| University of the West |
|
|---|---|
| Established | 1991 |
| Type | Private Buddhist affiliated |
| President | Dr. C.F. Lee |
| Students | Approximately 250 full time enrollment |
| Location | Rosemead, California, USA |
| Campus | 10 acres |
| Colors | Burgundy/Gold |
| Nickname | UWest |
| Affiliations | Western Association of Schools and Colleges Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Order Hsi Lai Temple |
| Website | www.uwest.edu |
The University of the West (formerly known as Hsi Lai University, commonly known as UWest) is a university in Rosemead, California. It was founded in 1991 by Venerable Master Hsing Yun, founder of the Taiwan-based Buddhist order Fo Guang Shan and Hsi Lai Temple, the North American order headquarters. It moved from the Hsi Lai Temple complex in Hacienda Heights to its current location in 1996.
Contents |
History
UWest is a private, non profit school accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. Although founded by a Buddhist organization, UWest is not a Buddhist college, which is a term typically used for monasteries or schools that train people for the monastic order. University of the West is an accredited undergraduate and advanced degree-granting institution.
UWest students are not required to subscribe to the Buddhist faith or practice Buddhism in any form. Indeed, UWest's undergraduate and graduate programs in Business Administration garner higher enrollment numbers than its undergraduate and graduate programs in Religious Studies. UWest's Religious Studies and Buddhist Studies Departments are world renowned and attract monastics and students of Buddhism from across the world.
President
Dr. CF Lee was appointed President of University of the West in July, 2009.
Before joining University of the West, Dr. Lee was Pro Vice Chancellor of Hong Kong University, one of the highest-ranked schools in the world (ranked 26th by the Financial Times of London) and the No. 1-ranked school in Asia. Dr. Lee was director of the Hong Kong University School of Professional and Continuing Education. He was also Chair Professor of Geotechnical Engineering at HKU.
A lifelong Buddhist practitioner, Dr. Lee became a key member of Buddha's Light International Association and over a number of decades developed a close association with BLIA and Fo Guang Shan founder Ven. Master Hsing Yun, who also founded University of the West.
Dr. Lee graduated from the University of Hong Kong with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering in 1968. He earned a master’s degree in 1970. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Western Ontario, Canada, in 1972 in the field of geotechnical engineering. He taught at UWO and the University of Toronto before starting a long career with Ontario Hydro in Canada, where he worked on a number of projects providing hydro and nuclear power.
In 1994, Dr. Lee joined the Hong Kong University faculty as a professor of civil engineering.
As of 2009, Dr. Lee is the lead civil engineer in a massive sustainable redevelopment project in northwest China.
Dr. Lee is the sixth UWest president. The first president of UWest was Venerable Master Hsing Yun, who founded the school in 1991. Venerable Hsing Yun was followed by presidents Nai-Chen Chen, Dr. Lewis Lancaster, Dr. Roger Schmidt, and Dr. Allen Huang.
Mission
The mission of University of the West is to
- Educate students in a context informed by Buddhist wisdom and values.
- Facilitate cultural understanding and appreciation between East and West.
Academic programs
UWest currently offers degrees in the following majors:
Department of Business Administration:
- Bachelor's in Business Administration - with concentrations in Marketing; Accounting; Computer Information Systems; and International Business.
- Master's in Business Administration - with concentrations in Computer Information Systems; International Business; Finance; and Non Profit Organization Management.
- Executive MBA (E-MBA).
Students will learn a variety of skills to help them succeed in Business in the 21st century.
Department of Religious Studies:
- Bachelor's in Religious Studies - with majors in Comparative Religious Studies and Buddhist Studies.
- Master's in Religious Studies - with concentrations in Comparative Religious Studies and Buddhist Studies.
- Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Religious Studies with emphasis in Comparative Religious Studies and Buddhist Studies.
- Master of Divintiy (Buddhist chaplain training program)
UWest also offers courses in Biblical Hebrew, Sanskrit, Pali, Canonical Chinese, and Tibetan. Graduate students in the Religious Studies Program are required to take 6 units from one of the languages just mentioned. Students already fluent in these languages can waive this requirement if they pass a written test.
Department of Languages:
- Bachelor's in English.
- English as a Second Language (ESL) program
Department of Psychology:
- Bachelor's in Psychology.
- Master's in Psychology with concentrations in Buddhist psychology and multicultural counseling.
Enrollment
UWest enrollment stood at just over 250 students as of the fall 2009 semester. The campus has seen a significant growth in population since accreditation in 2006. The student body is still primarily international in character, however as of fall 2009 approximately 25 percent of the student body were U.S. residents, primarily from the Los Angeles area. Aside from U.S. students, the student body is made up of students from Taiwan, Tibet, India, Sri Lanka, France, Germany, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Korea, Nepal and other countries or reigions.
Research centers
- The Center for the Study of Minority and Small Business (CSMSB)
- Institute for Chinese Buddhist Studies
- Digital Sanskrit Project
Accreditation
UWest was accredited in February, 2005, by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC)[1]. The university has a membership status in the WASC. This means that the degrees and courses currently supported by the university will transfer to other universities with regional or national accreditations.
Financial Aid
UWest is authorized by the U.S. Department of Education to disburse Federal Financial Aid. Other financial aid options include the Stafford Loan, Plus Loan, Pell Grants, Perkins Loan Program, etc. UWest also offers institutional financial aid, such as scholarships, tuition waivers and tuitionships (a form of work study) to students who qualify.
Fo Guang Shan Universities
See also
External links
|
|||||||||||||||||
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
