English professor Wang Pei Hui to visit Red Wing, Winona
campuses for 2 months
How was your first day of school? For Wang Pei Hui (Wong Pay Hway, but you can call him "Ben"), his first day as a visiting faculty member from Quzhou College of Technology seemed to go well - especially considering he arrived from China at 6 pm the evening before school started! The 13-hour time zone difference did not seem to affect him at all as he met faculty, staff and students on the Red Wing Campus.
Located southwest of Shanghai, Quzhou (pop. 2.5 million) was named a Sister City to Red Wing more than 20 years ago. A delegation from Minnesota State College - Southeast Technical, including President James Johnson, visited Quzhou in September 2012. At that time, the two technical colleges signed a memorandum of understanding to actively exchange teaching ideas and coordinate faculty and student exchanges.
Known by his English language nickname "Ben," Wang Pei Hui will stay for the first two weeks at the home of Brad and Becky Alsop, who are both on the college staff and participated in last year's trip to Quzhou.
"Ben will spend time at the college, visiting a variety of classrooms as a guest lecturer," says Brad Alsop, biology instructor. "But we know he will enjoy the ordinary activities we like - camping, fishing, canoeing. Even in China the Mississippi River is well known, so we want him to experience life along the river."
Wang Pei Hui will be joined by a second instructor from Quzhou, Fang Ziaofen (Fong Shao-fen), and the two will move to Winona for several weeks to visit the Winona campus of Southeast Technical. Fang Ziaofen teaches auto mechanics, so will be actively engaged with the College's automotive technology program.
Ben will assist with interpretive services for his fellow faculty member and guest lecture in Winona classrooms before returning to Red Wing for the final two weeks of his visit.
"Our colleges have similar missions and programs - nursing, automotive, CNC machining - so having these two individuals visiting from China will be an invaluable learning experience for them and for us," says Ron Sellnau, Vice President of Academic Affairs.