On the afternoon of November 4, 2017, SWJTU and Oklahoma state university (OSU) held the opening ceremony of the sino-foreign cooperative program for the bachelor’s degree of fire protection and safety engineering major in Emei campus.

From Oklahoma State University, Dr. Lee Bird, Director of Student Affairs Vice President; Dr. John Romans, Dean of the School of Education, Health and Aviation; Dr. Randy Seitsinger, Vice Dean of Technology and Engineering Construction School; Dr. Cynda Clary, Vice Dean of Agriculture and Natural Resources School; Dr. John Mark Day, Office Director of Leadership and Student Campus Life; and Dr. Vivian Wang, Director of China Programs attended the ceremony. Meanwhile, Zhang

Xiu-feng, Deputy Secretary of SWJTU in Emei campus; Jiang Jiuwen, Chief of the International Department; Gan Lin, Vice Dean of ZhuKeZhen School; Liu Guoxiang, Dean of Geosciences and Environmental Engineering School; Wang Qirong, Deputy Secretary of Geosciences and Environmental Engineering School, etc. witness this important and meaningful moment.

Under the witness of all the participants, Dr. Lee Bird and Zhang Xiu-feng uncovered the red cloth for the joint program. After that, Zhang Xiufeng, Executive Deputy Secretary, Lee Bird, Vice President, Liu Guoxiang, and Randy Seitsinger delivered speeches successively. After that, Dr. Lee Bird, Dr. Randy Seitsinger, and Dean Liu Guoxiang delivered speeches successively.

Dean Liu Guoxiang introduced the representatives from OSU and extended a warm welcome and heartfelt thanks to Dr. Lee Bird and the delegation. Then, Dr. Randy Seitsinger gave a presentation. He introduced the general situation of OSU in the United States, the basic situation of the Fire Protection and Safety Engineering major, and showcased the beautiful environment, good living conditions and well-equipped laboratories of the OSU campus to teachers and students through pictures. After that, he emphasized that students should not only immerse in book knowledge, but more importantly exercise their sense of cooperation and practical ability in experiments. In the end, he expressed his hopeful expectations for the cooperation program and wished cooperation between the two universities to flourish.

Vice President Dr. Lee Bird and Dr. Randy Seitsinger addressed students' concerns about IELTS tests and told them how to adapt to the cultural differences between China and the United States. At the same time, Vice President Dr. Lee Bird mentioned that many Chinese overseas students are among the top students at OSU with excellent scores, and they confirm the diligence of Chinese students. In addition, Dr. Vivian Wang said that many Chinese students who have graduated from the university have successfully continued their postgraduate studies in the United States and achieved excellent results after graduation. She welcomed the students to continue to study in the United States in the future.

Dr. Liu mentioned advanced facilities and the comfortable environment of the program which not only creates good learning and working conditions for teachers and students, but also marks other important milestones of the international cooperation between the two universities and a new starting point of the international cooperation between SWJTU and OSU. It lays a solid foundation for further cooperation and exchange between SWJTU and OSU and becomes another window for our universities to carry out international exchanges. At the same time, it will also become a breakthrough point for the school to implement comprehensive reform.

After the ceremony and communication, Dr. Lee Bird and Dr. Randy Seitsinger presented gifts from OSU to the SWJTU-OSU students. In the end, all the participants took a photo in front of the main building as a souvenir.