From September 23 to 25, Vice President of Virginia Tech Karen P. DePauw led a delegation to visited SDU. President of SDU Zhang Rong met with the delegation in Qingdao.

During the meeting, Zhang showed appreciation to DePauw's attendance at the Opening Ceremony of Qingdao Campus, SDU. He remarked that the opening of Qingdao Campus provided a new opportunity for mutual cooperations, and hoped the union college project co-built by the two universities would be put into operation as soon as possible, so as to create an international teaching and research environment and build SDU into a world-class university.

DePauw said it was her second time to visit SDU and each visit here was impressive. Amazed by the fast development of Qingdao Campus, she looked forward to constructing an excellent union college on the basis of the two universities’ cooperation over the past decade, in the hope that it would provide favorable environment for students and a solid platform for research cooperation.

During the visit, Chief Accountant of SDU Cao Shengyuan and Vice President Hu Jinyan attended relevant talks with the delegation in Qingdao and Jinan respectively. The two sides had in-depth discussions about the student cultivation, staff training, personnel recruitment, financial budget and land use of the union college. They also talked over the return visit to be paid by the SDU delegation.

Kay Heidbreder, Chief Counsel of Virginia Tech, Ian Leuschner, Director of the International Office and Wang Ruilia, representative of the Chinese Alumni Association of Virginia Tech were with the delegation. Leaders of relevant departments and schools of SDU attended relative activities.

Translated by: Liu Huan

Edited by: Xie Tingting, Lang Cuicui