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American Short-Term Study in China Initiative
ASSCI provides funding and support through AASCU and the Embassy of China to facilitate partnership building through institutional based faculty-led study abroad programs in China.
Contact us.
ASSCI supports faculty-led study abroad programs.
The American Short-Term Study in China Initiative (ASSCI) is a scholarship program offered by the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the United States of America and administered by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. The scholarship will support students enrolled in institutional-based, faculty-led study abroad programs in China. Faculty members with existing China study abroad programs, faculty interested to adding a study abroad component to a pre-existing course, or faculty interested in developing a program for studying abroad in China, are encouraged to submit a funding proposal.
Who should participate?
- Faculty from accredited U.S. institutions
- Faculty from all disciplines interested in adding a study abroad component to their course /curriculum
- Faculty members with existing study abroad programs with Chinese institutions
- Faculty members interested in creating study abroad programs, but require assistance to identify matching partners
How will you benefit?
- Scholarship support for students’ expenses in China
- Support for identifying Chinese university partners and developing robust academic exchange programs
- Opportunity to partner with an extensive range of Chinese institutions
- Opportunities for U.S. faculty to teach abroad
Applying to ASSCI.
Proposals should be submitted by faculty on U.S. campuses, with support from the provost, along with accompanying approval and signatures from the individual responsible for study abroad programs on each campus.
The ASSCI program focuses on joint efforts between U.S. and Chinese partner institutions. Chinese partners must be recognized by the China Scholarship Council (CSC) [Search Universities & Regions_Universities & Programs_留学中国 (campuschina.org)]. AASCU can assist with identifying Chinese institutional partners. Applicants requiring assistance with identifying a partner to apply for the scholarship should indicate this when completing the application form.
Proposals will be accepted through November 1. Submitted proposals will be reviewed and rated by the Selection Committee organized by the Chinese Embassy and recommended to CSC for approval. Applicants will be notified by December 15.
- Program fee, AASCU member: Fee waived
- Program fee, non-AASCU member: $1000
Students in the program will be eligible to receive the ASSCI scholarship. The scholarship covers the following expenses for each participating student:
- Tuition at the Chinese institution
- On-campus accommodation
- Health insurance
- Monthly stipend
The scholarship does NOT cover:
- Faculty-related expenses
- Tuition at the US institution
- Airfare and other travel expenses to China
- China visa application fees
Applicant must be a:
- Faculty in any discipline who teaches a course that requires students to study abroad in China
- Faculty who are interested in developing a course for students to study abroad in China
The course must meet the following requirements:
- Co-designed and co-taught with a Chinese partner institution, with at least 50% of the content delivered by the Chinese partner on site in China
- Offers academic credits for all the students
- Has a duration of no less than two weeks and no longer than one academic year in China
- Minimum enrollment of six students
- Maximum enrollment of 30 students
The selection committee will use several criteria when reviewing applications:
- The proposed program will be measured for clarity of learning goals and the extent to which the program’s activities contribute to those goals.
- The proposed program includes faculty leadership at the US institution.
- The proposed program uses the resources of the Chinese partner, such as academic strengths, location in China, and connections outside the institution.
- The proposed program involves students from the Chinese partner institution.
Complete and submit the Proposal Form and Nomination Form before November 1, 2024
- Submitted proposals will be reviewed by a Selection Committee comprising Chinese embassy staff, AASCU staff, and selected faculty who have led past faculty-led programs in China. They will then recommend proposals to the China Scholarship Council (CSC) for approval.
- Applicants will be notified by Dec. 15, 2024.
- Once an American institution has received notification of its successful application, participating students, under the supervision of the leading American faculty, will complete individual scholarship applications on the CSC website during Jan.–March 2025.
- Faculty-led group study abroad in China, May–July 2025.
Visit the China Scholarship Council website for more information about the scholarship.
China Scholarship Council
Instructions for students who are admitted in a study abroad in China program on your campus and the teaching faculty will work with you to fill out the ASSCI scholarship application.
ASSCI application instructions.
Applications are officially closed.
If you would like to be considered for the next program cycle, please contact Sufei Li.
Frequently asked questions
Faculty in any discipline can apply for the ASSCI program. The students in the program are qualified to apply for the scholarship automatically once the program is approved.
The scholarship for each student covers tuition paid to the Chinese partner institution, accommodations, a monthly stipend, and comprehensive medical insurance. The value of each scholarship for a four-week program could be approximately $10,000 or more.
Part of the scholarship, such as tuition fees, accommodation fees, and comprehensive medical insurance, goes to the host university directly. The student receives a monthly stipend upon arriving at the Chinese campus.
- ￥2500 per month for undergraduate students
- ￥3000 per month for master’s students
- ￥3500 per month for doctoral students
Yes. You will need to state that you have no partner and you’re requesting assistance in the proposal form. AASCU will work with the Chinese embassy to find a matching partner for the program. Once you accept our recommendation and work out the articulation plan with the recommended partner, we will continue to work on your application for funding.
Once your proposal is approved, all students registered for the course are qualified to apply. However, the student applicant must be a full-time student who is not a Chinese citizen.
You will need to renew your program with the embassy if there is no change to the previously approved program. The renewal process is simple. The purpose of renewal is for the embassy to have a record of the program each year. If there are changes at the partner institutions in China, such as different teaching faculty, altered course description or delivery methods, etc., you will need to submit a new proposal for approval. Your students will also need to apply for the scholarships through CSC’s online application every year to participate and receive the scholarships.
Only eligible students can apply for the scholarship. The leading faculty member is responsible for all the expenses, including international travel, room, and board in China. It is possible that your partner university will be able to cover room and board. However, these costs are not considered part of the scholarship program.
There are no limits and restrictions for institutions. We welcome faculty members in any major as long as the proposal reflects the goals, and the teaching curriculum involves joint activities of the program that contribute to those goals. Multiple faculty members from one institution could submit individual proposals for separate funding as long as they have partners in China.
Have questions about the American Short-Term Study in China Initiative? Let us know.
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Enacting the Vision: Institutionalizing Civic and Community Engagement on Campus
A cohort of senior campus leaders committed to operationalizing and sustaining civic and community engagement across their institutions.
This cohort focuses on leaders enacting strategic and intentional planning about community engagement on campuses.
Since 2020, ADP and Collaboratory have invited AASCU members to join cohorts and participate in meetings to connect with others to form a community of practice; in 2020 and 2021, those cohorts focused on strategies for data collection. For the 2022-2023 academic year, the program focuses on bringing small teams from each campus together to organize and collaborate on implementing an institutional vision for community engagement. As an added benefit, all teams can connect to other institutional teams to share best practices, refine their strategies, and have professional development opportunities.
Who is participating?
- ADP member campuses
- Campus leaders looking to operationalize civic and community engagement across their institutions and who are actively working to identify the most sustainable path forward to support this work
- Senior leaders committed to prioritizing inclusive community engagement as a foundational aspect of their institutional mission, strategy, and infrastructure
Benefits of this program
- Define inclusive community engagement, sharing effective strategies and approaches
- Ensure institutions create more equitable and responsive relationships with community partners
- Build infrastructure to support and sustain deep, pervasive, and integrated partnerships
- Use data to deepen work with community partners and identify the most effective partnerships and models to address pressing issues in the community
- Better tell the institutional story of engagement qualitatively and quantitatively
Cohort membership
Guam
Puerto Rico
U.S. Virgin Islands
impact
Key data captured in Collaboratory from the 2021-2022 cohort
2,681
published activities
3,300
community partners
894
course sections
57,586
involved students
8.1 M+
hours contributed by those students
$844 M+
total funding for engagement and service
Key data captured in Collaboratory from the 2020-2021 cohort
2,324
published activities
2,834
community partners
637
course sections
74,903
involved students
10.3 M+
hours contributed by those students
$1.7 B+
total funding for engagement and service
Institutional civic engagement activity examples
Several years of assessments indicate that the Town Hall Meeting improves students learning of course content, changes students’ self-perception from an identification with high school notions of schooling as too often boring and meaningless to a college appropriate identification of schooling as relevant and part of students’ development as adult participants in a democracy, improves students’ civic participation, and increases students’ self-esteem.
Explore more on the institution's Collaboratory site.By considering the city’s rich history in civil rights and economic justice, as well as the even more powerful desire for civility that has impacted our ability to have deep, community-wide discussion of the area’s struggles, this program explores the different traditions of participation that drive public policy, governance, and citizen engagement.
Explore more on the institution's Collaboratory site.Students in the Gender Institute for Teaching Advocacy program work to compile a digital library including information related to various organizations throughout the state.
Explore more on the institution's Collaboratory site.Professional practice internship on voter registration, marketing, and increasing voter turnout among youth voters.
Explore more on the institution's Collaboratory site.our stories
“In addition to capturing engagement data for accreditation, we have also been using Collaboratory when talking to alumni and advancement about donors and how beneficial it would be to show our donors about what engagement our colleges are doing. Additionally, for faculty, they are now leveraging digital dossiers and Collaboratory is an excellent way to link to their community engagement into their digital dossier; it gives so much more color, description, and complexity to their service work.”
“Ten years ago we were surveying our faculty and hoping that people would respond. Then, we had to chase them down for 6 months, all to write one report. Very soon, we had to start the whole process over again. At the time what we were collecting were numbers of students and numbers of hours. And, now with Collaboratory that whole narrative has changed for the faculty members. They now can connect their engagement activities to other pieces of their work, and our campus community engagement reporting that we now capture through Collaboratory.”
“How we’ve approached documenting institutional engagement via Collaboratory has actually shaped my current role and responsibilities. Up until [recently] this role didn’t exist on campus, and I like to think that the effort around Collaboratory was actually driving the creation of my role and its placement within the Office of President. It is ultimately an acknowledgment that community partnerships are a campus-wide priority.”
“In addition to capturing engagement data for accreditation, we have also been using Collaboratory when talking to alumni and advancement about donors and how beneficial it would be to show our donors about what engagement our colleges are doing. Additionally, for faculty, they are now leveraging digital dossiers and Collaboratory is an excellent way to link to their community engagement into their digital dossier; it gives so much more color, description, and complexity to their service work.”
“Ten years ago we were surveying our faculty and hoping that people would respond. Then, we had to chase them down for 6 months, all to write one report. Very soon, we had to start the whole process over again. At the time what we were collecting were numbers of students and numbers of hours. And, now with Collaboratory that whole narrative has changed for the faculty members. They now can connect their engagement activities to other pieces of their work, and our campus community engagement reporting that we now capture through Collaboratory.”
“How we’ve approached documenting institutional engagement via Collaboratory has actually shaped my current role and responsibilities. Up until [recently] this role didn’t exist on campus, and I like to think that the effort around Collaboratory was actually driving the creation of my role and its placement within the Office of President. It is ultimately an acknowledgment that community partnerships are a campus-wide priority.”
“In addition to capturing engagement data for accreditation, we have also been using Collaboratory when talking to alumni and advancement about donors and how beneficial it would be to show our donors about what engagement our colleges are doing. Additionally, for faculty, they are now leveraging digital dossiers and Collaboratory is an excellent way to link to their community engagement into their digital dossier; it gives so much more color, description, and complexity to their service work.”
Cohort Webinar
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Constructive Dialogue: Fostering Trust, Curiosity, and Deeper Learning in the Classroom
Resources and professional development equipping campus faculty to promote civil discourse and deliberative dialogue within their classrooms and across their campuses.
Providing campus faculty and staff with resources and professional development to foster civil discourse within their classrooms and throughout their campuses.
Participating faculty will use online resources, attend monthly online cohort meetings with faculty across the country, and present work at the Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement (CLDE) meeting in Boston in June 2023 where they demonstrate how to integrate constructive dialogues across the curriculum.
2022-2023 cohort member campuses
Guam
Puerto Rico
U.S. Virgin Islands
Participants use these resources to equip students with the mindsets and skillsets to have difficult conversations.
Research on constructive dialogue in the classroom.
Notes the critiques of bridge-building in order to promote discussion about social justice communities.
Read reportHow an online educational program can reduce polarization and improve dialogue in college classrooms.
Details the randomized study, summarizes the findings, and provides recommendations for fostering mutual understanding and constructive dialogue in the classroom and on campus more broadly.
Read report.Explores three techniques for communicating and collaborating across differences: moral reframing, separating goals from strategies, and integrative thinking.
Read reportNotes how Perspectives users experienced small- to medium-sized decreases in affective polarization, small to medium-sized increases in intellectual humility (understanding the limits of one’s knowledge) and increases in sense of belonging.
Read more.Provides insights not only into debate-based course design and learning improvement strategies but also into how faculty, students, and administrators can partner between institutions to demonstrate a shared commitment to the civic mission of higher education and democratic promise of our nation.
Read more.Our Partner
Want to learn more about Constructive Dialogue? Let us know.
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Civic Solutions: Problem-Solving Through the Up to Us Case Competition
Equipping faculty and staff to support students’ fiscal thinking, advocacy experience, creative problem solving, and civic engagement experience through participation in the Up to Us Case Competition.
Innovative support to encourage innovative solutions.
AASCU provides participating faculty and staff with resources and learning tools that support students in their journey to develop fiscal thinking, advocacy experience, creative problem solving, and civic engagement skills.
How the case competititon worked.
Faculty and staff at AASCU institutions integrated the nationwide competition into their 2023 spring semester offerings. Teams of students nationwide responded to prompts addressing the rising national debt in the context of growing climate concerns, the affordability of higher education, or rising health care costs by proposing creative yet practical solutions that consider the often competing — yet critical — aspects of the policymaking process: equitable policy development, prudent fiscal management, and long-term political feasibility. More than 30 submissions from a variety of disciplines—including but not limited to marketing, anthropology, political science, economics, social psychology, and pharmacy—showcased how students were able to use their diverse perspectives to craft innovative, thoughtful, and bipartisan policy proposals.
Impact
523
students engaged across 19 campuses to produce policy proposals that addressed the U.S. national debt in the context of growing climate concerns, the affordability of higher education, and rising healthcare costs.
290
communications of proposals were sent to members of Congress.
Over 700
community members engaged in discussing the U.S. national debt through university forums and dialogues.
Participating Campuses
Guam
Puerto Rico
U.S. Virgin Islands
Competition Winner
University of Central Arkansas
Aligning Fiscal and Climate Policy
The team chose to address the rising national debt in the context of climate change. Specifically, the team tackled methane emissions from overused landfills and low recycling rates by implementing a landfill tax on businesses to increase federal revenues and incentivize more sustainable practices. Revenue from the tax would be used to fund infrastructure that relates to climate initiatives, including incineration plants and recycling centers. The revenues would also establish a Climate Innovation Fund that would help transition our society to more sustainable practices. A percentage of revenues from the tax would also be used to decrease the nation’s federal debt, which is currently more than $31 trillion. In addressing the national debt, the team aims to put the country in a better position to handle future crises and fund essential federal programs well into the future.
One-pager.
“I developed a larger passion for combining fiscal policy into other policy areas. My favorite memory was making friends with my group partners and developing long-lasting relationships. Our team was extremely passionate about fiscal policy and climate policy and found this opportunity uniquely helpful.”
“I developed a larger passion for combining fiscal policy into other policy areas. My favorite memory was making friends with my group partners and developing long-lasting relationships. Our team was extremely passionate about fiscal policy and climate policy and found this opportunity uniquely helpful.”
“I developed a larger passion for combining fiscal policy into other policy areas. My favorite memory was making friends with my group partners and developing long-lasting relationships. Our team was extremely passionate about fiscal policy and climate policy and found this opportunity uniquely helpful.”
“I developed a larger passion for combining fiscal policy into other policy areas. My favorite memory was making friends with my group partners and developing long-lasting relationships. Our team was extremely passionate about fiscal policy and climate policy and found this opportunity uniquely helpful.”
“I developed a larger passion for combining fiscal policy into other policy areas. My favorite memory was making friends with my group partners and developing long-lasting relationships. Our team was extremely passionate about fiscal policy and climate policy and found this opportunity uniquely helpful.”
Runners-up
- Emporia State University
- Emporia State University
- Emporia State University
- Georgia College & State University
- Georgia College & State University
- Georgia College & State University
- Georgia College & State University
- Gordon State College
- Gordon State College
- Gordon State College
- Gordon State College
- Northeastern Illinois University
- Northeastern Illinois University
- Northeastern Illinois University
- Northeastern Illinois University
- Radford University
- Radford University
- Radford University
- Radford University
- Radford University
- Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania
- Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania
- Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania
- Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania
- University of Central Arkansas
- University of Central Arkansas
- University of Central Arkansas
- University of Central Arkansas
- University of Central Arkansas
- University of Central Arkansas
- Weber State University
- Bethune Cookman University
- Wayne State University
- William & Mary
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2023 Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement Meeting
Share knowledge and develop a sense of community around civic learning and democratic engagement.
