A Southern Institute of Technology (SIT) delegation recently undertook a trip to China to meet with long-time partner university, Hubei University of Education (HUE) and another potential partnership university.
The SIT delegation of Faculty Head, Hamish Small and International Marketing Manager, Michelle Zhao visited HUE in Wuhan on the 5th of June and toured the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence departments. They also conducted a meeting to discuss the SIT - HUE joint Bachelor of Information Technology programme, and future developments pertaining to programme development and pathway options onto the SIT Master of Information Technology.
Mr Small said it was a pleasure to meet with the Hubei staff, and he particularly enjoyed viewing the project work students were completing at the university. “The joint programme and relationship with HUE are becoming such an asset and highly attractive to the Wuhan region of China,” he stated.
In what was Ms Zhou’s sixth visit to HUE in the last 12 years, she noted “It was a great trip; I am very impressed with the recent changes happening at HUE, especially in the IT department involving AI and Robot Engineering.” She also enjoyed meeting some motivated students who are keen to come to SIT for further studies.
HUE started delivering SIT’s Bachelor of Information Technology (BIT) in 2017, with SIT having had offshore accreditation for the programme since then. The programme is capped at 100 students.
The SIT – HUE partnership has been operating for 15 years, starting in 2010, when SIT entered a formal relationship with HUE to deliver SIT’s Diploma in Hotel and Tourism Management, which ran for six years. SIT supplied Hubei with teaching resources, as well as staff who travelled to China to induct HUE tutors.
The first class comprised of 20 high school graduates, who spent three years studying at the HUE campus to complete their diploma. For the fourth year, they had the option of coming to New Zealand to study for six months at SIT’s Invercargill campus, followed by a six-month hotel internship, to gain their bachelor’s degree in Hotel and
Tourism Management. Over the six years, on average, about half (10 students) who completed the two-year diploma came to SIT each year to complete the bachelor’s degree.
HUE Programme Manager, Tina Fu, was very pleased with how the June 5th meeting went. “It was an opportunity to review the strength of the partnership between SIT and HUE; we appreciate SIT’s willingness to continue supporting the programme,” she stated.
When the SIT delegation visited the computer labs and HUE’s IT cooperative companies where students study and do internships, they also met with students and answered their questions. “It greatly helped them better understand the programme and plan their future development,” Ms Fu said.
Ms Fu added that HUE students benefited greatly from the joint programme. “They gain an international perspective and enjoy the educational advantages of both New Zealand and China.” They also had better English ability based on the requirement of the programme. “Quite a few programme students have been achieving outstanding results in competitions in IT fields and winning excellent rankings in the provincial English speech contests,” she said.
On behalf of HUE, Ms Fu thanked SIT for the delegation visit and valued SIT’s ongoing support of the students' academic development and the successful operation of the programme, adding, “May the sisterly bond between SIT and HUE last as long as the Yangtze River and the Oreti River, flowing into the world ocean!”
The delegation also visited Shangdong Jiaotong University, in Jinan, the capital city of Shandong province, on Tuesday to discuss partnering with SIT; Shangdong had expressed interest in entering a similar joint programme arrangement. The delegation was due back in New Zealand next week.