The establishing ceremony for international student volunteer team was held on November 14 on the university’s south campus. Seventeen students from sixteen countries came from four campuses to participate in the event. Dr. Wu Xiaoyan, Director of Office for International Students’ Affairs (ISO), gave an opening address to welcome the students and thank them for their enthusiastic involvement in the team.

The first training started right after the director’s opening address. The volunteers learned about a detailed introduction of the university, from its illustrious history, beautiful campuses, strong disciplines, fruitful academic outcomes to its missions and visions. They were then divided into different workshops in which they had a heated discussion on what they have learned of the university, the possible activities they could organize and the contributions they could make to the university.

Aiming to getting more international students involved in the administration of the university, especially in the high-level reception of the important delegations from abroad, ISO has planned to build an international student volunteer program since early this semester. All interested volunteers shall have a good knowledge of the Chinese language, traditions and culture as well as the past and present of Sun Yat-sen University as they are expected to assist the international receptions. ISO will organize a series of training and learning activities to qualify the volunteers. It is expected that the international volunteer team will act as a bridge between students and the university’s administration.

The first seventeen international students are from totally sixteen countries including Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Jordan, France, German, Switzerland, USA, Mexico and Mauritius.