President John Shumaker, who had signed a letter of intent in June with Beijing Bohua Foreign Language School, announced in September 2002 an initiative to cosponsor a private secondary school in Beijing, China, with the Tennessee Department of Education and the China Electronics Corporation. The school was to have dual accreditation to issue high school diplomas from the State of Tennessee and the Chinese Ministry of Education. The school was to serve the children of Chinese leaders, government workers, and private sector workers.
Shumaker announced that the China Electronics Corporation, which had already established several private schools in Beijing, would provide the financial support for the school, and UT would operate it. CEC would pay for construction and contract with UT to provide teachers, curriculum, and certification. Shumaker indicated that any profit UT made would be used to enable UT and Tennessee students to study at the school in Beijing. The school was planned to open in fall 2003. UT hired Charles Fishman, a lawyer from Washington, DC, to act for it in negotiations and legal matters related to the school. On October 8 Shumaker signed an agreement with Beijing Bohua Foreign Language School to establish a Sino-US high school in Beijing and to examine offering graduate degree programs in China. Although the China Electronics Corporation instigated the project, Bohua became the official Chinese partner with UT.
The board of trustees endorsed the UT-Sino United States High School in principle at its October 2002 meeting, and the commissioner of education for Tennessee announced that a new category of high school was being created to accommodate the project, pending an opinion from the attorney general. Philip Scheurer, vice president of operations, was designated as UT’s lead person for the project, with responsibility for developing a business plan for the school.
Scheurer was concerned with Fishman’s scrutiny of Bohua and had difficulty obtaining financial data from Bohua. Since Fishman was not completely familiar with applicable Chinese laws, Scheurer asked him to identify and retain a Chinese lawyer through Fishman’s contract. Shumaker agreed, and the attorney was hired. The Chinese attorney advised that Bohua’s funding might be from questionable sources and that they might be associated with the Chinese military. Questions were also raised about the actual ownership of the land upon which the high school was proposed to be built. Scheurer was also concerned that the Chinese government might not allow some required courses, such as American History to be taught, and UT’s inability to assist graduates of the program to obtain visas was of apparent concern to the Chinese business partners.
Scheurer advised Shumaker that the project should not be pursued further, and Shumaker agreed. According to the special review conducted by the UT Audit and Consulting Services Office and published August 15, 2003, the total cost of the failed project was $279,823.32, including $5,561.45 to create a brochure for the program; $23,604.13 on curriculum planning in the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences; $3,345 to advertise the associate headmaster position; $211,511.66 paid to Charles Fishman for his services; and $35,801.08 for university employees to travel in connection with the project.