Kirkwood Community College and TIVTC delegates discuss the future between Cedar Rapids and Tangshan
Kirkwood Community College will host a delegation of 10 visitors December 13-21 at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids. The visitors are representatives from Tangshan Industrial Vocational Technical College (TIVTC) which is located in China.
Kirkwood and TIVTC have a partnership that began with A Memorandum of Understanding signed in October 2013 as part of the delegation visit from Tangshan to Iowa, including a meeting between the delegates and Governor Terry Branstad. The origin of the partnership stemmed from the Sister State arrangement, signed in 1983, between Iowa and the Hebei Province, where Tangshan is located. This Sister State act named the City of Cedar Rapids and the City of Tangshan as sister cities. Current President of China Xi Jinping visited Governor Branstad in Iowa as a young politician in 1985, and then again as China’s Vice President in 2012.
Kirkwood’s Director of International Programs, Dawn Wood, and Kirkwood’s Dean of Arts and Humanities, Jennifer Bradley, visited TIVTC in March 2014. The two toured the construction of a completely new campus in the Caofeidian District of Tangshan where TIVTC is building. The President of TIVTC, Ms. Tianxiuping, indicated an interest in accomplishing several action items as a result of the visit, most of which have already begun.
The first of these action items is the current visit of 10 TIVTC delegates to Kirkwood, those of whom include deans, vice deans, directors and teachers from Kirkwood’s partner college. While stateside, the TIVTC delegates will complete Comprehensive Community College training, as well as visit Iowa’s Amana Colonies, dine with Chinese students enrolled at Kirkwood, visit the state capitol in Des Moines and tour Cedar Rapids. The full nine-day itinerary also includes plans for cultural events and discussions on industry partnerships and academic programs.
In March 2015, Kirkwood’s President Mick Starcevich will visit TIVTC’s new campus and discuss the potential of a Kirkwood branch campus in China.