FLORENCE, AL – Through the establishment of the Guizhou University-University of North Alabama International College of Engineering and Technology, on the campus of Guizhou University, officials at the University of North Alabama and Guizhou University, in Guizhou, China, have initiated an innovating partnership that will benefit students at the graduate and undergraduate levels with their degree attainment. Guizhou University (GU) is a Top 100 Chinese research university, with more than 60,000 students enrolled.

“This is the first collaboration of its type in Alabama and one of very few between any universities based in the United States and China,” said Dr. Ken Kitts, UNA’s President. “We are pleased to be able to formalize this significant and meaningful partnership between two great universities – UNA and Guizhou – and we are honored by this collaboration.”

Students enrolled in the program will receive a degree from Guizhou (pronounced gwee-zhow) and UNA at either the Master’s or baccalaureate levels. Undergraduate programs featured include Engineering Technology, Occupational Health Sciences, and Sustainability; Applied Manufacturing Technology will be featured at the graduate level. All degrees will be accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC).

“This partnership demonstrates the strength of the UNA brand, the quality of our degree programs, and the resonance of UNA’s ascendency as a global university,” said Dr. Ross Alexander, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs. “I look forward to traveling to Guizhou University to visit and formalize the partnership in-person.”

Alexander will be traveling to China and GU with Dr. Chunsheng Zhang, Senior Vice Provost for International Affairs at UNA and among those at UNA who assisted in solidifying the partnership. Others involved include Dr. Sara Lynn Baird, Dean of the College of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering (CASE); Dr. Ryan Zayac, Associate Dean of CASE; Bliss Adkison, Director, Academic Affairs and SACSCOC Liaison; and Jing Li in the Office of International Affairs.

“The strategic partnership between Guizhou University and UNA is a new milestone for collaborations at both universities,” Dr. Zhang said. “The four programs are designed to prepare future scientists who will be bi-lingual and bi-cultural and ready to tackle global challenges with global solutions.”

The initiative is set to begin in Fall 2022, with faculty at GU and UNA providing instruction to the 300 to 350 students enrolled across all programs annually.

About The University of North Alabama

The University of North Alabama is an accredited, comprehensive regional state university offering undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degree programs through the colleges of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering; Business and Technology; Education and Human Sciences; and the Anderson College of Nursing and Health Professions. Occupying a 130-acre campus in a residential section of Florence, Alabama, UNA is located within a four-city area that also includes Muscle Shoals, Sheffield, and Tuscumbia. UNA Athletics, a renowned collegiate athletics program with seven (7) Division II National Championships, is now a proud member of the NCAA Division I’s ASUN and Big South conferences. The University of North Alabama is an equal opportunity institution and does not discriminate in the admission policy on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, disability, age, or national origin. For more: www.una.edu and www.una.edu/unaworks/.