Introduction of the HNU-ASU Joint International Tourism College, Hainan University

The HNU-ASU Joint International Tourism College of Hainan University (HNU) was established as part of effort to implement the spirit of the important speech made by General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee Xi Jinping when he inspected Hainan, and the plan approved by the State Council to promote the development of the Hainan International Tourism Island.

It was also an important step taken to facilitate the country's opening-up strategy and the construction of the Hainan International Tourism Island, and to promote the construction of HNU's double first-class disciplines, which means developing it into a world-class university with world-class disciplines with an improved level of international education.

HAITC is China's first Sino-foreign cooperative tourism institution and Hainan's first Sino-foreign cooperative institution as approved by the Ministry of Education of China in May 2017.

Enrollment began in September 2017, and there are currently 1,100 students in four grades. There are three undergraduate majors: Hotel Management, Human Geography and Urban-Rural Planning and Public Administration.

HAITC's TDM program (Tourism Development and Management) is a key and characteristic discipline of HNU, and ranks first in the university's first-level doctoral program of Business Administration.

HAITC integrates eastern and western educational concepts, highlights international, innovative, and interdisciplinary characteristics, and adopts the training model of "dual degrees", "dual status" and "4+0", aiming to serve the development of the Hainan Free Trade Port (FTP) and HNU's "double first-class construction".

HAITC is striving to become a more open, integrated, and resilient high-level Sino-foreign cooperative institution and to cultivate industry leaders who are familiar with international rules and have cross-cultural communication capabilities and international competitiveness. 

School Characteristics

1. International faculty team

The faculty team of HAITC has been drawn from three sources: recommended by partners, recommended by HNU, and global recruitment. HAITC is gradually building an international, high-level faculty team made up of foreign teachers and overseas returnees with strong teaching and scientific research capabilities.

There are 50 faculty members. All full-time teachers have degrees from well-known overseas universities, and more than 50% are foreign teachers from more than 10 countries, such as the United States and Canada. More than 70% of administrative staff have overseas study experience.

2. Application-oriented academic English teaching system

HAITC has established a Foreign Language Education Center (FLEC) and an Academic Support Center (ASC) in which more than 70% of the English teaching faculty are from abroad.

Online courses of EUGA English language learning were set by ASU and academic English writing and speech were introduced by HAITC to enhance students' English application ability, oral communication and writing skills and help them pass required English tests.

3. Teaching quality process management and assessment system

HAITC integrates the American teaching process management model, breaks the Chinese assessment practice, and implements an assessment method in which course essay + class performance + mid-term assessment count for not less than 60% of the total score, and final exams count for not more than 40%.

A quality assurance system composed of academic committees, examination committees, teaching supervision groups, textbook review groups, and teacher recruitment groups has been established.

4. Moral education support students' all-round development

HAITC adheres to the Party's educational policy and carries out the work of the Party. It also adheres to the core socialist values and explores the path of enhancing political education as a Sino-foreign cooperative institution.

The Career Development Center (CDC) was established to support students as they participate in social practice activities during winter and summer vacations and various discipline competitions. In the past three years, our students have won 509 national, provincial and school-level awards.

5. International scientific research platform

The International Tourism Research Center (IRC) was established to study Hainan's frontier issues. The IRC has set up a working mechanism for undergraduates to serve as research assistants for professors.

To date, two theses written by HAITC's undergraduates have been published in international journals, and several undergraduate papers have been accepted by international academic conferences.

Academician Chris Ryan's Workstation was established in 2020. Its faculty team has published nearly 30 papers in first-class academic journals in the past three years.

Rising Social Influence

• HAITC has become a model for international education in Hainan Province since its establishment in 2017.

• The first Hainan International Model United Nations Conference held by HAITC received a congratulatory letter from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

• James Levy, Consul General of the US in Guangzhou, sent a handwritten letter highly praising the effectiveness of the school, and expressed his willingness to promote Sino-US exchanges and cooperation in various fields.

• The "World Tourism Day" event held by Dr. Yana Wengel, a HAITC faculty member, on September 28, 2020 attracted the attention of the World Tourism Organization (WTO), which reported on the event on its official website.

Arizona State University

Arizona State University (ASU) is located in Phoenix, the capital of Arizona, in the United States. It is a public world-class research university with more than 90,000 students.

ASU was ranked first among the Most Innovative Universities by USNEWS for six consecutive years from 2015 to 2020. It also ranked in the top 100 in the ARWU (Academic Ranking of World Universities) for several consecutive years and among the top 25 schools in the field of social sciences.

ASU attaches great importance to the cutting-edge and interdisciplinary nature of the subject. Its tourism program focuses on worldwide tourism issues — leisure tourism and community development, tourism public services and policies and tourism and environmentally sustainable development.

ASU has set up several disciplines related to the sustainable development of tourism. The number of students majoring in tourism at the university and the number of experts engaged in teaching and tourism research rank first among similar majors at American universities.

In the 2018 CWUR World University Rankings, the university ranked second in the United States and seventh globally in terms of hotel, leisure, sports and tourism majors.

Website of Hainan University: http://en.hainanu.edu.cn/ 

Website of Arizona State University: https://www.asu.edu/