On the morning of 17th April 2016, a meeting with a Delegation from Oxford Prospects Programmes Office was held in the VIP Reception Hall at GDUFS. Attendees from Oxford Prospects Programmes Office were: Director of Oxford Prospects Programmes, Dr. WANG Shidong and Assistant of Oxford Prospects Programmes, Dr. LU Yuchen. Attendees from GDUFS were: President of GDUFS, ZHONG Weihe; Director of Human Resources Division, XIE Wenxin; Director of Office of International Cooperation and Exchange, CAI Hong; Deputy Director of Office of International Cooperation and Exchange, YI Zongyong; Deputy Dean of School of Interpreting and Translation Studies, ZHAN Cheng; Vice Director of Institute for International Education, WU Yan, and two exchange students from the School of English for International Business and the School of Interpreting and Translation Studies respectively.
The signing ceremony
President ZHONG extended a warm welcome to Dr. WANG and Dr. LU for their visit to GDUFS. He said that the promotion of Oxford Prospects Programmes was highly significant for Chinese universities, and would be beneficial to the internationalization of student education. He expected that relevant faculties at GDUFS could make full use of this opportunity, providing convenience for students and teachers to study at Oxford through this valuable platform. Dr. WANG fully agreed with President ZHONG, saying that it was the first time for Oxford to take Chinese students officially, who would be accepted as full members of the university. What’s more, Dr. WANG hoped to regard GDUFS as their educational base in South China and he was pleased to extend the collaboration between the University of Oxford and GDUFS in terms of social research, student education and innovation.
Then, two students from the School of English for International Business and the School of Interpreting and Translation Studies expressed their thoughts about being invited to study at the University of Oxford. Both of them said that they felt honored and privileged to be given this opportunity and they would spare no effort to enrich themselves so that they were qualified to be a student at Oxford. Dr. WANG really appreciated their elaborative faculties, logic analysis capabilities and thinking habits, believing that these two students were highly suitable for the educational system of Oxford. He also encouraged them to learn more about Oxford through the official websites.
After this, President ZHONG presented a bracelet and calligraphy work written by a famous professor of GDUFS with the university’s motto on it. Dr. WANG offered a photo album recording comparison between past Oxford and present Oxford in return. What’s more, he presented a souvenir with 38 Oxford faculties’ emblems on it to GDUFS.
At the end of the meeting, the appointment ceremony of Dr. WANG as Visiting Professor of the School of Business, GDUFS; the signing ceremony of MOU between GDUFS and Worcester College, and the signing and unveiling ceremony of Oxford Prospects Programmes Guangzhou Office were hosted by the Director of Human Resources Division, XIE Wenxin. He expressed his wishes that GDUFS and Oxford could extend the cooperation platform between teachers from two universities. After receiving the appointment given by President ZHONG, Dr. WANG said he looked forward to being a member of GDUFS and he would try his best to take his responsibilities seriously. At last, everyone at the meeting took a group photo in front of the unveiling board, which signaled the foundation of Oxford Prospects Programmes Guangzhou Office.
In November 2015, President ZHONG and a delegation from GDUFS visited Europe and they reached an agreement on several educational projects with some universities. So far, four projects have been implemented. For instance, students from the School of Interpreting and Translation Studies have already completed their internships in Joint Interpreting& Conference Service. What’s more, starting in September this year, GDUFS will send students to the University of Oxford, Université Libre de Bruxelles and ISIT for further study.
