TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – University of Alabama students and students from one of China’s leading universities will have new opportunities to study at each other’s institutions under a cooperative agreement between UA and Ocean University China.

Officials from UA and Ocean University China have signed an agreement that will allow UA students to study at OUC for a semester and will give OUC students the opportunity to earn undergraduate and graduate degrees from UA.

“This new agreement will give our students a chance to study at one of China’s leading universities,” said Dr. Jane Stanfield, associate provost for global outreach and international education and one of the architects of the new agreement. Stanfield said OUC is a prestigious national university that has been ranked 35th out of more than 2,600 Chinese institutions of higher learning. OUC is located in Qingdao, China, a city soon to become known as the site of the yacht races in the 2008 Olympics.

“We are excited to be sending our students to Ocean University and to welcome the Chinese students to our campus,” Stanfield said.

In addition to the educational opportunities for students, the two universities have agreed to seek opportunities for joint programming projects that will include students and professors from both universities.

Stanfield said one project already under discussion would allow UA students to participate with OUC students in a 15-day marine science project in the South China Sea aboard OUC’s research vessel, the Dong Fang Hong II. The joint project would probably also include a component at Alabama’s Dauphin Island Sea Lab.

Other possible projects involve the UA College of Education’s Teaching English as a Second Language program, the English Language Institute and other areas of the University.

Under the agreement, undergraduate degree programs for OUC students will be offered in the Culverhouse College of Commerce beginning in fall 2008. A variety of additional undergraduate programs are under development across the University. In general, students in these programs will spend one year at OUC and two years at UA before returning for a final year at OUC.

Graduate level programs are expected to begin in fall 2008 in the Culverhouse College of Commerce and the College of Human Environmental Sciences. Other programs are expected to be developed in the future.

UA officials signed the agreement with OUC during a recent visit to China and Korea. Stanfield headed the UA delegation which also included Dr. David Francko, dean of the Graduate School; Dr. James McLean, dean of the College of Education; Dr. Luoheng Han, professor of geography in the College of Arts and Sciences; Bryan Fair, professor of law; Dr. Bill Wallace, director of the English Language Institute; Dr. Alvin Niuh, assistant professor of human nutrition and hospitality management in the College of Human Environmental Sciences; and Thomas Canterbury, College of Commerce registrar.