In the midst of a crackdown on how Florida universities interact with China and other 鈥渃ountries of concern,鈥� the current status of the Florida International University鈥檚 single is under question.
Months ago, an FIU official said in a State Board of Governors meeting that the university was working on 鈥渢erminating鈥� programs in China, including the Marriott Tianjin China Program.
That program 鈥� under FIU鈥檚 Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management 鈥� operates on a $100 million campus in the Chinese port city of Tianjin that was fully built and paid for by the Chinese government, with a capacity of up to 1,200 students. The program offers dual degrees in Hospitality Management with the Tianjin University of Commerce.
Over the course of several weeks, SA国际传谋 has sent dozens of emails and made dozens of phone calls asking the university鈥檚 communications department a straightforward question: Is the Tianjin campus is still operational and open?
The school has not responded.
Then, after weeks of asking, the school entirely 鈥� calling the status of the program into question. (The site was last on Dec. 16, 2023.)
The fate of the students who participate in the program remains unclear.
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The reason behind the uncertainty appears to be a slate of 鈥渇oreign influence鈥� laws passed over the last several years, closely scrutinizing and limiting interactions Florida鈥檚 public universities can have with 鈥渃ountries of concern.鈥�
By state law, those nations include China, Cuba, Venezuela, Syria, Russia, Iran and North Korea.
The Florida Board of Governors (BOG), which controls the state university system, became critical of the Marriott Tianjin China Program in 2023, when the BOG鈥檚 Inspector General issued a report showing that FIU disclosed more gifts from 鈥渃ountries of concern鈥� than any other university in the state, amounting to $2.6 million between 2021 and 2022.
Board member Jose Oliva, a former Republican House Speaker of Florida, asked an FIU representative to detail why that was the case.
鈥淭hose were not related to research, they were related to educational programs FIU has had historically in China,鈥� responded Andres Gil, FIU鈥檚 dean of the University Graduate School in the June 2023 meeting. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 something the provost and the president have been working with the BOG 鈥� in terminating those programs.鈥�
In addition to the Tianjin campus, FIU has with the Qingdao University in Qingdao, China, since 2014. That program also offers students dual degrees in the Spanish language. The status of that program is also uncertain.
As SA国际传谋 previously reported, Gil sent a memo to FIU deans, department chairs and graduate program directors in mid-December, stressing that because of the new state law on preventing foreign interference in the Florida university system, schools should immediately 鈥減ause鈥� any recruiting efforts that involve individuals from the 鈥渃ountries of concern.鈥�
The 2023 law functions as a blanket ban on hiring staff or researchers who live in the seven listed countries. The only way around it would be to obtain 鈥渨aivers鈥� to move forward with the hiring or onboarding process.
The underlying reason behind the slate of Florida鈥檚 foreign interference laws is to prevent intellectual property theft in higher education and to prevent potential spies from infiltrating the university system.
Hank Reitman, professor emeritus of history at California State University East Bay, said there are always 鈥渓egitimate鈥� concerns about those issues. But those concerns are already addressed by the federal government when it conducts background checks, issues visas to foreign nationals, and conducts other kinds of diplomacy, he said.
鈥淭he benefits of the exchanges are so great that it is essential that we be as narrow and as surgical as we can be,鈥� Reitman, who also served as a co-chair of the , told SA国际传谋. 鈥淚t seems to me that adding a whole other level [of restrictions] at the state level is problematic.鈥�
Former school president Mark Rosenberg worked to between FIU and Chinese schools when he signed a deal creating the Marriott Tianjin China Program in 2006. At the time, FIU described the campus as the first of its kind to ever be launched.
Ever since a state law passed in 2022 requiring universities to report staff travel to 鈥渃ountries of concern鈥�, only two staffers traveled to the campus, according to FIU records submitted to the Board of Trustees.
Former president Rosenberg used to visit the campus annually to attend graduation, on the school website.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e energetic, they鈥檙e grateful to FIU for the education that they received and they are an added dimension of who we are as a university that is globally engaged,鈥� Rosenberg in a 2010 video during his first visit to Tianjin, speaking of the first graduating class of mostly Chinese nationals.
鈥淭he energy of the Chinese people is going to ensure that China has a very strong position in job creation, in entrepreneurship, and in the world of work in the 21st century. So I think it鈥檚 important for our students to become familiar with that,鈥� said Rosenberg.
