While the San José State University campus is celebrating International Education Week (visit http://www.sjsu.edu/ips/iweek/ for a full schedule of activities,) San Jose State University President Mohammad Qayoumi and College of Applied Sciences and Arts Dean Charles C. Bullock traveled to Viet Nam over the weekend to foster relationships with Vietnamese universities.

President Qayoumi and Dean Bullock’s visit will help strengthen an existing relationship between SJSU and the overseas campuses as well as help foster new potential partnerships.

San Jose State University’s College of Applied Sciences and Arts is host to the Social Work Education Enhancement Program, an initiative that is working to:

• Develop systems to strengthen higher education management and administration,
• Devise processes to enhance faculty development opportunities and programs
• Develop and employ relevant curriculum adaptable to Viet Nam’s changing knowledge and needs.

SWEEP is funded through the US Agency for International Development with a three-year grant. Visitors from Viet Nam spent a week at SJSU in September, with a group of fellows expected to stay for a month in the spring. Members of the SJSU SWEEP team will also be traveling to Viet Nam in December for an annual conference.

Tuan Tran, the SWEEP Viet Nam project coordinator, has been traveling with Qayoumi and Bullock. On Monday, Qayoumi and Bullock lunched with a dean and rector from the University of Social Sciences Vietnam National University in Ho Chi Minh City, before then meeting with USSH-VNU President Phan Thanh Binh.  They discussed the SWEEP partnership as well as other potential collaborations such as business or STEM programs.

The SJSU pair visited the Cisco Academy in Ho Chi Minh City. Cisco has been an integral part of the SWEEP program, as the telepresence equipment has allowed educators from Viet Nam to connect with educators at SJSU. On Monday evening, Tran treated the pair to some sightseeing on their way to the airport where they traveled to Hanoi.

The two will continue meetings in Hanoi through Nov. 13, with Dean Bullock then travelling onto Hue and Da Nang before returning to the U.S. on Nov. 16.

Flights to Viet Nam and within the country have not been impacted by Typhoon Haiyan, a storm that devastated parts of the Philippines last week.  According to news reports, the typhoon touched down in Viet Nam on Monday in the northern province of Quang Ninh with winds of 75 mph and heavy rainfall, but it did little damage. SJSU students are coordinating a food and supply drive with the nonprofit Project Pearls, LBC cargo company and the Philippine Red Cross. People can donate goods from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. through Thursday in front of the event center. They are asking for canned goods, baby food and medicine as well as dry noodles, rice, toothbrushes, toothpaste, bath soap and shampoo.