LNU delegation discusses about cooperation at University of Pisa
A delegation of Lingnan Normal University (LNU), headed by LNU Party Secretary Luo Hai’ou and consisting of Chen Daohai, Dean of the School of Life Sciences and Technology, Xia Qing, Dean of the School of Business, and Tang Ying, Head of the Hotel Management Department, paid a visit to École hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL), Vatel Swiss, University of Pisa and Roman Campus of Swiss School of Management (SSM) at invitation on May 11-16. The delegation held friendly exchanges on disciplines, faculties and application-oriented talent training and discussed about cooperation with the schools they visited. Cheng Weijie from the Office of International Exchange and Cooperation joined the delegation as an interpreter.
On May 11, the delegation visited EHL to discuss about cooperation. EHL is an organic complex of an exquisite school and an upscale hotel. The delegation firstly visited EHL’s classroom, lecture hall, library, canteen, cafe, kitchen, storage room, food preparation room, dishwashing room, wine laboratory and organic botanical garden. Subsequently, the delegation held talks on exchanges and cooperation with international cooperation affairs officials at EHL. According to the talks, LNU students may participate in short-term exchanges and obtain a master's degree at EHL, youth teachers from LNU may accept short-term training at EHL, EHL may authorize LNU to carry out certification of hotel manager courses and certification of academic qualifications in China on behalf of EHL, and EHL may appoint outstanding master graduates to teach at LNU. Founded in 1893, EHL is the world's first hotel school. Both EHL and Cornell University rank No. 1 on the list of the best hospitality and hotel management schools in the world. For more than 100 years, EHL has been successful in exploring the concept of hotel management talent training and tourism education. The “Lausanne Model” has become an internationally recognized model of successful hotel management training.
On May 12, the delegation visited Vatel Swiss for exchanges and cooperation. The delegation had a discussion with the President of Vatel Swiss. The two sides signed a memorandum of understanding. According to the MOU, the two sides will cooperate in research programs, establishment of a joint research institution, and application for programs. They will explore cooperation in talent training programs in their relevant disciplines, especially business management, hotel management, culinary management and education, and promote undergraduate double-degree programs, joint postgraduate training programs and industry-university-research cooperation. They will carry out cultural exchanges benefiting their faculty and students, including short-term teacher and student exchange and visit programs. They will set up a mechanism to facilitate exchanges and visits of their faculty and promote the development of teaching and research of the two universities. Headquartered in Lyon, France, Vatel Swiss has four campuses and 24 branch schools around the world. The Martigny campus in Switzerland is its flagship campus. It is the second best hotel management school in Europe, second only to EHL. The Martigny campus is the only one with a 4-star hotel in Switzerland. Vatel Swiss places special emphasis on the development of students' practical abilities.
On May 15, the delegation visited the renowned University of Pisa in Italy. The delegation held a long-time friendly talk with Vice President Francesco and Director of the International Cooperation Office Paola. The talk was positive and fruitful. Vice President Francesco proposed to sign a memorandum of cooperation. The two sides conducted detailed exchanges on the content of cooperation and reached the following consensus: cooperation in the establishment of a marine food research center; exchange and cooperation in marine food processing, business management, language and literature, and art. At present, the University of Pisa has initially drafted a memorandum of cooperation and will formally sign it after further communication. Founded in 1343, the University of Pisa is a century-old school. It ranks among the top 8 universities in Italy and among the top 200 in the world. It is the alma mater of Galileo Galilei, three Nobel Prize winners and one Fields Medal winner, as well as Italian Prime Minister and Minister of Education. The university has 20 colleges, 19 libraries, 13 museums, 56,000 students, 1,500 professors or researchers.
On May 16, the delegation arrived in Rome, Italy and visited the Swiss School of Management (SSM), which is located on the University of Washington's campus in Rome's historic city center. The Presidents of the two universities met with the delegation and expressed their hopes of cooperation with LNU.
The delegation’s visits to the four universities in Switzerland and Italy coincided with the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation held in China. The delegation strongly felt the powerful international influence of the forum. The prosperity of the motherland provides strong support for international exchanges and cooperation of LNU. The fruitful visits helped expand the influence of LNU in Europe, promote Sino-Swiss and Sino-Italian education and cultural exchanges, broaden the horizon and ways of application-oriented talent training at LNU, and effectively enhance the construction of relevant disciplines, and provide a new cooperation platform for LNU.
Group photo at EHL
Group photo at Vatel Swiss
LNU Party Secretary Luo Hai’ou presents LNU badge to Swiss School of Management in Rome
