On June 21^st, 2024, the AUCA Overseas Universities in China Alliance Annual Member Conference was successfully held at SEM. The annual conference focused on international cooperation and exchange in higher education, bringing together over thirty representatives from overseas universities in China and colleagues from Tongji University to explore innovative models and successful cases of international educational cooperation.

Deputy Dean WANG Hongwei warmly welcomed AUCA and its partners such as ETS, and all attending representatives, emphasizing the significant importance of this exchange between Chinese and overseas universities.

Ms. YOU Chao, Honorary Chairperson of the AUCA Overseas Universities in China Alliance and Director of the Ohio State University China Office, expressed her hope that the Alliance will continue to build solid bridges of cooperation between Chinese and overseas universities and promote the globalization of education.

Ms. LI Jing, Deputy Director of the Office of International Affairs at Tongji University, gave a detailed introduction to Tongji University’s development path and internationalization strategy. She stressed that Tongji University is committed to promoting sustainable development in education, continuously expanding its global network of partners, and supporting high-level talent cultivation and scientific research through internationalization efforts.

Ms. SHOU Yuexian, Director of the Marketing and Promotion Office and Deputy Director of the MBA/EMBA Center of Tongji SEM, said that SEM has an internationalisation strategy that is rooted in Shanghai but reaches out to the world. The school has established close partnerships with over 100 renowned universities in more than 30 countries and regions around the world, facilitating exchanges at various levels such as student, faculty and research.

During the day’s roundtable discussion, representatives from various cooperation projects shared their experiences. Mr. ZHANG Jiewei, Director of the China Cooperation Program at Webster University, who also serves as the Committee Chair of the AUCA Overseas Universities in China Alliance, invited senior officials from various programs: WANG Shuyi, Director of Graduate Programmes and Admissions at Duke Kunshan University; XU Jin, Director of Washington University in St. Louis China Office; and YU Shushu, Executive Director of Sun Yat-sen University – University of Minnesota International EMBA Programme. They engaged in in-depth exchanges and discussions on the challenges and opportunities of Sino-overseas cooperative education.

The ETS delegation presented the latest trend analysis of TOEFL and GRE exams. YAO Jiayi, Academic Relations Manager for TOEFL, and LUO Ning, Academic Relations Manager for GRE, interpreted how ETS supports the internationalization process of universities from the perspective of institutions, educators and students. They analyzed global graduate school application trends based on GRE exam and ETS survey data.

The meeting concluded with the presentation of the AUCA 2024 Annual Membership Conference Report, which summarized AUCA’s membership, operations and financial status over the past year. The results of the various events organized by the Alliance were also presented and sincere thanks were expressed to all member universities and partners who support the development of AUCA.

This exchange between Chinese and overseas universities not only reviewed past collaborative efforts, but also envisioned future cooperative developments. Representatives from various institutions expressed their anticipation of further strengthening inter-university cooperation to jointly advance global education.