“The value of our sister college relationships in a global society is it provides opportunities for our students to understand the global environment they will be working in throughout their careers,”
Hansen said.

Southwestern Oregon Community College Vice President of Instruction and Student Services Stephen Schoonmaker introduced two visitors from Changzhou Institute of Technology – Southwestern’s sister college in China – to the College Board of Education at its regular meeting on Monday night.

For the first of what officials hope to be a regular exchange between the two institutions, Chef Pan Guoqing and instructor/interpreter Wang Yaqing are visiting Southwestern to teach and work with Oregon Coast Culinary Institute faculty, staff and students, as well as community members. They arrived on April 19 and their visit is scheduled to last until May 3.

During the visit the College will be offering community courses in Chinese Cooking from 5 to 8 p.m. on April 26 and May 1 and Conversational Chinese, with dates and times to be announced. The visit is the result of Southwestern President Dr. Judith Hansen’s November trip to sister colleges in Asia and the relationships she was able to bolster there. In exchange for the current visit, Southwestern will send a chef to Changzhou for two weeks.

“The value of our sister college relationships in a global society is it provides opportunities for our students to understand the global environment they will be working in throughout their careers,” Hansen said. “It also reinforces for students that an education on the South Coast will enhance their future by attending Southwestern.”