasibility of the proposal.

The Duke Board of Trustees approved a master of management studies program last week, which will be offered by Duke’s Fuqua School of Business on the university’s campus in Kunshan.

Laura Brinn, director of global communications at Duke, said Kunshan is a rapidly growing city that wants to transition from a manufacturing to a more knowledge-based economy.

“They want to create a world-class university,” she said. “Establishing a base in Kunshan gives us the opportunity to extend opportunities for faculty and students in China.”

Kevin Anselmo, associate director of public relations for the business school, said students in the program will split time between Duke’s main campus and the one in China.

The university is still working with the Chinese government to obtain approval for the program, and Anselmo said it is unknown when the program will begin.

Brinn said Duke hopes about half of the program’s students will be Chinese, with the other half from the U.S. and other parts of the world. The program will be taught by Duke faculty in its initial stages.

The Duke Global Health Institute has also proposed a masters of science and global health program for Kunshan, which is currently being reviewed by faculty, she said.

The university is projecting that it will invest $37 million in six years to fund the campus in Kunshan. Tuition rates for the program haven’t been set.

Some faculty at Duke have expressed opposition to the project.

“The most decisive problem has been that the administration essentially committed to the construction of physical facilities before developing in a substantial way what actually should be going on there,” said Thomas Pfau, professor of English and German languages and literatures at Duke. “It’s cost a great deal of money and sapped administrative focus.”

He said normally universities develop programs first and then decide what facilities are needed.

“No plan that they have thus far presented suggests that they will ever use more than one-third of the campus’s capacity,” he said.

Pfau said it remains unclear whether the Chinese government will approve the program and its tuition costs, potentially jeopardizing the return on the university’s investment.

Every dollar raised for the campus in Kunshan costs time and effort that could have gone toward making Duke stronger, he said.

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