OSU hosts annual International Symposium on Student Affairs

Friday, June 22, 2018

Senior student affairs administrators from higher education institutions in China visited the Oklahoma State University campus for the week-long 10th annual International Symposium on Student Affairs in early June. 

Hosted by the OSU Division of Student Affairs, the program allows OSU administrators to share theory and best practices for student success with partner institutions in China.

“The program brings administrators together to discuss student affairs theory and practice and helps create a bridge between U.S. and Chinese universities,” said Dr. Vivian Wang, manager of China programs and development at OSU. “We are able to showcase OSU to Chines academic institutions. It’s a practical way to share the knowledge we have with the world, which is important to OSU’s land-grant mission.”

Since 2009, the International Symposium has hosted more than 400 student affairs administrators from over 30 Chinese institutions and continues to play an important leadership role in the development of China’s student affairs profession. 

Some of the topics covered in the symposium include career services model and career development, leadership development curriculum and activities, how to building resilience, campus threat assessment and other current student affairs practices.

“Travelers to the U.S. often visit Chicago, New York or Los Angeles,” said Dr. Lee Bird, vice president for student affairs. “By building this bridge with student affairs administrators, the partner universities are more comfortable sending their students to the interior of the country including Oklahoma.” 

Bird stated, “While there are many significant differences between the U.S. and China student affairs practice, we all care about our students, their curricular and co-curricular learning and in general, their success.

In addition to the symposium, the OSU Division of Student Affairs partnered with the College of Education, Health and Aviation in November 2017 to establish the first joint center for student affairs research and professional practices with the University of Science and Technology Beijing. This center will better facilitate scholarly exchange and research collaboration in the field of student affairs between the U.S. and China. 

 For more information on the symposium or the center, contact Wang at vivian.wang@okstate.edu.