The 2011 SBC Undergraduate Open Day was successfully held on Saturday 18 June. More than 400 students, parents and guests representing educational authorities and SBC's corporate partners attended the event. Over 20 international visitors from 10 countries and regions also participated.
The SBC Open Day is designed to give prospective students and their parents first-hand experience of the 'Britishness' of SBC, and the British way of teaching and learning in an international campus environment with its unique combination of one Chinese university and nine British universities.
Mr. Rory Farquhar-Thomson, Chairman and Mr. Phil Roebuck, Executive Director of the British Chamber of Commerce Shanghai were invited to attend the event. Other distinguished guests included representatives from well-known companies and organisations such as KPMG, Deloitte, HSBC, 51intern.com, etc.
At the Welcome ceremony in the morning, Professor Ian Gow OBE, Principal and CEO extended a warm welcome to all visitors on behalf of the SBC team. In his speech, Professor Gow said: "This is a really special year for us because this July we have our first graduates who have been taught the full four year degree on this campus."
He also said that to develop a further and vital stage in internationalisation, SBC is going to "dramatically increase the number of students from different countries from September". In addition, we will "continue to strengthen the international staffing which is already strong", as having an international "learning experience is vital to this generation if they are to survive and to succeed in the increasingly competitive rapidly changing global world in China and outside of China."
The Open Day event aims to present the international nature, educational resources and progress of SBC. During the group campus tour, all visitors were invited to see the full range of campus facilities including the temporary opening of the SBC English tea room, and enjoy a variety of displays and campus activities.
The two public lectures on British education and culture and eight demo seminars on various subjects were all very well received by prospective students and parents.
On the afternoon, the SBC Careers Service and Development Centre hosted a forum on International Education and International Success, involving senior staff from SBC, managers from JV companies, representatives of final year students and also parents. The discussion aimed to develop a better understanding on the reciprocal relationships between higher education and careers development for students.
An important highlight of the Open Day event was the language interpreting and other assistance provided by SBC Student Ambassadors. The linguistic skills and professionalism they showed earned the respect and admiration of Open Day visitors.
