Flathead Valley Community College President Jane Karas called a two-week visit of six Chinese educators very successful, ending with the signing of a letter of intent to explore exchanges of students and faculty between both countries.

She said students, college employees, community members and local employers had opportunities to visit with the Chinese delegation.

“I know they’ve learned from us as much as we’ve learned from them,” she said. “I think they might have spoken to local employers about partnering with them for some business in China, so that’s another economic boost for the local community.”

Karas’s trip to Beijing in the spring served as the catalyst for the visit of the five educators with China’s three-year technical and industrial institutes and one with an education association. Karas went to China as the president-elect of the American Association of Community Colleges to sign an agreement with the Chinese Education Association International Exchange.

While in Beijing, Karas said yes when asked if the college was interested in hosting a delegation.

She said the visitors left on Saturday very impressed by the college, the community support, the many programs offered and services provided to students.

“I was talking to the interpreter,” Karas said. “This is her third trip with a delegation and she said that we’ve raised the bar.”

The president credited George Shryock, the college’s liaison to the delegation, for the success of the group’s many tours and events. Shryock, a veteran college counselor, prepared the jam-packed itinerary and spent the two weeks assisting the Chinese guests:

• Chen Li-neng, president of Zhejiang Technical Institute of Economics.

• Wei Xiaofeng, president of Chien-shiung Institute of Technology.

• Li Shanhua, president of Yunnan Vocational College of Mechanical and Electrical Technology.

• Jiang Wenpei, vice president of Guangxi Technological College of Machinery and Electricity.

• Du Xiaoli, associate professor of Shanghai Academy of Educational Science.

• Li Qian, coordinator/translator of China Education Association for International Education Program.

According to Shryock, the group followed his draft itinerary until he realized in the middle of the second week that “they were toast.”

“So I backed off a little,” he said. “We did so much.”

In showing the delegation the many sectors of Montana higher education, Shryock took them to meetings with staffers, students and teachers; to Helena to meet Lt. Gov. John Bohlinger and John Cech, deputy commissioner of Community College Education; and to Missoula to the University of Montana.

Shryock said the educators saw many parallels with their system.

“They work between their province, their federal government and their local districts all the time,” he said. “That’s exactly the position the community college finds itself in. So they get it.”

China differs in that it doesn’t have community colleges. Students take a test which either places them in a university or a three-year technical institutes.

America’s community colleges fall in between those two.

“They’re interested in this model where part of your students transfer and go to universities and part of them go into the work force,” Shryock said.

He said the Chinese institutes have modern campuses with facilities that match those in the United States, but they don’t have the intimate connection between teachers and students that they witnessed at Flathead Valley Community College with teachers talking and spending extra time with students.

“They are envious of what we can provide in instruction,” Shryock said. “They have a very dense population and they have huge classes.”

Another difference noted was the emphasis on teaching critical thinking at the community college.

“Their interest is more mastery of technical skills,” he said. “Ours is more mastery of critical thinking, thinking outside the box.”

The delegation also toured Nomad Global Communications Solutions and Kalispell Regional Medical Center to see the close partnerships FVCC has with many local businesses.

“We do a lot of our education through the hospital,” Shryock said. “We went to Nomad and talked about manufacturing and how we work closely with work force training. They do the same thing over there.”

The educators left Saturday morning to travel to San Jose City College, where they come together with two other Chinese delegations to share what they learned.

“I’ll go down as our representative next week and we’ll do a post-trip evaluation for all the delegations before they return home,” Shryock said.

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at cchase@dailyinterlake.com.