Tsinghua MBA orientation ends, new life begins

Four hundred and Fifty-five new MBA (Masters in Business Administration) students enrolled in Tsinghua University's School of Economics and Management (SEM) after 17-day of orientation in September, 2012, including 43 students from Chinese Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and foreign countries. A celebration was held at Liaoning Palace in northern Beijing on Sept. 9, 2012.

Li Jinliang, vice-dean of the School of Economics and Management at Tsinghua University welcomed the new MBA students, and praised their performances during the evening's activities. Li explained that the Tsinghua MBA orientation derived from Western management schools, and began in 1999. He said: "It is not only a brand activity that lasts for years, but also an important link in the Tsinghua MBA educational system."

"Tsinghua MBA Orientation" began on August 24 and ran until Sept. 9, 2012. The closing ceremony at Liaoning Palace gave students an opportunity to share their opinions and ideas from the last 17 days, and provided a platform for students and faculty members to get to know each other. Performances included singing, dancing, shadow puppet shows and talk shows, and were designed by the students. It was a rather amusing sight given that fact that all the performers were MBA students.

The orientation's slogan "New Color, and hearts flying" helped set the tone for the evening's activities, and was the center piece in the orientation's six outreach activities, which included non-profit innovation, shared forums for MBA professionals, etc. The orientation attracted many well-recognized companies, including Hong Kong Yixin Group, Volkswagen China and Sichuan Changhong Electric Co., Ltd.

Tsinghua MBA orientation aims to cultivate student responsibility, cooperation, business sense, professionalism and leadership, and providing opportunities for students to meet with prominent employers is a key ingredient to their future success.

Enterprise participation has played an integral role in past Tsinghua MBA orientations. Both student and employer get the chance to try each other on for size and see whether the other fits into their unique management culture. Students have the opportunity to ask employers important questions and become familiar with different brands, while enterprises have first pick of the exceptional talent being trained at Tsinghua SEM.