LA GRANDE -- Leaders at Eastern Oregon University, along with three other Oregon universities, have struck a deal for a partnership with schools in Taiwan that could lead to new curriculum offerings, expansion of existing classes, and additional opportunities for exchange programs.

Programs under the partnership could be running by September 2025.

University officials hope the partnership will drive cross-cultural learning and enrich talent development.

"We have a really powerful role in retaining talent in Oregon as regional institutions," said Eastern Oregon University President Kelly Ryan. "And activities like this really help us boost our reputation and the experiences of our own students."

The program is the brainchild of state Rep. Paul Evans, D-Monmouth, an advocate of strengthening relations between Taiwan and the United States.

"It is imperative that the United States reaffirm our relationship with the government of Taiwan at this critical moment, aligned with U.S. foreign policy," Evans said in an interview. He added that the program will help nurture stronger economic relations.

Evans approached EOU and three other regional universities: Western Oregon University, Southern Oregon University and the Oregon Institute of Technology. Ryan said Evans extended the invitation to her at the start of her EOU tenure in July 2023.

Ryan was intrigued by Evans' pitch, for a number of reasons. For one, she thought the partnership could "enhance our own enrollment profile in an era of declining college-going rates."

Ryan was among the regional university presidents, along with Evans and former state Rep. Briam Clem, who traveled to Taiwan for a week in August. They signed a memorandum of understanding with Taiwan's Wenzao University. Other educational institutions in Taiwan have expressed interest in the collaboration, Evans said.

Common denominator

Ryan said each Oregon regional university has its own reasons for joining the coalition but they all share a common denominator.

"I think one thing that kind of unites the regional institutions is that it (the partnership) allows us to put a spotlight on what we do," she said.

Oftentimes, Evans said, international students focus on Ivy League schools and overlook smaller campuses. But he said universities such as Oregon's regional schools offer an exceptional opportunity for international students to thrive.

Tim Seydel, vice president of university advancement at EOU, said the strategic partnership will "internationalize what we're doing at all of our institutions, because it is a global world. It's a global economy that also helps put those pieces into place."

Evans said the idea is to both attract compatible international students and put Oregon's regional institutions on the map. A long-term goal of his is to attract 2,000 Taiwanese students annually across the regional institutions.

"I don't know that I can get that done in the next decade, but I'm old enough and experienced enough that I've got about 10 years left in me to try," Evans said.

He said exchange students from Taiwan will experience a sense of community and belonging when studying in the smaller towns where the regional universities are located.

"Parents and families are always interested in where they're going to send their son or daughter to go to college especially if it's overseas," Seydel said. "We offer up small campuses that are in smaller communities, a little more relatively safe, perhaps a little better direct connections with faculty and staff."

The partnership is also said to allow students to spend a term quarter, which is typically a ten-week installment, at each university with an opportunity to sample each region of the state, said Evans.

Ryan said students will have autonomy to decide on this though, including selecting the campus they feel compelled to study at.

Evans said regional campuses offer their own specialities to pique the interest of foreign students.

"I believe that Eastern Oregon and distance learning could do all kinds of things, especially on agriculture and the new technology in agriculture," he said.

Building on already existing cross-campus relationships will be an asset to the partnership, Ryan said. But it's not just about education programming - showcasing alternative cultures and the Oregon landscape are also key components of the collaboration.

The partnership is also set to extend opportunities to faculty in both Oregon and Taiwan.

"In some ways, it's just enhancing what we have, you know, in terms of the faculty exchange," Ryan said.

The partnership intends to bring Taiwanese students to the US and place US students in Taiwan, with distant online learning opportunities set to be on the menu. Some preliminary visions for the roll out of the project include summer camps for precollege students, said Evans.

Another key part of the scheme is learning how other universities do things, Ryan said. She hopes the exchange will inspire innovation and technological advances at the regional campuses in Oregon.

Ryan noted that Taiwan is a frontrunner in striving to expand language accumulation across the globe - another element of the partnership that encourages bilingual education which will be offered to students.

Plans for the partnership are still very much at the drawing table.

"Ultimately, what those agreements (with Taiwan) look like have yet to be seen," she said.

"I think we can develop transfer pipelines and shared courses within a year," Ryan said, but added that additional projects might be "larger lifts."

With the memorandum of understanding signed, Ryan met with EOU deans Sept. 3, to continue to shape the design of the partnership.

"The universities have our goals aligned ... but it's up to the universities now to make sure that this comes to fruition," Ryan said.