Shanghai New York University (NYU Shanghai) was founded on Monday, showing the nation’s dedication to bolstering its cultural and education- al sectors.
As China’s first Sino-US universi- ty operating as an independent legal entity, the institution will be jointly run by New York University and the Shanghai-based East China Normal University.
“NYU Shanghai will be a ‘melt- ing pot’ for cultivating innovative tal- ents from China and the rest of the world,” said Yu Lizhong, president of NYU Shanghai.
The campus, located in the Lu- jiazui Finance and Trade Zone in Shanghai’s Pudong New Area, is ex- pected to welcome its first group of 300 undergraduates, including about 150 from the Chinese mainland, next fall, Yu said.
About 40 percent of its students and faculty will come from abroad.
NYU Shanghai is slated as “a ben- eficial attempt in, and exploration of, building a high-level Chinese-foreign cooperative university,” according to China’s Ministry of Education.
“NYU Shanghai is a part of educa- tion reforms for China. The school is the product of both countries,” said NYU President John Sexton.
It will take time, Sexton noted, but with care and cultivation from both sides, the university can become one of the world’s leading institutions.
NYU Shanghai has ushered in a new era for China to open its doors for young people to receive high-qual- ity international education, said Xin Ping, a sociology professor at Shang- hai University.
“Cultivating youth is of critical importance to a nation’s future. And China has journeyed for over 30 years to this moment of opening up in higher education,” Yu Lizhong said.
In the past three decades, China has sent more than 2.2 million stu- dents to study abroad.
“Now, China is showing more open-mindedness and confidence by deepening reform and accelerating opening up in education,” said Xin.
The university’s syllabi and curri- cula follow models of leading univer- sities around the world and feature a well-rounded education, English lec- tures and courses with Chinese char- acteristics, according to Yu.
Moreover, it offers a liberal arts education, as all students will take courses in the humanities and social and natural sciences before declaring a major.
Upon graduation, students will receive degrees from New York Uni- versity, and NYU Shanghai will grant each of them a graduation certificate and a degree.
China’s future development must unswervingly depend on reform and opening up, said Chinese President Hu Jintao in July.
The country has issued the Out- line of China’s National Plan for Medium- and Long-term Education Reform and Development, calling for the internationalization of tertiary education.
Education insiders also expect NYU Shanghai to be a “test field” for China’s higher education.
Unlike China’s other universities, there will be no compulsory courses on ideology featuring Chinese social- ism at NYU Shanghai.
Yu hopes that overseas students will be enlightened and attracted by the specially designed Chinese-ele- ment curriculum modules.
In the four-year undergraduate course, students can choose to study for up to three semesters in NYU’s“global network university” in its 15 campuses in cities such as London and Abu Dhabi.
Its assessment of student applica- tions will be based on students’ per- formance on China’s national college entrance examination and an NYU- style admissions process.
The student-to-faculty ratio in the university will be eight to one, an im- provement on the average in Chinese universities, according to Yu.
China is now the world’s most im- portant growth contributor. It needs its education system to match its sta- tus in the world economy, said Steve J Kulich, director of the International Institute of Shanghai International Studies University.
A global education network is ex- pected to enhance relations among students with global perspectives by crossing cultural divides, he added.
In addition to students from Chi- na and the US, the university hopes to attract applicants from India and other countries, according to NYU Shanghai.
“Our campus will be more acces- sible to local students compared to overseas study in the US, and the school’s existence will move educa- tion forward,” Yu said.
Annual tuition fees for each stu- dent from the Chinese mainland are set to be about 100,000 yuan (about $15,950), lower than what most inter- national students pay to attend many US universities.
Tuition fees will be officially an- nounced after they are approved by Shanghai municipal pricing authori- ties.
The university will accommodate an estimated 3,000 Chinese and in- ternational students.
《环球时报(英文版) 》 日期：2012年10月17日 版次：07
链接：http://services.globaltimes.cn/epaper/2012-10-17/5090.htm
