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By Sherry F. Pruitt

JONESBORO -- ARKANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY has a partnership with Shandong University of Finance in China.

The university half a world away wants an ASU faculty member to serve as a visiting professor to teach computer science courses in English, said Dr. Jeff Jenness, chairman of the Department of Computer Sciences.

Jenness, who has been to the university four times, said his most recent visit was in November, when he and Dr. Jerry Farris, associate dean of the Colleges of Sciences and Mathematics and director of Ecotoxicology, attended the university's 20th anniversary celebration.

"The first time you're there, it goes so fast," Jenness said.

At that time the professors attended a conference on e-commerce and e-government in Jinan, Shandong Province. Jenness was one of the featured speakers.

"We are one of two partners from America. We were the only ones there from America," Jenness said.

English-speaking Chinese professors have been teaching the undergraduate and graduate courses but have decided to test their students' grasp of English from a Missouri-born native.

The idea for a partnership started in 2004 when Jenness contacted university officials from Shandong. A delegation from there visited the ASU-Jonesboro campus in December 2005, and that's when the partnership agreement was signed.

"He will represent a 'first' at that university," with a 12,000-member student body, said Farris.

"I will represent the first faculty exchange to teach a major course rather than English," Jenness said. "I'll be teaching computer science programs."

Jenness said he will teach JAVA programs to undergraduates and an analysis of algorithms course to graduate students. His teaching assignment will last for four months, until the end of July.

"They have mandatory English in middle school, high school and college from native English teachers," he said. "I anticipate difficulty early, but I hope they catch on early. It'll be a fascinating experience."

He also will be able to continue his regular ASU office duties via a video phone that he will set up at the office, as well as at his home.

While there, he said, he also will recruit from another university a graduate student to teach Chinese in the language department at A-State.

Other initiatives include establishing partnerships with another Chinese institution of higher education, Huzhou University, and a Taiwanese institution, Chung Hua University.

Chung Hua has awarded ASU scholarships that pay housing and travel costs there, he said.

While in Jinan, Jenness will be housed at the new International Programs Center in a fully furnished apartment among half a dozen other foreign instructors who teach English. Also, international students are housed in the same building.

The facility features classrooms in the bottom portion of the building, and there are lots of interpreters, he said.

Jinan's population is 6 million, which is small for a city in China, he said. It is very scenic, is called the City of Springs and was the residence of Confucius.

"We hope to further enhance the exchange of students doing recruiting from the campus and help ASU get more international presence," said Jenness, who has been on the ASU faculty for 16 years.

Farris added that the exchange program is for other departments, as well as computer science.

While Jenness said he is looking forward to the 4-month stay abroad, he acknowledged that he will miss his wife and four children.

"My wife said she supported me. She'll come to visit," Jenness said, adding that he plans to take her to tourist destinations.

sherry@jonesborosun.com