Global Technology Initiative Study Tour To Asia At San Jose State University

Prompted by the outsourcing of knowledge-based jobs in Silicon Valley and elsewhere in the U.S. and by the resulting necessity for students to adapt to and capitalize on the global economy, the College of Engineering at San Jose State University established a one-million dollar Global Technology Initiative (GTI) Study Program to provide American students with a global perspective and understanding of the issues. The initiative has sponsored an annual program study tour for 25 undergraduate students on a two-week all-expense-paid study tour to Taiwan and China during the summers of 2004, 2005 and 2006. We reported our 2004 experience at the 2005 ASEE Annual Conference and developed new and improved study programs for 2005 and 2006. This paper summarizes the programs of the past three years and proposes ways to develop future study programs of a similar nature. The focus is on program development and assessment, with a brief discussion of student selection and logistics.