Shanghai University students visiting Bradford to study

Thirteen students, accompanied by two faculty members from Shanghai University’s SILC Business School, are visiting the Pitt-Bradford for three weeks to take an information systems course sponsored by the computer information systems and technology program.

The students, who are either information management or business administration majors, have completed two years of core courses and intensive English language training at SILC. They’ve come to learn more about American culture and business practice during their time in Bradford and traveling in the Eastern United States. The SILC Business School is a joint venture of Shanghai University and University of Technology, Sydney, Australia. SILC specializes in business administration, accounting, information management, economics and international business.

Dr. Y. Ken Wang, associate professor of CIST and visiting professor of business to SILC, invited the group to visit. Wang and Don Lewicki, associate professor of business management and director of the CIST program, are providing instruction for the students. Other Pitt-Bradford information systems faculty and a senior director from Zippo Manufacturing Co. are also holding seminars on specific topics.

The students arrived in Bradford July 19 and spent their first weekend adjusting to the 12-hour time difference. They will attend academic seminars on business modeling, emerging technology, electronic commerce, information security, global supply chain management and other business-related topics during the next few weeks. They will also tour Niagara Falls, Pittsburgh, and Washington, D.C., during the weekends they are here.

Students were impressed with their new surroundings, particularly Pitt-Bradford’s campus, the computer labs and technologies, the Richard E. and Ruth McDowell Sport and Fitness Center, the Bromeley Family Theater, the Hanley library, and the hospitality of faculty and staff. They shared their excitement with their families and friends in China on WeChat, the most popular Chinese social network.

They were also fans of American-style breakfast in the KOA Dining Hall and the campus’s suite-style housing.

“The housing is so much better than ours,” said one student. “I think American students must be very happy. People here live a very beautiful and calm life.”

Dr. Rita Du, one of the SILC faculty members traveling with the students, said she hopes the visit can be expanded into a broader partnership between Pitt-Bradford and SILC in which students study on both campuses. Pitt-Bradford currently has similar arrangements with Yokohama College of Commerce in Yokohama, Japan, and Heilbronn University in Heilbronn, Germany.

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