Authors:
Dr. Jinjin Yang, Professor, Southern Connecticut State University
Dr. Glenn Roswal, Professor, Jacksonville State University

The Special Olympics China University Initiative was launched during a five-day seminar held on March 20-25 at the Shanghai Institute of Physical Education. The initiative is a long term project that aims to teach physical education students from around China how to incorporate Special Olympics training into their curriculum as well as develop Special Olympics sub-programs. The seminar, which was the product of a partnership between Special Olympics China and Special Olympics East Asia, gathered 30 physical education professors from seven universities around China and 10 special school physical education teachers from Shanghai.

The seminar included the introduction of the Special Olympics China University curriculum, designed to assist teachers and professors in introducing Special Olympics to university physical education programs. A critical component of the training was discussing ways in which the institutes and universities could collaborate with local Special Olympics programs to provide practical experiences to their students, while also providing increased training and competition opportunities for Special Olympics athletes. The seminar was conducted by Special Olympics Managing Director George Smith, AAHPERD Past President Dr. Glenn Roswal, Dr. Jinjin Yang, USA, Professor Lu Yan, Beijing Physical Education University, and Charlie Chang, Special Olympics East Asia.