On November 9, 2014, Professor Ruth Hayhoe, the international famous comparative higher education expert and Dr. Julia Pan visited SUSTC to have a discussion with the relevant personnel of the Preparation Office of UNESCO Type II Education Agency by accepting the invitation.

As an international famous scholar from Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of University of Toronto, Professor Ruth Hayhoe came to China to attend University Presidents Roundtable (Shenzhen) and the 5^th Annual Conference on Chinese-Foreign Cooperation in Running Schools; by taking time off from her busy jobs, Ruth Hayhoe came to the Preparation Office for work instruction and communication.

The forum was hosted by the Assistant Director Jiang Kaijun of the Preparation Office, who introduced the background and current state of the Preparation Office, and Professor Qiang Haiyan, the Academic Director of the Preparation Office introduced the name, mission, function, task and operation mechanism of the UNESCO Type II Education Agency prepared to be built in Shenzhen; Dr. Li Xu, the higher education project specialist of Preparation Office and Dr. Zhao Ke, the open learning project specialist of Preparation Office discussed with Professor Hayhoe and Dr. Pan about higher education innovation research and study ideas of open learning to be implemented in the “Center” respectively. Professor Hayhoe praised the plan of building an UNESCO Type II Education Agency in Shenzhen and recognized the name and research field of the center. In addition, Professor Hayhoe and Dr. Pan made constructive comments and suggestions on the works related to higher education innovation and open learning, and provided a wealth of academic resources.

Speech of Professor Ruth Hayhoe

The forum marks the beginning of expert team’ work in the “Center”, and provides strong support for the declaration of UNESCO Type II Education Agency.

After the forum, Dr. Han Wei, the vice-group leader of the Preparation Leading Group of UNESCO Type II Education Agency and the university leader of SUSTC accompanied Professor Hayhoe and Dr. Pan to pay a visit the beautiful campus of SUSTC, which impressed Professor Hayhoe and Dr. Pan a lot.

After their arrival at Shenzhen from Canada in the evening of November 8, Professor Hayhoe and Dr. Pan came to attend the forum in SUSTC held in the morning of November 9 without a break; therefore, we would like to extend our sincere appreciation to both of them for their visit and academic support provided.