The Deans of Tsinghua SEM, Dean Qian Yingyi and Associate Dean Tong Yunhuan, on December 28^th, hosted a meeting with members of the 1^st and 2^nd year International MBA students.  The purpose of the meeting was to both inform students of the progress of the International MBA program and answer any questions that current students had.

Dean Qian first gave students a brief update of the School’s progress since his last meeting with students in May 2007.  The update included the recent success of the accreditation progress, including the AASCB certification and the pending EQUIS accreditation application.  The Dean also mentioned that students are now studying during the centennial anniversary of MBA education, which Harvard Business School started in 1908.  Dean Qian, an alumnus of Harvard Business School, will be traveling to Cambridge to represent Tsinghua SEM during the centennial celebration.  Dean Qian mentioned that the growing internationalization of the student MBA body has been very successful, mentioning that the 2007 class contains more international students than the 2^nd year class.

Following the presentation, one student asked Dean Qian “how Tsinghua SEM will be viewed internationally as a business school.  For example, Wharton is viewed as a finance school and Kellogg is viewed as a marketing school.”  The Dean responded that because business schools in China are still developing, he believes Tsinghua SEM will be focused on general management for the next five to ten years.  Dean Chen also addressed questions about improving the career development center (CDC). Dean Qian mentioned that Tsinghua is improving the career development services for international students, especially those wishing to stay in China and work.  Initiatives include putting additional resources in the CDC office and assigning an Assistant Dean with the responsibility to allocate resources, seeking partnerships with networking groups throughout China (such as the China Professional Network), and forming co-operation programs with the newly formed Tsinghua-INSEAD Executive MBA program.

Dean Qian also mentioned that he has put a team together regarding Tsinghua SEM’s ability to become a globally ranked MBA program, including both the FT and Business Week rankings.  He mentioned one of the key issues that Tsinghua will have to address is the GMAT test.  Currently, Chinese International MBA students do not take the GMAT test (unless they go abroad to exchange schools), but rather, a standardized Chinese test.   Aside from the GMAT test, areas such as salary increase, facilities, and foreign professor ratio are all areas that Tsinghua SEM is improving in.

About the “Dean Talk”

In May 2007, International MBA students interested in the development of Tsinghua SEM prepared a Q&A period with Dean Chen.  Following the success of the Q&A period, the Dean has agreed to continue this event every semester in order to not only update students, but also get feedback and ideas from current students to better improve the MBA school.