Delegation from Binghamton University of New York Pays a Visit to JUST

On the morning of September 3rd, a five-member  US delegation of academic exchanges andcooperation from Binghamton University of New York paid a visit to the Schoolof Foreign Languages of JUST. The delegation was jointly led by Cherry Pu,director of the Board of Hanlinhui Educational Foundation and also director ofSino-American innovation cooperation projects in universities authorized byAmerican Ivy League universities, and John Chaffee, Dean of Asia andAsia-American Research Institute in Binghamton University.

Zhao Guoqiang, the Party Secretary and deputyheadmaster of Zhenjiang Foreign Language School, a great source of top studentsfrom China enrolled into Binghamton University, also participated in thisexchange. Zhang Guangming, Director of International Exchanges and CooperationOffice of JUST and also Dean of International Exchanges School, and the leadersof School of Foreign Languages as well as department deans attended themeeting. This meeting was presided over by Dr. Zhou Weijing, Executive Dean ofSchool of Foreign Languages.

First, Dr. Zhou Weijing introduced the leaders andguests present.

Second, Dr. Pan Jinquan, Party Secretary of the Schooldelivered a welcome speech on behalf of the School of Foreign Languages and sincerelyhoped that consensus on mutual cooperation would be reached by joint effortsand thus the internationalization of the School of Foreign Languages would reachnew heights.

Then, Dr. Zhang Guangming introduced the history ofour university, the achievements in international cooperation in recent yearsand the blueprint of international exchanges and cooperation during ‘the Twelfth Five-Year Plan’. He hoped that on the basis of cooperation betweenBinghamton University and School of Foreign Languages of JUST, exchangesbetween the two universities in such fields as management, engineering,education and natural sciences would be vigorously promoted so as to lay asolid foundation for a higher internationalization level.

On behalf of the school, Dr. Zhou introduced thedevelopment of disciplines and faculties, educational programs andinternational cooperations. Cherry Pu, representative of Binghamton University,recalled the cordial communication and cooperation with the School of ForeignLanguages of JUST, hoping that two parties would work together to enlarge thescale and the level of mutual cooperation.

Next, Professor John Chaffee delivered a speech onbehalf of Binghamton University. He made a comparison between BinghamtonUniversity and JUST and pointed out that the cooperation between the Scool of ForeignLanguages and its American counterpart would bring a great success due to asound foundation in both education programs and teacher training.

In a friendly and candid atmosphere, the two parties heldan in-depth discussion and reached a consensus in joint cultivation ofundergraduates and graduates majoring in foreign languages and conferring ofmaster’s degree to in-the-workforce students of ESL(English as a SecondLanguage). Also, a plan of cooperation project was agreed upon to establish agreat teaching platform of ESL with efforts from Zhenjiang Foreign LanguageSchool, ESL Center of Binghamton University and School of Foreign Languages of JUST.

New York State University is supposedly the largestand most comprehensive educational system of state universities in America,boasting 64 colleges and nearly 470 thousand students. In the system, there arefour key universities and Binghamton University ranks the top, renowned as“Public Ivy League” and the best state university in northeastern America. Inthe review of all state universities in America conducted by Kiplinger,Binghamton University was ranked the second, but is considered one of the‘Best Buys’. In Princeton review of the most valuable state universities, BinghamtonUniversity was ranked the fourth. So far, Binghamton University has establishedexchange and cooperation projects with Fudan University, People’s University,Suzhou University and Shenzhen University. The visit today will greatly promotea deep understanding and cooperation between School of Foreign Languages andBinghamton University and will pave the way for future mutual visits andcooperation between the two universities in more disciplines and researches.