Prof. Ian O’Connor, Vice Chancellor of Griffith University, led a delegation to visit the School of Sociology, CCNU, at 10 am, November 2. The delegation consists of Prof. Ian O' Connor, Vice Chancellor of Griffith, Mr. Sherman Xia, Director of China Region, International Department of Griffith, Mr. Li Xinqing, President of AEMG, Mr. Paul Kidd, Executive Dean of AEMG, and Ms. Huang Jing, Head of Wuhan Office, AEMG. Prof. Darrell Irwin, Dean of School of Sociology, Mr. Zhang Yichuan, Deputy Director of International Office, Mr. Hong Feng, Deputy Director of International Office, Ms. He Jing, Deputy Director of Research Office, and Mr. Hu Zhongbo, Deputy Director of Academic Affairs Office, attended the meeting with the delegation on behalf of CCNU together with other CCNU faculty and staff.
Dean Irwin first welcomed the visit of Prof. O’Connor and the delegation. Dean Irwin said, both social work departments at CCNU and Griffith are very good, and cooperation in social work education and research between the two universities will help promote the international influence for both. With the joint effort of CCNU, Griffith and AEMG, the CCNU-Griffith Joint Social Work Undergraduate Program passed the evaluation of Ministry of Education successfully this year. And with the Chinese Australian Social Work Research Center founded in December 2015, further research collaboration in social work and related areas between the two universities are expected.
Vice Chancellor O’Connor said, though Griffith is a very young university, it’s developing very fast in the last couple of years, and it has cooperation with many universities in China and Asia. As the CCNU-Griffith Social Work Undergraduate Program is the first Chinese Australian joint social work undergraduate program, he hopes we can have more CCNU students going to Griffith in the future. Prof. O’Connor also mentioned that more research cooperation is expected from the Chinese Australian Social Work Research Center, especially in areas such as aging, elderly social work, and medical social work, which are strong areas in both universities.
Mr. Li Xinqing, President of AEMG, also showed his support for the CCNU-Griffith joint program and CASWRC. As the promoter and bridge between CCNU and Griffith, AEMG fully recognized the progress that had been made in the past five years’ collaboration between the two universities, and will continue to provide support for the cooperation between CCNU and Griffith in student training, scientific research and other areas.
Prof. Wan Rende, Vice Dean of School of Sociology CCNU, said that social work profession is developing very fast in China now, and the need for social work talents is very large. According to a talent development plan released by the central government, China expected to have 1.45 million professional social workers by 2020, and it’s still about 1 million short so far. That's why social work is a promising profession in China. Prof. Wan also provide some suggestions for attracting more CCNU students to go to Griffith, including enhance the integration and mutual recognition of the social work course contents taught at CCNU and Griffith; provide better support for CCNU students to go on a graduate program after finishing their BSW program at Griffith; and provide scholarships for CCNU students.
Director He Jing said, internationalization is an important strategy at CCNU, and the School of Sociology has developed rapidly in the past few years through the internationalization of teaching and research. As a Chinese-Australian joint research center, CASWRC has a very special status at CCNU, and received special funding from CCNU through its research projects. Director He hoped that CASWRC could make good use of the Australian resources and become a model center at CCNU.
After the meeting, the delegation visited the office of Chinese Australian Social Work Research Center, and then headed to Yifu center to sign the MOU between CCNU and Griffith with CCNU’s Vice President Wang Enke.
