School of Social Work partners with China Civil Affairs College

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
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Posted: Jun 30, 2010

MOU signing with China Civil Affairs College of the Ministry of Civil Affairs
MOU signing with China Civil Affairs College of the Ministry of Civil Affairs
Jon K. Matsuoka, dean of the UH Mānoa’s Myron B. Thompson School of Social Work, and Kunsheng Jiang, president of the China Civil Affairs College of the Ministry of Civil Affairs in Bejing, China, recently entered into a memorandum of understanding. The MOU is aimed at creating opportunities between the two institutions, including joint research, training, and faculty and student exchanges. 
 
“The MOU is significant for UH Mānoa and the Myron B. Thompson School of Social Work in that social work in China has quickly become a highly prominent field, as social problems are a corollary of burgeoning economic growth,” said Matsuoka. “The Chinese government recognizes this, and is investing heavily in our field as a means to offset social conditions.”
 
Other areas for collaboration include social gerontology, child welfare, social development—especially with ethnic minorities and indigenous populations—and disaster preparedness and recovery.

The Chinese college is aligned with the central government of China.  In the last 12 years, China has established over 300 social work education programs in order to produce a workforce to address growing social concerns. Nationally, numerous schools of social work are seeking to have a relationship with Chinese institutions. 
 
Distinguished UH Mānoa alumnus Kenneth Yeung received his MSW in the 1970s, and soon thereafter became a prominent businessman with operations in China and San Francisco.  Yeung started an orphanage for physically disabled children in Tianjin, and through this process developed strong ties with the Ministry of Civil Affairs (MCA).  He brokered the relationship between MCA and UH Mānoa’s Myron B. Thompson School of Social Work.