On July 1, 2019, a delegation from the University of Arizona (UA) led by President Robert Robbins, Vice Provost Brent White and Vice President Shane C. Burgess visited Ocean University of China (OUC). OUC's President Yu Zhigang and Vice President Li Weiran received the guests, and the two sides engaged in discussions about joint education and research cooperation.
After extending his welcome to the delegation, President Yu reviewed the cooperation progress between the two institutions and sang high praises of the success of the joint education program for law undergraduates (Dual Degree Program), which started from 2015. The two institutions could focus on their strengths for comprehensive cooperation in more fields. He put forward four suggestions for future cooperation. First, key areas for cooperation need to be chosen. The two institutions can carry out cooperation in their advantageous disciplines including law, management, finance, quantum science, optics, life sciences and medicine. Second, new ways of joint education need to be explored. The two institutions can conduct joint research and joint graduate programs based on the research interests of professors of the two sides, and pursue closer cooperation in joint education programs for students of different majors and education levels. Third, a Sino-foreign cooperative education institution can be established. Two cooperative programs can be taken into consideration - a new type of interdisciplinary academy combining law, management, finance, data science or big data, and a medical school. Fourth, a joint research center can be set up and annual academic seminars initiated as the platforms for cooperation between faculty members of the two institutions.
President Robert Robbins expressed his thanks for the warm reception. He said that the joint education program in law was a big success and acted as a good example for the cooperation. He agreed that the two institutions enjoyed great potential for cooperation and could further the cooperation in more areas. He gave an introduction to the disciplinary strengths of the University of Arizona including water resources, medicine and pharmacy, climate change, finance, accounting, big data, aeronautics and astronautics. He also noted that OUC was an important partner and expressed the hope that the two institutions could engage in more exchanges and advance the UA’s Micro-Campus program.
Vice Provost Brent White spoke highly of the prospects of cooperation in more fields and expressed the expectation that extensive cooperation could be conducted by expanding the enrollment of the programs, establishing a joint research center and selecting UA students to study at OUC.
Deputy Director Wang Hanlin of the International Office moderated the meeting. Also in attendance were representatives from the Law School, School of Economics, College of Management, College of Marine Life Sciences, School of Medicine and Pharmacy, College of Information Science and Engineering, College of Engineering, Division of Development & Planning, Academic Affairs Office and the Graduate School.
