With the advent of the new semester, the UM-SJTU Joint Institute (hereinafter referred to as the Joint Institute) has admitted 266 students from the University of Michigan, Cornell University and Carnegie Mellon University to the visiting student program. These students will study for a whole semester at the Joint Institute. On February 21, 2021, the International Programs Office of the Joint Institute scheduled orientation and a campus tour for the new entrants to help them learn more about Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) and the Joint Institute and better prepared for the forthcoming campus life.
An information session was held at the orientation, where Ms. Du Yan, the Manager of the International Programs Office, welcomed the students and introduced the history and overview of SJTU and the Joint Institute as well as various functional departments of the Joint Institute and various faculties of its Long Bin Building. She also underlined the dos and don’ts during the period of COVID-19 prevention and control. Her remarks were followed by the student representative Li Beiming’s introduction to the campus life of SJTU and the transport, business districts and scenic spots in Shanghai, after which came the Q&A session, where he shared information about the library, canteens and sporting facilities.
After the information session, the students took a campus tour with volunteers from the Joint Institute as their guides. Students were first divided into 10 groups and then given a task for each group, which was to take photos of specific spots on campus. That helped them get familiar with one another as well as SJTU.
Thanksgiving celebration given for visiting students at UM-SJTU Joint Institute
The visiting student program, as an innovative program jointly initiated by SJTU, the Joint Institute, the University of Michigan, Cornell University and Carnegie Mellon University, aims to cope with the situation where large numbers of Chinese students are prevented from overseas studies after COVID-19 struck China. As required by a cooperation agreement for the program, the students will register for a course or carry out independent research at the Joint Institute in the following semester when they are allowed to use the teaching and living facilities of SJTU. The program officially kicked off in September last year, and received 218 visiting students for the fall semester of 2020. During the program, in addition to regular schoolwork, the Joint Institute also organized a diverse range of extracurricular activities for the visiting students, such as the welcome evening party, the dinner party for Thanksgiving celebrations and the dragon boat race involving both faculty members and students, to facilitate them better integrate to the campus culture and make it a memorable experience. After the fall semester, 83 of them decided to continue their journey in the program this semester (i.e. the spring semester of 2021).
Visiting students in a dragon boat race organized by UM-SJTU Joint Institute organized
Li Chengyu, from Cornell University, was impressed by the abundant extracurricular activities at the Joint Institute in the past 6 months. He said, “From dragon boat racing to drone flying, many activities are worth trying. And on top of that, when it comes to SJTU, the Student Innovation Center is something that you cannot ignore. It has a variety of engineering associations and labs. It’s literally the cradle of engineers!” Guo Yixin, a student from Cornell University, said, “I chose a Japanese course at the Joint Institute last semester. The professor was patient and humerous, which made me determined to learn Japanese in a long-term. The Joint Institute has held a variety of activities that made it possible for students from US universities to communicate and make friends,” she added, “and for this semester, I decided to continue my study at SJTU, hoping to have a deeper experience of domestic university life, such as joining the tennis club.”
Postgraduate lecture series for visiting students at UM-SJTU Joint Institute
Talking about life at SJTU and the Joint Institute, Chen Minghao, from the University of Michigan, concluded it with two words: respect and support. “As a postgraduate, instead of attending class as undergraduates would normally do, I participated in scientific research with the help of my tutor. And everybody in the team was very nice and didn’t treat me as a visiting student. We talked in English at group meetings, and I learned a lot.” he said. And he added, “I also made a lot of new friends while playing basketball and working out at the gym, and this has given me a better sense of campus life.”
Yu Yan, from Carnegie Mellon University, enjoyed the academic atmosphere at SJTU. “Because of the pandemic, I couldn’t go back to CMU. But the Joint Institute provided an opportunity for me to communicate and work on assignments with other students before the deadline. Otherwise, I would have had to stay alone at home. We ate at the canteen together, studied in the study room together, and encouraged each other. This is something that cannot be replaced by online instruction and explains why I have found so much joy at SJTU.”
The number of visiting students admitted to the program has topped 400, including thoses arrived this semester. The program, as a new effort by the Joint Institute to deepen international cooperation, demonstrates its firm commitment as one of the world’s leading higher learning institutes. For the visiting students, the program provides a unique opportunity to experience the collective life in a well-equipped Chinese university. We hope that the visiting students will enjoy the delighting and unforgettable life here this spring!