JHU SAIS Ends Semester Early at Hopkins-Nanjing Center in China

Washington, D.C.-The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) of The Johns Hopkins University and Nanjing University in Nanjing, China, have agreed to end the spring 2003 semester at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center for Chinese and American Studies as a precaution against severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).

There have been no cases of SARS reported either at the center or in Nanjing, and the joint decision is strictly precautionary. The semester will end today and students are being asked to leave the center by Tuesday, 04/29. International faculty and research fellows will be asked to leave by Tuesday, 05/6. The semester originally was scheduled to end on 06/6. Because a substantial part of the year-long program had been completed, students still will receive the certificates for which they had been studying.

After closely monitoring the situation for several weeks, a final joint decision was made to curtail the spring semester primarily out of concern for the health of the international and Chinese students, faculty, research fellows and staff. Because not enough is known about SARS at this time, the university said it believed it was prudent to end the semester early.

Johns Hopkins and Nanjing University expect the center to resume its operations in 09/at the start of the 2003-04 academic year and strongly reiterated their long-standing commitment to their partnership. A final determination about the upcoming academic year will be made by mid-summer.

Established in 1986, the Center is an educational joint venture between Johns Hopkins University and Nanjing University. It gives approximately100 students from the U.S., China, and third countries the opportunity to live together and pursue graduate-level studies for one year. SAIS administers the center's activities on behalf of JHU.