“I have learned more about the internationalization of WHU. I believe that this exchange program will bring a brighter future for the cooperation and communication between Wuhan University and Ohio State University”, said Linda Montaño, one of the three administrative staffs who participated in the WHU-OSU staff exchange program in this early November. During this two weeks, not only did they intern at different sections of WHU Office of International Affairs, they also exchanged ideas and shared different management philosophies with WHU staffs from different schools and administrations, met with Student English Correspondent and other WHUers in various activities and visited tourist attraction both on campus and around the city. Ms. Gretchen commented that there are many aspects in common between WHU and OSU. In some way, the two administrations are facing the same challenges such as how to improve the level of services for students and staff with limited resources and how to finance well and efficiently.
Also, due to better understanding, the fact that WHU and OSU share the same educational principle becomes self-evident: to provide better education for students and offer them more opportunities to study abroad, cultivate them with global vision and broaden their horizons. Under the guidance of Internationalization Strategy, WHU is determined to control the enrollment of undergraduate students gradually but “we will recruit more international students in the future”. When Mr. Zhu Junyun, deputy director of Section of Teaching Affairs, Department of Undergraduate Education, mentioned in a meeting that WHU emphasizes not only the general education of students but also pays much attention to the cultivation of talents in real life, educate them to be mature and responsible in the society. The delegates reacted with great surprise and said , “just the same as OSU!”
During their stay at WHU, three OSU staff had informal and formal discussions with different schools and administrations of WHU, including Office of Financial Affairs, Office of International Affairs, Office of Development Planning and Discipline Construction, Department of Undergraduate Education, Graduate School, Institute of Science and Technology Development , Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences, Office of Human Resources, School of International Education, etc.
These discussions covered many aspects such as funding and budget, introduction to WHU internationalization development strategies and overall plan for the development of key disciplines, the construction and internationalization of students’ education system and scientific research system, overseas student enrollment policy and teaching schedules, etc, which turned out fruitful and enlightening along the process. In addition, the delegates who have rich experience in the management of international affairs also shared many management ideas of OSU, introducing their international offices and foreign publicity and policies about studying abroad, etc.
The group also paid visits to the landmarks at campus such as old library and Wanlin Museum, enjoyed the picturesque scenery in East Lake Scenic Spot, climbed to the top of the Yellow Crane Tower and tasted the delicious local snacks in HuBu Lane. “This is such a gorgeous place with these traditional wonderful Chinese art works, landscape painting, wood carving, paper-cutting, etc. I will take as many photos as I can for my sister. She will enjoy it very much”, said Laurie Ogburn, a tall lady always with big smiles and rich facial expressions, who is also fond of telling funny stories.
This March, WHU and OSU signed an agreement, contributing to the establishment of administrative staff exchange program. This program marks a new milestone for internationalization of administrative staff in WHU, exploring a new way of international cooperation and exchange. Since a cooperation agreement was signed in 1981 between WHU and OSU, the stable exchange and collaboration between OSU and WHU took place smoothly, covering student exchanges, faculty exchanges, joint research programs, management training, culture exchanges and so on.
(Edited by Mengtian Wang & Sijia Hu)
