On May 21 guests from Missouri Southern State University (MSSU) paid a visit to Shandong Foreign Trade Vocational College. The guests, Dr. John Groesbeck, dean of the Business School, Dr. Sherman Hou, dean of the Foreign Languages Department and Lora Dean, director for International Admissions were met by College leaders Mr. Wang Rongchang, Mr. Diao Jiandong and Mr. Zhou Houcai. The meeting was held after the guests were taken to a visit to the College’s practical training center. Relevant department leaders of the College attended the meeting.

At the meeting the two sides exchanged views on how to strengthen the cooperation. Some innovative and constructive ideas were given by both sides. Mr. Wang Rongchang raised the issue on the strengthening of exchanges in course construction, curriculum continuity and teaching resource sharing. Dr. John Groesbeck expressed the hope to develop a multi-channel, multi-level and multi-form cooperation with the College. He said MSSU would further simplify the formalities and cancel the third-party credit certification in order to facilitate the College students to transfer to MSSU. The two sides agreed to make out a detailed agreement on the basis of the talks.

MSSU, established in 1937, is a public university located in Joplin, Missouri, USA. The university comprises four colleges: School of Arts and Sciences, School of Business, School of Education, and School of Health Sciences, Public Safety and Technology. The two sides entered into a friendly and cooperative relationship in 2004. Since then, exchanges have taken place between the two institutes in various forms. In 2008 MSSU sent senior students to the College to teach spoken English. In 2010 Ms. Yu Minqing, a teacher from the College, was invited to teach in MSSU’s International Student Center for one year. As of now, a total of 13 students of the College have entered MSSU to study for Bachelor’s degrees.