Founded in 1995, the School of Finance (the School) at the Shanghai University of International Business and Economics (SUIBE) has enjoyed a rapid growth over the past 20 years while the city of Shanghai has been striving to become an international financial center. It currently consists of five departments, i.e. Finance, Financial Management, Financial Engineering, Insurance and Investment, offering nine undergraduate majors and programs in Finance, Finance (Sino-Canada joint program), Finance (all-English), Financial Management, Financial Management (Sino-Canada joint program), Financial Engineering, Insurance, Asset Evaluation and Investment, and six master's programs in Finance, Financial Engineering, Insurance, Financial Management, Technical Economics and Management and one professional degree in Finance. The Finance Discipline is awarded by the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission (SHMEC) as a key discipline while the master's program in Finance is one of the earliest five launched in Shanghai. The Finance Major is also recognized as a distinctive major at both the national and the municipal levels. The disciplines of Finance, Financial Engineering, Insurance and Technical Economics and Management at the School have strongly supported the disciplines of Applied Economics and Business Administration in their successful bidding for the Shanghai Gaoyuan Program, an initiative by the Shanghai Municipal Government to fund the growth of leading academic disciplines. The Finance (all-English) Major has been included as a dominant major in the first-class undergraduate building programme for Shanghai institutions of higher learning.
Our faculty is well-structured in both educational background and professional attainment: among the 93 faculty and staff members, there are 75 full-time instructors, including 19 professors and 30 associate professors. Over 85% of our current faculty, or a total of 64, own doctoral degrees, and 90% have overseas experience for study or professional development. The School has recently launched overseas recruitment plans, attracting doctoral graduates of Oxford University, Washington State University, Queen's University and Hitotsubashi University. It has also invited tenure professors from leading foreign universities in a flexible way, such as University of Southampton, Lancaster University and Towson University, to serve as part-time faculty and give lectures and conduct academic exchanges at the School on a regular basis. 49 senior executives from mutual funds, securities companies, banks and other financial sectors have been appointed as off-campus supervisors.
The School is committed to achieving excellence in research and scholarship. The distinct academic atmosphere and the growing reputation of the School are reflected in and consolidated by a variety of well-regarded academic events such as regular workshops, salons and premier speakers’ lectures. Our faculty has undertaken nearly 100 key projects for provincial governments or national ministries, including those commissioned by the National Social Science Foundation of China, the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Humanities and Social Sciences Research Program of the Chinese Ministry of Education. They have published nearly 200 papers in academic journals such as Review of Accounting Studies, Journal of Banking & Finance, Economic Research, Management World, Journal of Management Sciences in China, the Journal of World Economy, and Journal of Financial Research. An array of national and international seminars have been organized, such as the 12th and 14th SUIBE-KAS Annual Forum (in partnership with the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung), the First International Forum on Multi-tiered Capital Market and Corporate Governance, the 13th China Annual Conference on Finance, and the Shanghai Postgraduate Academic Forum 2016-1019 for four consecutive years. The School is actively contributing its wisdom and proposals to fulfilling the “three new major tasks”, highlighting “Shanghai's four brands” and promoting Shanghai's endeavor to build itself into “five centers”, garnering approval from leaders at all levels for many times and wide recognition from all sectors of society for its policy advice and research accomplishments.
The School educates 2600 students at the undergraduate and graduate levels. To meet the university mission, i.e. producing highly-recognized, applied-research-oriented students with global perspective, the School is constantly innovating its curriculum design. Endorsed by SHMEC in its first phase project as one of the top providers of quality undergraduate education, the School offers a host of accredited courses, such as Financial Management which has received the national award for excellence, and Security Investment Analysis which is recognized at the national level for its bilingual delivery. In addition, six courses including Financial Statement Analysis have won municipal awards for teaching excellence. Six courses including International Financial Management are recognized at the municipal level as English-taught demonstration courses. Eleven courses including Insurance are among the key courses licensed at the municipal level. With consistent efforts in course development, a well-structured pipeline of instructors with distinguished teaching achievements has emerged, notably in the Financial Management program, whose faculty team has received an award of distinction from SHMEC. Building on the strength of the accredited courses, the School has made remarkable achievements by updating teaching materials and improving pedagogic methodology. It's worth mentioning that the programme “Using Fragmented Learning to Improve Students’ Learning Efficiency - Based on the Practice of Online Courses of Financial Statement Analysis” has won Second Prize of Excellence in Educational Achievements from SHMEC.
The School is committed to innovative approaches to the development of students, notably in its proven track record of internationalization. As early as 1998, we worked with Douglas College of Canada and launched two joint undergraduate programs in Finance and in Financial Management. By introducing curriculum and advanced teaching methods from leading business schools abroad, the dual-degree joint programs have produced accomplished students with international vision and competencies badly needed for Shanghai's goal to be an international financial center. The programs have, therefore, won wide acclaim and prizes, including the Second Prize of Excellence in Educational Achievements from SHMEC in 2001, Internationalization Excellence Award from the Government of Canada in 2001, and Silver Prize for International Collaboration from the World Federation of Colleges and Polytechnics(WFCP) in 2014. The School constantly draws upon best practices in joint programs and applies the successful experience into other programs. In August, 2018, an all-English Experimental Class in Finance was opened, aiming to use a new model of teaching in English to produce top-notch talents.
The School has been actively engaged in exploring new models of international cooperation. In 2017, we initiated the student exchange programme with Lancaster University, 2.5+1.5 double-bachelor's degree program with University of Rhode Island, 3+1+1 master's degree program with University of California, Riverside, and 1.5+1 double-master's degree program based on credit transfer and mutual recognition with Pennsylvania State University respectively, further highlighting our dedicated efforts to become more internationalized and more innovative in cultivating students. The School is also devoted to raising the academic research competency of graduate students. A multitude of events are specially designed to meet this need, such as workshops on academic papers, literature review contests, and academic thesis competitions. Graduate students have greatly benefitted, with some publishing their papers on academic journals like Nankai Business Review and Finance & Trade Economic and others receiving Outstanding Dissertation Awards from SHMEC.
After years of endeavors and explorations, the School has established itself in the model of student cultivation. In the past three years, our students have won more than 140 awards in international and domestic subject competitions, with many first prizes or championships in the financial, mathematical modeling, English and social practice competitions. Our graduates are well-received among employers. In the past five years, 100% employment has been achieved among graduate students, and above 96% among undergraduate graduates, of which more than 83% are employed in the financial industry such as commercial banks, securities companies, insurance companies and accounting firms. According to the 2018 Chinese College Salary Report released by iPIN, SUIBE ranks the 20th among the top 200 Chinese colleges with the highest-paid graduates. Graduates from the School of Finance stand among the top-performers. Besides, about 20% of undergraduate graduates every year choose to continue their studies and get successfully admitted to well-known universities at home and abroad, such as Columbia University, Rochester University, London School of Economics, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Tsinghua University, Fudan University, etc.
A broad slate of platforms have been established at the School where students can put their learning into practice: (1) Iconic campus events organized by the School. Contest on Financial Case Study and Mock Contest on Stock Investment enable students to apply the theories and analytical approaches and tools they have learnt from classroom. (2) Internships based on the School's industrial cooperation. The KPMG Internship Program for example offers excellent opportunities for students to receive an inside look at their potential career path and integrate theories with practice through a 3-month long Elite Program. (3)Overseas Study Tours. For instance, students can spend one month in the Alliance Manchester Business School during the summer vacation to fully experience “the teaching methodology of the Manchester Program”. Credits obtained from the program are recognized and transferrable. The Study Tour Program with the University of Melbourne offers another option for students to go to Australia for field study and exchange. (4)Simulation teaching platforms. At the well-equipped Finance Laboratory, students are able to conduct simulated transactions such as commercial-banking business, securities trading, foreign exchange business, and futures trading in a fully realistic setting in an attempt to enhance their hands-on skills and abilities in market analysis and decision-making.
Going forward, the School stands ready to press ahead with innovation, strive for excellence, and work unremittingly to achieve the goal it has set: a school of distinction in East China, highly recognized for its applied research, its level of internationalization and its distinctive features.
