President Zhong's 1st Tea Party with Graduates

"Goodbye to GDUFS, Hello to the Future". On June 19^th, a tea party brought President Zhong and the student representatives of 2014 graduates together at the GDUFS Yunshan Cafe. Twelve student representatives, of both graduates and post-graduates, selected by the News Website of GDUFS as they participated in an online inquiry, gathered together, giving suggestions to their Alma Mater in terms of teaching, management, and service.

"This is my first time to be with graduate representatives, and at a tea party." ZHONG said, "Feel free to give your suggestions." He also expressed his wishes to the graduates that they could be the best qualified citizens that GDUFS could be proud of. 

Zhong talking happily with graduates

Not only paying tribute to their Alma Mater, these representatives leave advice too. They talk about the university's teaching, management and service and receive feedback from their beloved President and the staff members

The tea party heats up

The top four topics at the meeting were:

1. The curriculum, teaching resources and facility

2. Student exchange programs and practical abilities

3. Student recruiting and career planning

4. Power saving, dorm management and food sanitation

The curriculum should be diversified, said one of the twelve students present. Another student representative, FANG Weiquan, who majors in Spanish, wants to have financial courses on his curriculum list. The post-graduate representative, LI Shengyun, suggested the school offer summer courses, and Director of the Post-Graduate Department, YUAN Quan responded, informing those at the meeting that "the Summer School Project" is under discussion with Shanghai International Studies University. ZHONG agrees to provide more well-considered services to students but that the latter, too, should develop their self-reliance abilities.

Students reported they also want to improve their practical abilities, as WU Jingyi from SEIB(School of English and International Business) hopes that courses like Model Company Management can be offered to freshmen. And LIU Xiaojuan, majoring in Chinese, suggested providing more opportunities for students to work overseas.

Other representatives talked about student recruitment and career planning. They want the school to adjust its recruiting ratio so as to attract more students from outside Guangdong Province and they also suggested that the career planning system be modified. The suggestions of the students were recognized and are appreciated by relevant administrators.

Another concern of the graduates is power saving, a problem which stands out mainly on the southern campus where the central cooling system of the Experimental Building is a big power consuming project as the air conditioner of each classroom is inter-connected with others. As to the sanitation of the cafeteria, Director of Logistics YANG Siyi reassured all that all the covers in the serving area are disinfected by a high temperature process but which can, inevitably, experience some operational flaws.

Group photo

The party concluded with President ZHONG's meaningful words, "Our days at GDUFS bind all of us together, and the years to come will not set us apart." He expressed appreciation for the students' suggestions and gratitude and, in return, he wished them all the best on their way to the future.