In early September, USTC embraced the coming of 2021 fall semester and welcomed its new students from all over the world. To ensure a safe and orderly registration for 2021 international students, the International College of USTC has made sufficient and comprehensive preparation.
On September 7, 50 new international students arrived at the East Campus of USTC and completed the procedures of onsite registration. Under the instruction of International College’s working staffs and volunteers, new students opened campus card and bank account and moved to the on-campus dormitory smoothly. In the morning of Sept 8, the registered new students finished physical examination in the Anhui province international travel health care center. This year, 184 international new students from abroad who are unable to come to the university due to the pandemic completed their registration online.
To help new students get oriented to the campus life at USTC, International College organized an all-day orientation ceremony on September 10 at International Building, which was also held online simultaneously for students from abroad. Mr. Jiang, deputy dean of International College, attended the Orientation. Director Du from the Department of Foreign Affairs of Hefei Exit & Entry Bureau, Mr. Wu and Ms. Xu, police officers of Exit & Entry Bureau were also invited to join the ceremony with the attendance of all the International College’s teachers and new international students.
In the opening speech, Mr. Jiang expressed his warm congratulations and welcome to the class of 2021. He introduced the glorious history and innovative achievements of USTC, stating that USTC was born with the spirit of innovation, social responsibility, and global vision. He hoped that our international students can carry on the spirit of pioneers and grow into qualified USTCers who will contribute to the society and lead the way to a better future. Then, he encouraged new students to experience the real China and boost international collaborations between China and their homelands. After his speech, Ms. Judy gave a comprehensive introduction on the internationalization of USTC and the university’s great progress in international education.
Later, Mr. Wu, the police officer from Hefei Exit & Entry Bureau introduced some important points about Chinese laws and regulations. Ms. Wang from the USTC library introduced the library resources and the ways to get access to the university’s rich academic resources. Then teachers from International College explained to our new students about the academic affairs, Chinese language courses, scholarship regulations, insurance information, visa regulations, campus activities and internship management. Their instructions were clear, informative, and comprehensive, including almost every aspect of the study life of new students.
After their speeches, students posed some concerned questions and got satisfying answers from teachers. The all-day orientation ended successfully after the Q&A session. From this “first class”, international new students started to see the whole picture of their future life at USTC.
On the afternoon of September 11, a wonderful campus tour was organized for our newcomers. Guided by teachers from International College and volunteers from the Foreign Students Association (FSA), new students visited the Museum of USTC history to learn the background of this great university. Then the FSA volunteers showed freshmen around at the East campus, Middle campus, and West campus to get them more familiar with the schools, departments, teaching buildings, laboratories, libraries, and other facilities. In this relaxing campus tour, new students reached every corner of the campuses and got acquainted with many new friends.
In the afternoon of September 12, the FSA Department of Academic Affairs initiated a webinar for new students, aiming to clear their confusions related to academic issues. They explained how to select courses online, how to communicate with supervisors and how to reach the requirements of graduation for more than 100 new students who joined the meeting online. They also shared a lot of useful tips in the webinar. Hopefully all these will help the class of 2021 integrate into USTC campus life and reduce their sense of uncertainty about the future.
On Sept 13, International College arranged new students to complete visa and residence permit application. In order to simplify the procedures, International College invited the working staffs from Hefei Exit and Entry Bureau to the on-campus one-stop service center to offer visa service. On that day, students were divided into groups and entered the center in batches. The whole process of visa application was orderly, smooth and highly-efficient.
The orientation activities for the class of 2021 concluded successfully with the end of the orientation week. Wish all our new students get ready for the study life at USTC and embark on an excellent journey here. Welcome to USTC! Enjoy your life at USTC!
