As China becomes a global leader, the establishment of research and academic cooperations becomes more important and conferences such as the China Study Abroad Forum provides an excellent vehicle for building these links.
The University of Waikato and particularly its Management School has developed a reputation for undertaking research which is both academically sound and practically useful. Such an approach ensures that our graduates are prepared to apply their learning on entry to the job market.
The University of Waikato has approximately 2,000 international students with about 750 from China. Approximately 60% of these students are attending programmes in the Faculty of Management followed by the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and the Faculty of Computing.
Today誷 university graduates must be prepared for an international career. Student exchanges and dual degree programmes provide students the opportunity to experience another culture, to work in another culture and to develop the important networks in another nation. These relationships will prove vital to the development of a successful career.
As China has moved from adopting Western practices to adapting Western practices, there is now an opportunity for the West to learn from China. The University of Waikato was the first New Zealand university to develop formal international links, first with Malaysia in 1993 and then with China in 1995. Through the development of joint programmes, this relationship with China had matured over the years and the University is always seeking the opportunity to establish cooperative arrangements with reputable international universities. I anticipate the University of Waikato will extend its partnerships in China this year particularly in its areas of expertise.
The largest challenge facing Western Universities is to encourage our own students to spend time in China to experience how this nation is developing. There is a need to move from the simple exchange of students to establishing comprehensive arrangements where staff and research is shared across borders.
Jean-Pierre DE GREVE
比利时布鲁塞尔自由大学副校长，主管国际事务。欧洲首都高校联盟（UNICA）指导委员会委员。
The objective of my visit to Beijing is twofold: attending the China Study Abroad Forum and discussing the progress in collaboration between the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and several high-ranked universities in Beijing.
For the academic year 2011-2012, the total number of Bachelor, Master and PhD-students is 12,742 students, of which 2,681 are international. The Chinese students represent the fourth largest group of international students at VUB.
I see several reasons for Chinese students to come to the VUB. The Vrije Universiteit Brussel, a dynamic and modern university with two green campuses in the Brussels-Capital region, offers high-quality education and research. The research teams are internationally recognized in many disciplines of fundamental and applied research. The VUB has extensive collaboration with Chinese partners and the cost of studying at the VUB is very reasonable.
Cooperative programs are beneficial for students as they offer unique opportunities to enhance the competences of the students by studying in a different social, economical and cultural environment. The universities also benefit from these programs. Foreign students in classes and on campus interact with the local students and staff, thus offering internationalization at home experience. Through the collaboration in education, the universities also learn to know each other better. The VUB already collaborates with an extended group of universities, including several Chinese top universities. The VUB wants to concentrate on strengthening and deepening these existing collaborations.
The high average quality of Belgian universities and the prestige of the European degrees are major strengths of international education. The abundance of languages in Europe, even in Belgium, is considered the most important weakness of the EU as a study destination. But Brussels offers a friendly environment, where English is the international language in education and social life. I believe the China-EU academic collaboration will increase in the future, and attention will shift from US and Australia to Europe.
Sue Thomas
澳大利亚查尔斯特大学副校长。迄今为止，已在三所澳大利亚高校从事教学和科研工作，并长期负责外事工作。
It is a great honor to be given this opportunity by the CSCSE to attend and speak at the China Study Abroad Forum. The Forum provides an opportunity for us to learn from our Chinese colleagues and to share knowledge about the rapid changes occurring in international education across the world, and particularly in China.
Charles Sturt University is one of Australia’s largest universities and has an international reputation for excellence, an outstanding graduate employment record and a strong commitment to quality teaching, learning and research.
Charles Sturt University currently has over 1800 students from China who study with us at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. Students and their families are attracted to Charles Sturt University because of the high quality education that we offer, the broad range of courses that we offer, our graduate employment success rates and our world-class research strength in key disciplines. In addition, the University offers friendly, safe and personal study environments, where smaller class sizes are a feature of nearly all our courses.
Charles Sturt University has a long history of Sino-Australian cooperative education programs. There are a number of advantages for Chinese students. Firstly, students have the opportunity to receive both a Chinese and an Australian degree in a relatively short period of time. Students can also build international professional networks with fellow Australian and international students and academic staff, while gaining different perspectives and cross-cultural understanding.
Charles Sturt University’s relationship with Chinese universities is also important for our Australian students, especially as it encourages them to learn more about China and helps ‘internationalise’ the University’s curricula. Increasingly our Australian students are also seeking employment opportunities in China or with multi-national organizations within Asia.
