New Jersey's top higher education official is reviewing claims that professors at Kean University's satellite campus in China are now employees of the nation's communist government.

Zakiya Smith-Ellis, the state's Secretary of Higher Education, sent a letter to the public university last month asking for detailed information on the rights and protections of faculty at Wenzhou-Kean University, according to the state.

She also asked for information about the organizational and financial structure at the satellite campus Kean opened in 2012 through a partnership with the Chinese government.

"After review of that response, the secretary will determine what further actions may be warranted," her office said in a statement.

Kean President Dawood Farahi has already met with Smith-Ellis to discuss the union's concerns, and Kean is compiling information to share with her, the university said in a statement.

Wenzhou-Kean University, which opened amid a trend of American colleges looking to partner with China in search of big profits, has 102 faculty members, including more than 50 U.S. citizens, according to Kean University.

Those professors have always been employees of Kean University, paid in U.S. dollars and represented by a local chapter of the American Federation of Teachers, according to the union.

However, they were recently informed they will now be employees of Wenzhou-Kean University, paid in Chinese currency and can no longer be in an American union.

The Kean Federation of Teachers argues that change effectively makes the professors employees of the communist Chinese government, raising concerns about academic freedom and integrity.

Kean University contends the change will have no impact on academics, saying it has long been planned and is consistent with the employment models of other U.S. colleges who partner with China.

All senior academic administers will remain Kean University employees and academic standards, policies, assessment and accreditation will be managed by Kean University, President Dawood Farahi wrote in in a letter to faculty.

Kean intends for faculty at Wenzhou-Kean University to have comparable salary, benefits and other privileges as those who work at the campus in Union Township, according to the university.

The satellite campus in Wenzhou, a port city on the East China Sea south of Shanghai, has about 2,000 students, mostly Chinese students taking classes in English to earn Kean degrees.

Local union officials have long had concerns about the campus and complained when a 2015 job posting for two non-academic jobs said "membership in the Chinese Communist Party is preferred."

Kean said the job listings were consistent with the university's agreement with the Chinese government, which oversees the non-academic departments on the satellite campus.

Adam Clark may be reached at adam_clark@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on twitter at @realAdamClark. Find NJ.com on Facebook.