上理工中英学院外籍教授的中国耕耘路 - 2014年09月05日

IAN Gow, principal of Sino-British College (SBC) of the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology (USST), has been awarded the Shanghai Magnolia Silver Award for his outstanding contributions to the internationalization of higher education in Shanghai. He also holds an Order of the British Empire for his contribution to British education in China and awards from the Ningbo and Zhejiang governments.

The Magnolia award, named after Shanghai’s city flower, recognizes Gow, who has an honorary doctorate (DUniv) from the University of Huddersfield, for his contribution to the success of Sino-British College and to UK higher education in China.

Gow, who turns 70 in October, has been vice president of four top British universities and was the founding provost and chief executive officer of the University of Nottingham, Ningbo, China’s first Sino-Foreign Joint Venture University. After he retired, Gow was offered an opportunity to join Sino-British College, a unique joint venture between a Chinese University and nine UK universities, including Sheffield and Leeds, as its first principal.

“I was attracted by the unique idea to offer Chinese students the opportunity to study at many universities, a much bigger choice than other joint ventures in China,” Gow said in an exclusive interview with Shanghai Daily.

Gow was chosen because the then two-year-old joint venture needed an academic leader to launch cooperation at full degree level with its British university partners.

“They needed somebody experienced to take SBC to the next level and sort out some problems, and I had the energy and experience to help,” Gow said.

British universities are renowned for offering top quality higher education, and that remains when they participate in joint ventures in China.

“The British universities were very concerned about the quality of their degree programs, especially if offered abroad, and meeting their standards was one of the biggest challenges at that time,” Gow said.

In addition to accepting USST students with tier-one gaokao (China’s College Entrance Exam) scores and give them two degrees, the college also offers students a unique opportunity to further improve their academic performance and this opens up many more opportunities for them to obtain places at leading UK universities, where the competition is becoming more and more intensive year by year. Gow believes this is part of SBC’s mission to offer students a second chance for a better future.

“Gaokao is not just about intellectual ability. It also requires motivation and continuous application, qualities needed to do a successful degree in a foreign language. If the students are not motivated to work hard, then it’s difficult to motivate them. But many do take advantage of a second chance,” Gow said.

With such a mindset, Gow developed and led a team that gradually raised entry standards every year, and the students’ quality has improved in each of the five years he has run the college.

Now, over 80 percent of enrolled students are in gaokao tier-one and tier-two groups, which means they could also enroll at about 20 top universities in Shanghai. The rest are in tier three, but that group shrinks every year.

Students enrolled at Sino-British College through USST with tier-one gaokao scores can get two degrees — one from USST and the other from one of the nine British universities — all for a much lower fee compared to other joint ventures.

The annual tuition is 15,000 yuan (US$2,436) at SBC for gaokao entry, less than 20 percent of the average cost at other Sino-British joint ventures in China, which ranges between 70,000 yuan and 80,000 yuan.

Gow, who is from a UK working-class family, said the low fee is also one of the reasons he likes Sino-British College as it can help talented students from less fortunate families obtain a domestic degree and an overseas degree without going abroad, a nice example of China’s “Harmopolicy.”

“What makes us unique is we have a much greater choice for students in degrees and pathways. Students can stay here for four years, or they can go to the UK for two years or one year and come back,” Gow said.

The number of students has also been growing every year. Currently, the number of students at Sino-British College is about 1,800. Further expansion is planned, Gow said.

By carefully selecting the students coming in, success rates at Sino-British College have rapidly gone up. Currently, the college’s employment rate is 97 percent, including those admitted to postgraduate studies in internationally renowned universities around the world.

Gow said the continually improving performance of students came both from their own diligence and the effort of teachers.

After Gow joined, he hired new staff capable of teaching higher-level subjects and improved the curriculum. He also improved campus facilities to create a better studying environment.

Sino-British College now has over 80 full-time international staff and half are British.

Gow said it is not very difficult to attract good teachers as the school has a good location on Fuxing Road M. in the downtown area and Shanghai’s living and schooling conditions are much better than other cities in China.

Besides the rising progression rate, Gow said he was delighted to see recognition of the college from university partners, companies and authorities in China.

“We are the largest most successful overseas operation at the UK 11 university consortium (The Northern Consortium or NCUK). Of the three UK owner universities offering degree completion at SBC, two are winners of the UK University of the Year Award (Sheffield 2011 and Huddersfield 2013),” said Gow. “They think very highly of us, and they are particularly pleased we meet all of their standards. We have been visited by the UK Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) and our case study is available on their website as a model offshore delivery program in China,” Gow said.

The growing recognition also brings more international students to the college. Now, the school has over 150 international students from 42 countries.

“We can offer students an international syllabus, and we have international staff. In the past after Chinese students leave the classroom, they just speak Chinese,” Gow said. “When we have international students, it’s a great chance for Chinese students to communicate, inside the classroom and outside and improve their language skills as well as learn about other cultures.”

Gow said he also was delighted to discover that the college’s Chinese students have a strong sense of social responsibility. They have made a great impact locally by running events for disadvantaged and elderly people. The college has two kinds of charity events, one organized by students studying events management for a degree and the other led by the student union.

Though everything is running smoothly, Gow said his team is not content to rest on its achievements. Continuous improvement is necessary to ensure continued success and delivery of high quality programs in an increasingly competitive environment, especially in Shanghai. Now, the school is applying for a new undergraduate and a new postgraduate degree from the Ministry of Education and the Shanghai government.

Sino-British College now has two schools covering four majors — business management events management, electrical engineering and mechanical engineering.

Gow said the school hopes to open more majors that answer to the needs of China. “My principle has always been ‘British excellence and Chinese needs’.”

Milestones

JANUARY 1, 2009

Professor Ian Gow OBE became Principal & CEO.

December 14, 2010

The University of Sheffield launched Business Management degree at SBC.

July 23, 2011

SBC celebrated its inaugural UK university graduation ceremonies.

April 11, 2012

SBC students volunteered at the British Government’s GREAT campaign in Shanghai.

July 20, 2013

The 2013 Graduation Ceremonies were first joined by four international students.

December 3, 2013

Headed by Sir Martin Davidson, CEO of the British Council, members of the UK PM’s delegation to China visited SBC.

August 2, 2014

Professor Ian Gow OBE received an Honorary Doctorate (DUniv) of the University of Huddersfield.

September 4, 2014

Professor Ian Gow OBE was awarded the Shanghai Magnolia Award.