Message from Richard Chen, Dean of IEC

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Dear international students,
I have pleasure to inform you that we have been growing very fast since we founded our International Education College at SAU. We have around 500 international students from 60 countries currently enrolled in various fields of studies at our university. Excited by the presence of such a large number of international students on the campus, I would like to share some of my thoughts with you. Firstly, please accept my warm welcome for coming to study at our university and consider the university as a big family. We are composed of people from different cultural and educational backgrounds. At SAU, we follow the principle of equality and we believe that everybody is born equal.
As we are aware that China has a long history of civilization with a splendid cultural heritage, wisdom, and languages. Currently, it is the fastest growing country with a robust economy and manufacturing hub. Consequently, your presence in China and studying at SAU opens a door for the promising future in terms of career and interaction with people of different background. Chinese culture is known for its friendliness with guests. According to a famous 2000-year-old saying by the great Confucius, "if there is a friend coming from far away place we are more than happy to welcome him”. We whole-heartedly believe in this and our goal is to make you feel happy and comfortable while you live and study at SAU. We also believe that you will be the ambassadors of friendship between China and your home countries.
Every organization, institution or a group needs disciplines, because without it, we cannot reach our potential. Integrity of individuals determines development of the group. Harmony, tolerance, and cooperation become extremely important when we have people from different background mixed together. We should not expect that everybody will do things identically. In fact, we need to accept others. As you know, many graduates are working in various famous companies such as BMW and Gotiar in Shenyang. Besides, we are also proud of some graduates who are working in Ministry of Aeronautics in their own countries. After graduation, you will be working in teams and it is highly likely that you will come across with people of multicultural background in current era of global workplace. Especially in the field of aeronautical engineering, a miscommunication or a lack of teamwork capability can cause serious consequences. Hence, discipline, tolerance, mutual respect, and understanding of various cultures are keys to success at the contemporary workplace.
Freedom at a tertiary institution is important, but we would not like to see our students drinking, always playing, and wasting time outside. We feel for your parents, because you are far away from your homes to study here. Therefore, you need to dedicate most of your time for study in order to achieve desired success in your future career. Recently we are contacting more companies for your internship and work. As an educational institution, we can never guarantee jobs, but certainly we will recommend our graduates to the companies for employment. However, there is no substitute for high subject matter knowledge and effective communication skills. Therefore, please be diligent in your study and activities.
Finally, I wish you all the best for your study at SAU. Please do not hesitate to contact me should you require any assistance or further guidance.

Richard Chen
Dean, College of International Education
Email: yongqingchen@yahoo.com