On March 30th, SWUFE-UD Institute of Data Science at Southwestern University of Finance and Economics (SWUFE) successfully convened the Joint Management Board Meeting for the 2020-2021 academic year. Due to the epidemic situation, the meeting was held via online video conference. ZHUO Zhi (President of SWUFE and Chairman of Joint Management Board, SWUFE-UD Institute of Data Science), ZENG Daorong (Vice Chairman of the University Council), LI Yongqiang (Vice President of SWUFE), Dennis Assanis (President of the University of Delaware, Vice Chairman of Joint Management Board) and Prof. Robin Morgan (Vice President for Enrollment Management) attended the meeting along with the relevant department heads from both universities. The meeting was hosted by YANG Shilei, Dean of SWUFE-UD Institute of Data Science at SWUFE.
ZHUO Zhi, Chairman of the Joint Management Board, expressed his sincere greetings and welcome on behalf of SWUFE to Dennis Assanis and the members of the board. ZHUO Zhi firstly introduced the current progress of internationalization and the exploration with practice of SWUFE in building the “New Finance and Economics”. He pointed out that SWUFE and its students now have strong international competitiveness, and the international ranking of SWUFE has been increasing steadily in recent years. He especially emphasized that during the epidemic of Covid-19, both universities have maintained active communication and exchange, which can ensure the steady development of cooperative education. He spoke highly of the achievements of the SWUFE-UD Institute of Data Science since its founding, expressed appreciation for the efforts and contributions made by both universities, and expressed his hope that members of the board would put forward constructive suggestions to promote further cooperation between the two universities.
Dennis Assanis, President of the University of Delaware, reviewed the cooperation between the two universities over the last decade and expressed compliments to the SWUFE-UD Institute of Data Science’s achievements in cultivating outstanding students together with the University of Delaware. He pointed out that the globalization of education is a global trend of the times, and he expressed his hope for the continued strengthening of the bilateral partnership between our two universities.
Speaking from the perspective of the particular situation of international educational cooperation, ZENG Daorong, Vice Chairman of the University Council, emphasized the need to optimize the long-term mechanism of student management. LI Yongqiang, Vice President of SWUFE, presented proposals on the aspects of student credit transfer, optimization of curriculum arrangements and internship practice.
At the meeting, YANG Shilei, Dean of SWUFE-UD Institute of Data Science at SWUFE delivered the 2020 annual work report, and reviewed the key milestones in the cooperation between the two universities, the founding values and goals of the Institute, the operations and governance structure of the Institute, as well as the recent annual key events and the Institute’s current financial situation. Prof. Rick Andrews, Associate Dean of SWUFE-UD Institute of Data Science summarized the work of the Institute on the aspect of teaching management and quality assurance. He expressed his belief that the cooperation between our two universities represents an instance of innovation and emphasized that the data science curriculum will enable students to adapt to contemporary developments in the field of digital intelligence.
The meeting was held to discuss and reach a consensus on the topics of quality assurance, dynamic feedback mechanism and student exchange between the two universities. Rodney Morrison, Vice President of the University of Delaware, suggested that both sides should strengthen cooperation in the area of admissions and play to the strengths of both universities in alumni relations. LIANG Ting, Director of the Office of International Exchange and Cooperation at SWUFE, proposed that both sides should establish a future development plan with periodical evaluation and create a leading example of international education cooperation. Prof. Bruce Weber, Dean of Lerner College of UD, suggested improving the quality of cooperative education based on annual student research, and shared the experience and practice of UD’s “Nest Program”. Prof. Bintong Chen from the Lerner College at UD suggested that in order to guarantee the sustainable development of SWUFE-UD Institute of Data Science, both sides should work hard to ensure students have a positive experience in terms of curriculum design and teaching quality.
All members watched a video interview with student representatives, who talked about their experiences and understanding of the institute, how they feel about their studies, as well as their plans for the future.
(Source: SWUFE-UD Institute of Data Science)
