UM International Partnerships from a student’s perspective

Presented by Ichihan TaiPresident’s Advisory Group Meeting

Why I am here?

• UM-SJTU Joint Institute is a notable UM international collaboration program that definitely creates a unique opportunity for Chinese students

• I am here to talk how students are adapting to deal with the rewards and challenges of the JI

About UM-SJTU Joint Institute

• Social impact in China– Pro

• Increase the awareness of UM in China– Con

• Depreciate a university’s brand/degree value in China– “I am not going to go University of Wisconsin Madison because

last year 5 of not-so-well students from my high school went there.”

– a Chinese student from Pinghe High School, 2008– “Anyone who can walk can get into Purdue. I have never heard

of a Taiwanese student get rejected by that school.”- a Taiwanese student from Shanghai High School, 2008

About UM-SJTU Joint Institute

• Possible consequences– Positive

• Attract good students who cannot decide between going to US or staying in China for college

– Negative• Discourage qualified freshman students from choosing

UM

Public opinion survey

• Survey conducted with students/parents came from SAT/TOEFL/GRE training center, reflecting potential desire to study abroad– 500 random samples collected

Learned from the survey

• U.S. News & World Report College and University Ranking is well known and greatly influential in China

• Quality and reputation of admitted students is the key factor for students/parents to judge a university

• Students/parents learn about U.S. universities from their friends• Students/parents feel they do not have enough chances/resources

to learn about U.S. universities• Students/parents think UM ranks lower in world ranking than in

U.S. ranking.– Blind belief of university ranking without knowing their methodology

• Students/parents think recognition of UM is way below that of Harvard/Yale in China

Solution

• People rely more on U.S. university ranking as they know less about U.S. universities in general

• Hence, we worked to build a platform to allow Chinese students to have virtual international campus visits without cost organized mainly by freshmen– Global Higher Education Student Summit

• Name given by Dr. Jun Ni, the founder and dean of JI• Actively supported by UM administrators

– Dr. John Matlock, direct participation– Dr. James Holloway, continuous guidance through email– Ms. Sally Lindsley and UG admission office, provision of UM materials for

distribution

• Show China what UM is and what Wolverines are– Michigan students international leadership project

Global Higher Education Student Summit

Global Higher Education Student Summit

Global Higher Education Student Summit

Global Higher Education Student Summit

Global Higher Education Student Summit

Global Higher Education Student Summit

Global Higher Education Student Summit

Global Higher Education Student Summit

GHESS- Structure

• 11 professors or faculty members from 4 countries (US, China, Germany, and Japan)

• Student speakers from 5 countries (US, China, Japan, Canada, and Brazil) and 10 universities (including UM, Wharton, Cornell, Stanford etc…)

• GHESS students obtain chance to hear lectures from and talk with – A university administrator (Dr. Matlock)– Lecturers– Professors– A research professor (Dr. Jason Daida)– Students from different universities and fields

• Introduce the concept of electing course of their interests to students

Social achievement

• Approximately 50 SJTU and 150 non-SJTU students who went through admission process to GHESS finally enrolled

• More than 1/3 of GHESS students come from the top high schools of Shanghai and Jiangsu

• 65% of students rank in the top 10%, and 90% of students rank in the top 25% in their high schools or universities

• Students come from 19+ high schools and 25+ universities• Some students are from high schools/universities

approximately 800 km, 1000 km and 1300 km away from Shanghai

Post-event feedback survey

• Students are highly satisfied with GHESS• Students think they would like to make judgments based more on

actual strength of a university over university rankings

• "I had a great time participating in GHESS; it was a great experience for me. The biggest regret I had is I only had time for 2 elective courses; both of them were just so wonderful, and I wanted to try more courses. The math professor taught me so many things about math that I didn't know before. I am very happy that he gave me his email; I am going to email him tonight!“

- said Gong Kaiyan, president of student union at No. 2 High School of East China Normal University

Students’ favorite quotes

• “Go Blue!” by Dr. John Matlock– Students like how the University of Michigan and

its administrator are so accessible

• “If one does not know 1+1 = 2 then how one would know 1+1 does not equal 2” by Dr. XilaLiu– Students like to hear ideas that are new to them

even if they are somewhat shocking

What’s next?

• Next stop: expansion to Japan!– Harvard students have organized a similar event a

few years ago (an event that connected US and China)

– Michigan students are going to connect China, US, Japan, and even more countries!

Characteristics of a Wolverine-organized event

• Cost-efficient!

• Advertisement cost (most costly for most events) and guest reception cost are actually cheaper than the UM flags hanging at the event

• Almost no additional air fare to expand GHESS to Japan next year

We believe…

• Harvard is a place that turns dragons into dragons, but Michigan is a place that turns a bunch of chickens into phoenixes. ..

Thank you! Go Blue!