Last fall, in a ceremony attended by numerous high-level USC administrators, including Viterbi Dean Yannis C. Yortsos and Associate Dean Kelly Goulis, the University of Southern California officially opened an office in Shanghai, China (a joint venture of the Viterbi School of Engineering, the Marshall School of Business, and the USC Globalization Office). In just a few short months, the Shanghai office has significantly increased awareness of the university across mainland China.
Chris Leung
The USC China office from its founding has included representation from the Viterbi School, led by alumnus Chris Leung. He returned to Los Angeles on February 16 to visit the USC campus to review the past year’s accomplishments (including a significant increase in top quality graduate Chinese applications from the previous fall), and to coordinate efforts to make the Year of the Tiger an influential one for the Viterbi School’s continued growth in China.
Leung’s primary role as Director of the China Office is to increase awareness of the Viterbi School among Chinese students, particularly outstanding ones who might seek graduate study in engineering at USC as well as to reconnect Viterbi alumni with the school. Chris works closely with the Viterbi Office of Master’s and Professional Programs (MAPP), led by Goulis, in these recruitment efforts.
“As a recent graduate from the Viterbi School, Chris is in a unique position to talk about his experience as a Master’s student and the high quality programs we offer at USC,” explained Goulis.
Team Shanghai: Fall interns: Michael Wang, Jeanie Ge, Leung, Amy Li, Richard Li
Leung is increasing awareness of the School in China by two main routes. First are Master’s and PhD Prospective Student Information Sessions, events to which students are invited to meet Viterbi representatives, USC alumni, and fellow graduate applicants. In 2009, he organized a number of these sessions in key areas in China, including Shanghai and Beijing. For the Year of the Tiger, Leung is looking forward to planning more info sessions and increasing student attendance at these events.
Second, Leung and a hardworking group of interns took advantage of a popular online Chinese digital networking system, the “BBS” or bulletin board system, set up by individual universities to allow students to share information with one another through an online forum. In addition to using new digital media to promote the Viterbi School in China, Leung is planning for another set of interns to join the Shanghai office team in the upcoming weeks.
“Our interns in the Shanghai office help us guide and implement our recruiting initiatives, and most importantly, help us to better understand China and what students are looking for in an international education experience.”
Additional events planned for China in 2010
Shanghai skyline
