JUFE Spring Programme Promotion
On 28th February 2022, the Faculty International Office of Social Sciences, along with academic colleagues representing each of our five schools, hosted a zoom session watched live by more than 200 students and parents from our partner institution Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics (JUFE) in China. Dr Rob Angell (Associate Dean International of Social Sciences) delivered the opening address about the long-term collaborations between JUFE and Southampton.
After the introduction, Dr Jan Podivinsky (Director of Internationalisation (DOI), School of Economics, Social and Political Sciences (ESPS)), Dr Carlos Lobo (Director of Internationalisation (DOI), School of Mathematical Sciences), and Dr Stephan Onggo (Director of Internationalisation (DOI), Southampton Business School (SBS)) each gave engaging talks about the undergraduate, postgraduate and study abroad programmes with JUFE from their respective schools.
Our final staff panellists, Ms Song Utz (Senior Executive Officer, Faculty International Office of Social Sciences) and Mrs Miriam Gómez López (Faculty International Officer) concluded the presentation by giving helpful information about how we support international students throughout their student journeys at Southampton and pointed out the key services available.
After our staff panel had finished their presentations, we were delighted to be joined by two students currently studying at Southampton on the undergraduate 2+2 JUFE-Southampton programme. They each gave a talk explaining how they made their decision to study at Southampton and discussed their student experience so far. Both our guest panellists spoke very well, and we would like to say a big thank you to them for giving up their valuable time to join our panel!
Fangyuan Peng (studying BSc Economics and Finance, ESPS), spoke first and thanked the panel for the opportunity to share her experience. She talked with great enthusiasm about how much she is enjoying Southampton student life and told us stories about her cultural experiences, such as tasting new cuisine in the local international restaurants. Fangyuan has successfully applied to join the Global Lounge Student Committee and is currently organising international student activities and events. We congratulate Fangyuan for being chosen from amongst 50 applicants to join the committee!
Yuting Zhang (studying BSc Economics and Finance, ESPS), spoke next and highlighted some of the study skills resources and student support available at Southampton. She was also very thoughtful to provide reassurance to students and parents who may have concerns about the pandemic. Yuting said how wonderful it has been to have the opportunity to meet such a variety of people within the international student community. We really appreciate Yuting sharing her experience with us and are glad that she is enjoying Southampton student life so much!
Our student guest panellists, along with our staff panel, then took part in a relaxed question-and-answer session, in which they each jumped-in to offer useful advice and reassurance to students and their families. They used their own first-hand experience to answer questions about applying for student accommodation and gave helpful fees advice to parents. Julie Zhou (programme coordinator at JUFE) then concluded the session by giving a presentation instructing students about what they need to do to apply.
Afterwards JUFE gave us this glowing feedback: “Thank you Song and your lovely colleagues so much for your wonderful presentation. That was a highly informative and helpful talk.”
FIO is overjoyed by the great response we received from this session! We will continue to answer students’ questions before they arrive in Southampton.