University cements relations with Shanghai’s Sino-British College

The University of Huddersfield has delivered a successful BA(Hons) Events Management degree for SBC students in Shanghai for the past ten years.

SHANGHAI is China’s most cosmopolitan urban centre and its rapid expansion and huge diversity are creating a demand for experts in events management.  The University of Huddersfield in the UK has been helping to meet that demand for the past ten years, and now it will embark on another decade of collaboration with a unique Higher Education institute in the Chinese city.

The Sino-British College (SBC) was established as a joint venture between the  University of Shanghai for Science and Technology (USST) and nine partner universities of the Northern Consortium UK, including Huddersfield, which undertook to deliver BA degree courses in Events Management.  Just under 1,000 students have taken the course over the past 13 years with two thirds of these having gone straight into graduate employment and one third on to Master studies.

Now, the collaboration has been renewed for a new ten-year period.  During a ceremony at the University of Huddersfield, its Vice-Chancellor, Professor Bob Cryan, added his signature to the agreement.  In attendance was a party of VIP guests from Shanghai led by Madam Cai Yonglian, Vice-President of USST, Professor Liu Qin, the Vice-Dean of the College, Professor Laura Bishop, who took over as Principal of SBC in 2018 and Professor Diao Jiewen, Director of the USST Finance Department.

Also in attendance was Professor John Anchor, who is Associate Dean (International) in the Huddersfield Business School and the University’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Tim Thornton.

The Events Management degree is taught – in English – by SBC staff members and by a team of University of Huddersfield lecturers who fly out to Shanghai at regular intervals to conduct intensive lectures, concentrating on the final phases of degree study.

Degrees are conferred at ceremonies in Shanghai attended by senior University of Huddersfield figures, and every year a significant number of Chinese students take the opportunity to come to the Huddersfield campus during their studies.

Professor Anchor says: “We are proud of our collaboration with SBC and USST and delighted that it will be continuing for another decade.  Events Management is a specialised subject that is not taught at all British or Chinese universities, but there is increased demand for expertise in the field, especially in Shanghai.  This has meant that there are plentiful work placements and employment opportunities available to the SBC students.”