Soochow Signs Academic Exchange Memo with Western Sydney

On June 11, 2015, Soochow University signed an academic exchange memorandum with Western Sydney University (Australia) during WSU’s visit to SCU campus. The signing ceremony was attended by SCU President Wei-Ta Pan, Vice President Wei-Liang Chao, Dean of Office of International & Cross-Strait Academic Exchange Sea-Wain Yau, Dean of School of Business Chan-Long Jan, Dean of School of Law Wan-Jun Ho, Chairman of Department of English Hugo Tseng, Director of International Affairs Center Serena Huang, WSU President Barney Glover, Vice President Denise Kirkpartrick, Vice President Yi-Chen Lan, Dean of School of Law Michael Adams, and Director of International Affairs Center Zhi-qiong June Wang, joined by Australian Office in Taipei Deputy Representative Richard Neumann, Deputy Director of Economic and Policy Section Rhys Forsyth, and First Secretary on Home Assignment of Departmant of East Asian and Pacific Affairs Wen-Cheng Sung.

Besides extending his welcome to the guests, SCU President Pan praised WSU’s outstanding performance in teaching, and believed signing this memorandum for academic exchange will not only bring the two schools closer but also strengthen the relationship between Taiwan and Australia. In response, WSU President Glover said that Western Sydney is a young and ambitious university, and marveled at the academic excellence accomplished by SCU’s Law School. He believed that signing the memo showed the strong bond between Taiwan and Australia, and would encourage more Australian students to study in Taiwan. Neumann, Deputy Representative of Australian Office in Taipei, pointed out that Taiwan and Australia have a lot in common, and recognized the fast development of WSU in recent years. He considered the cooperation between the two schools to be a boost to the ties between Taiwan and Australia.

During their talk, the two schools discussed a cooperation initiative for dual-degree program in law and interpreting. In fact, Western Sydney has become the third Australian university that signed such an academic exchange deal with Soochow University. Founded in 1989 with a fast-growing pace, WSU has become relatively renowned for its innovation in the field of research and teaching. It was ranked in the top 400 in the world in the 2014 QS World University Rankings and among the top 100 young universities in Times Higher Education World University Rankings.

SCU has been active in broadening its scope of academic exchange in recent years, and has signed academic exchange agreements with over 250 universities home and abroad. Soochow University are looking forward to future academic exchanges and cooperation with Western Sydney to seek mutual benefits and to create more opportunities for international exchanges between the two schools.