20 University Chiefs Forge Pacific Rim Academic Alliance

Twenty college presidents, from USC to the University of the Philippines, announced Tuesday that they have formed the first international union of top research universities in the Pacific Basin.

Called the Assn. of Pacific Rim Universities, the group will promote cooperation in teaching and research in areas such as economic development, environmental protection, technology transfer and Pacific Rim leadership.

“Our universities educate most of the Pacific Rim’s leaders in government, business, science and the arts,” said USC President Steven B. Sample, who will chair the group. “Working together, we can help to make the Pacific Rim the leading region of the world.”

The agreement by the heads of the 20 universities came after three days of meetings at the USC campus spearheaded by Sample, Caltech President Thomas Everhart, and chancellors Charles Young of UCLA and Chang-Lin Tien of UC Berkeley.

Also attending the meetings were the heads of universities from Mexico, Australia, South Korea, China, Taiwan, Thailand, Russia, Canada, Indonesia and Hong Kong.

Among the objectives will be increasing faculty and student exchanges--particularly ones sending Americans overseas.

Sample said that far more foreign students now study at U.S. universities than American students study abroad.

At USC, about 4,200 students, or 15% of its undergraduate and postgraduate enrollment, are citizens of other countries. Of those 4,200, about 3,000 come from Pacific Rim nations.

By contrast, the heads of major institutions in Bangkok, Mexico City, Seoul and Canberra said their universities have only a few handfuls of American students--from 10 to 20 at Australian National University, to about 50 at the National Autonomous University of Mexico.

Sample said “ignorance and provincialism” are the main barriers hindering the flow of U.S. students to universities in other countries. “I think we’ll see those numbers go up” as a result of the new organization’s efforts, he said.

Stanley Ikenberry, president of the American Council on Education, a private higher education policy group in Washington, called the new Pacific Rim alliance “a terrific idea” that should improve the movement of people and ideas.