A University of Westminster delegation has recently visited the Communications University of China (CUC) to mark the 10th anniversary of the partnership between the two universities.
The partnership sees up to 60 students per year complete a two-year programme. In the first year, students take part in a foundation programme delivered by CUC and for the second, they complete Westminster’s MA in Global Media Business course, with students taught in the first semester at CUC by academics from Westminster before travelling to London to complete the programme.
CUC was established in 1954 and currently has more than 18,000 students studying undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in Media, Film, Drama and Animation. CUC’s Journalism and Communication and Film and Drama disciplines have been awarded Double First Class status by the Chinese Ministry of Education and A+ status in the fifth round of evaluations by the Ministry.
The Westminster delegation consisted of Professor Janet Jones, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Head of the College of Design, Creative and Digital Industries; Michaela O’Brien, Head of the Westminster School of Media and Communications; and Stephen Wallis, Director of Transnational Education at Westminster.
During the visit, they attended the formal celebrations to mark the tenth anniversary of the partnership, including speeches from Professor Wang, Dean of the School of Economics and Management at CUC, and Professor Janet Jones. In addition to participation from current students, speeches were given by two alumni of the programme who highlighted the positive impact the course had had on their careers, and expressed their grateful thanks to colleagues, past and present, from Westminster for their contributions.
In addition to attending the celebrations, the delegation held various meetings, including with Professor Hui Wang, Vice-President of CUC, to discuss opportunities for expanding and strengthening the partnership. These included the possibility of increasing the number of students on the existing programme and looking at new programme possibilities.
Commenting on the visit, Professor Jones said: “It was a pleasure to be able to visit CUC to mark such an important milestone in the partnership between our two institutions, and in particular to be able to discuss opportunities for expanding our collaboration.”
Michaela O’Brien added: “The partnership with CUC is the School’s longest standing international partnership and is the result of the huge efforts of colleagues over the years. I would like to pay particular tribute to the work of Charlie Brown, Principal Lecturer and former Course Leader for the programme, for all his efforts in establishing and running the programme in the early years.”
Stephen Wallis said: “We are committed to playing a crucial role in furthering China-UK collaborations in higher education and beyond, and this an excellent example of a partnership in action. It was wonderful to be able to meet students and alumni and to hear of their experiences.”
Find out more Westminster’s Global Partner Network.
