On February 19th, a virtual launch event of Tsinghua CEMS program was held to welcome its newest cohort of 2021 Spring CEMS students from all over the world. Launch event is the CEMS orientation for all CEMS students for a new term. Because of the pandemic, this was the first time to welcome CEMS exchange students virtually. Twenty incoming students from 12 member schools of CEMS (including HEC, LSE, NUS, etc.), together with Tsinghua CEMS Academic Director SUN Yacheng, Academic Tutors of CEMS Business Projects CHEN Hao and HAO Jie, Program Manager YANG Shuling, Program academic coordinator WANG Jing, and senior students of Master in Management program attended the event. Histories of Tsinghua University, School of Economics and Management, and the Tsinghua CEMS program were introduced to the incoming students. The senior students of Master in Management program shared their experience of online study and virtual campus life.

The orientation started with the introduction of Tsinghua University, School of Economics and Management’s history and development, its unique CEMS program, and its diversified faculty group members by CEMS Academic Director SUN Yacheng. During the pandemic, the program is offering hybrid teaching, i.e., online and offline to all students. Prof. Sun shared his suggestions about this, “Online course seems difficult for students across different time zones. Last semester, I increased the frequency of interaction deliberately with online students. Meanwhile, your own attendance is key. To maintain a good relationship with TA, other students and the course professor are necessary for a better learning outcome.”

Introduction of Tsinghua by Prof. SUN

As the first and the only business school with full CEMS membership in Chinese mainland, Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management was awarded the CEMS School of the Year 2017-2018. "Connection with enterprises and growth in practice" is one of the features of the Master in Management program of Tsinghua School of Economics and Management. Program Manager YANG Shuling, Academic tutors of Business Project CHEN Hao and HAO Jie introduced the upcoming online Business Projects, through which students will gain insights into business operation and application of management knowledge. This semester, students will have the opportunity to dive into companies like McKinsey，Jardine Matheson，Richmond，Cartier, etc., providing solutions on business projects proposed by enterprises, and implement the projects together with company employees.

Then, the students of Master in Management program also shared their experiences of course study and school life. Zinonska Kateryna from Ukraine invited students to join in CEMS Club Beijing, the local CEMS student club at Tsinghua that delivers diversified activities for CEMS as well as Master in Management students. This semester, students will participate in a series of events like CEMS Global Alumni Week seminar, CEMS Talk, Virtual Concert, CV workshop, and Corporate visits, according to Zinonska Kateryna.

Events introduced by CEMS Club Beijing

Ayasa Nishida from Japan, student of Master in Management program introduced Tsinghua online resources and tools for online courses. Her classmate Noah Taylor from America shared his suggestions on online study, “When you do online learning, turn on your camera and enjoy the class. It helps you feel connected. Also, keep engaging with your class and you’d better get to know the faces of your classmates and add their WeChat. At last, you should have a designated study area and work hard. It helps you clear your mind and work better. Sometimes we tend to blame the inefficiency of our study to the online environment, while high efficient learning can be achieved through continuous adjustment.”

Experience shared by MiM international students

Through the orientation, the students deepened their understandings of the the exchange at Tsinghua University. They are refreshed and excited to experience a different culture, gain insights into China’s commercial environment, and start their new journey with the CEMS spring term at Tsinghua on air.

Group photo taken after the CEMS Launch Event.