Strengthening our relationship with our Chinese partners

In November 2018, Dr. Sauro Camiletti, Interim Principal and Academic Dean and Marilyn Mason, Vice-Principal, Enrolment Services and Strategic Partnerships, will be travelling to China to visit three university partners.

“We will be visiting a partner of ten years, one of twenty years and formalizing a new relationship,” Mason says. “I think it is going to be a really celebratory trip. It will be a very exciting week.”

On November 12, Dr. Camiletti and Mason will be visiting East China University of Science and Technology (ECUST) to finalize a new partnership that has been developed by Dr. Sergio Janczak of King’s School of Management, Economics, and Mathematics (MEM). Through Dr. Janczak’s efforts, a “2+2 program” has been discussed extensively between King’s and ECUST.  A Memorandum of Understanding, to be signed by Dr. Camiletti, will commit the partners to moving forward on the approval process at their universities.

In a 2+2 program, students from the partner school complete the first two years at their home university, then complete their last two years of study at King’s. After four years, the student receives a degree from both their home university as well as a Western degree.

Located in Shanghai, China, ECUST has approximately 25,000 students.

Mason visited ECUST last spring and was “very impressed with the campus and the caliber of the academic programs.”

On November 14-15, Dr. Camiletti and Mason will be visiting the Chongqing Technology and Business University (CTBU) to mark the tenth anniversary of the 2+2 program that exists between King’s and CTBU. Dr. Camiletti will be giving a speech during the event, attending a forum and meeting with CTBU/King’s alumnus. Dr. Janczak and Lydia Li, Program Manager of MEM, will deliver talks as part of the event. International officials, local business representatives, members of the local government and representatives from the Canadian consulate will be in attendance.

“It’s hard to believe it’s been a decade. It has gone so quickly and so well,” Mason says. “The relationship is so strong. It feels like going back to visit family.”

In 2008, the first group of CTBU students arrived at King’s as the part of the 2+2 agreement. As of 2018, approximately 160 CTBU students have graduated from King’s.

CTBU is located in Chongqing, China’s largest municipality. More than 30,000 students are currently studying at CTBU, which has over 2100 professors, teachers and support staff.

After the event at CTBU, Mason will be visiting Dongbei University of Finance and Economics (DUFE) on November 16. DUFE partnered with King’s for its first 2+2 Program, established in 2002.

DUFE is located in Dalian, in China’s Liaoning province and has over 20,000 students.

Mason says the students who take part in the 2+2 program “come here and excel. They are excited about being here. They are great leaders in their program and our community.”

In addition to students coming from China to study at King’s, King’s faculty teach at DUFE and CTBU every summer, strengthening academic and faculty relationships.

“We’re committed to having harmonious and long term relationships” Mason says. She notes that the King’s team is in constant contact with the universities in China.