Kean University transfers overseas faculty to Chinese payroll

Kean University, in New Jersey, has drawn criticism from its faculty union for a plan to transfer 102 faculty members at its satellite campus in China to the payroll of the Chinese government, according to the NJ Spotlight. Wenzhou-Kean University opened in 2012.Kean President Dawood Farahi wrote in a letter to faculty that the switch was a planned step and would not change how they were managed or their level of academic freedom. He noted Duke University and New York University also use a local employment model on campuses in China, which Inside Higher Ed confirmed.New Jersey's Secretary of Higher Education is investigating the matter and sent a letter to the university requesting detailed information regarding faculty members' rights and protections under Wenzhou-Kean as well as the financial structure and organization of the Chinese satellite campus, according to NJ.com.As international programs become a more popular venture for U.S. colleges, they are subject to public scrutiny over academic freedom concerns and whether some are compromising American values to turn a profit.