Florida International University Tianjin Center

Infobox_University
name = School of Hospitality & Tourism Management, Tianjin Center


established = 2003
type = Public
city = Tianjin
state =
country = PRC
faculty =
students = 1,000
dean = Joseph J. West
website = http://hospitality.fiu.edu/

The Florida International University Tianjin Center is a campus of Miami, Florida-based Florida International University (FIU) located in Tianjin, in the People's Republic of China, from which a branch of FIU's School of Hospitality & Tourism Management operates. The center was constructed as a cooperative venture with the local municipal government and the Tianjin University of Commerce ("TUC"). The venture was entered into in October of 2003, and the institution was opened in the Summer of 2006.

Faculty

The full-time, Tianjin based FIU faculty who teach in the Tianjin Center were Chinese business professors who began attending FIU in Miami in 2004. They spent 18 months with the Miami faculty and received a Masters Degree in Hospitality Management from FIU in 2006. In addition, each semester members of the Miami faculty teach at the Tianjin Center.

Students

The first class of 28 students will be graduating in April 2008 and have all been offered employment by major local and international hospitality companies. 10 of our graduating students have been accepted by leading graduate programs in the United States and Asia to further their hospitality education. Currently, there are 161 third year students attending classes who will graduate in April 2009. An additional 300 students will be admitted as first year students to begin classes in August 2008. All of the current students have been offered positions to support the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Students who graduate from the Tianjin Center program receive two degrees, one from FIU and the other from TUC. All courses are taught in English. The school is open to FIU (Miami) students desiring to expand their educational experience by studying in one of the world's most exciting countries.

Facilities

The centerpiece of the campus is a 20-story housing facility which rises from the center of a long, crescent-shaped wing of a four-story academic complex, which combines with other wings to form a closed oblong structure. Housing is sufficient to accommodate the center's student population of 1,000, faculty apartments and U.S. student dorms. The 45,000 square meter structure sits on 80 acres of land. The structure features a 500 seat auditorium, teaching kitchen, wine cellar, two 100 seat computer laboritories, a wine laboritory, eight case study rooms, and fully functioning dining facility.

History

In 2002, the Tianjin Municipal Government invited Florida International University to establish a partnership with Tianjin University of Commerce. The mission was to prepare Chinese students to successfully manage in the global Hospitality and Tourism industry. In May 2003, both parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Miami, Florida. In May 2004, the official Signing Ceremony took place in Tianjin, PRC. Within the same month, the Ground Breaking Ceremony was marked by representatives from both Universities shoveling sand on the Foundation Stone. Construction was completed in 2006 and the FIU/TUC Ribbon Cutting Ceremony took place in September of that year.

The TUC website describes its program as follows::In order to improve its international standing and to ensure that its graduates are of the highest caliber and are able to meet the growing needs of China’s international development in the field of tourism, the School cooperates with the School of Hospitality & Tourism Management at Florida International University, a famous American state university, to jointly educate the undergraduates and postgraduates in Hotel Management and Tourism Management that can meet the needs of international markets. The students are issued two degrees from both TUC and FIU. The School gained approval from the Academic Degree Evaluation Office of the State Council and started in 2004 to enroll students. This cooperative program enjoys the highest level and largest scale for senior tourism education in Schools in China.

Maps

* [http://hospitality.fiu.edu/tuc/TianjinCampusMap.gifOfficial TUC Campus map (Chinese)]
* [http://hospitality.fiu.edu/tuc/TianjinCampusMapEng.gifOfficial TUC Campus map (English)]
* [http://hospitality.fiu.edu/tuc.htm Aerial image of the FIU School of Hospitality & Tourism Management Center in Tianjin, China] coord|39.178194|117.111694|display=inline,title|type:edu

News

* [http://www.hospitalitynet.org/news/154000390/4035549.search?query=fiu+tianjin+graduate FIU Graduates First Class in China]
* [http://news.fiu.edu/releases/2003/10-23_china.htm FIU to Operate School of Hospitality in Preparation for Unprecedented Tourism Boon in China]

External links

* [http://hospitality.fiu.edu/tianjin.asp FIU Homepage of the Tianjin Center]
* [http://hospitality.fiu.edu School of Hospitality & Tourism Management]
* [http://www.tuc-fiu.cn/ TUC-FIU Homepage]
* [http://www.tjcu.edu.cn/web/english/schools_t.html Tianjin University of Commerce page on the School of Tourism Management]
* [http://hospitality.fiu.edu/review/ FIU Hospitality Review]
* [http://hospitality.fiu.edu/china.html Tianjin Center Flash presentation]