On the evening of Sept 10th, the Center for International Programs at the School of Finance, Renmin University of China (CIP, SFRUC) held an online orientation for the 2021 Master of Science in FinTech (MSFT) Program new students. Prof. Zongxin Qian, Director of the MSFT Program and Ms. Yuanyuan Song, Director of CIP attended the orientation. Mr. Runfeng Zhou, Program Coordinator of the MSFT Program hosted the orientation. This year the MSFT Program has 7 new students respectively from Canada, Malaysia, India, Philippines, Cambodia, Kenya and Sierra Leone.

To begin with, Mr. Zhou invited the new students to introduce themselves. They briefly talked about their study experiences, professional backgrounds and expressed their excitement of becoming a student of SFRUC.

Mr.Zhou invited the 2021 MSFT new students to introduce themselves

After that, Prof Qian warmly welcomed the new students , “the year of 2021 marked the the beginning of the MSFT program”. he said. “ In order to meet the demand for FinTech talents globally, SFRUC launched this advanced program offering comprehensive courses of FinTech, AI, blockchain, cloud computing, big data and other subjects”. Prof. Qian pointed out this program is well equipped with leading industry experts and scholars who can help students with both academic knowledge and professional hybrid skills.

Prof. Qian giving a speech

Ms. Song sincerely congratulated the students on being admitted to the MSFT program and encouraged them to keep in close touch with CIP and teaching faculties in case they need any help particularly when classes are all held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Next, Ms. Song introduced the history, current development and highlights of Renmin University of China, the School of Finance and the MSFT program. “RUC is well-known for its strong advantages in humanities and social sciences since its founding in 1937, and the School of Finance is first school in China to open advanced Finance and Public Finance courses.”Ms. Song said. She went on to talk about the program, “MSFT is a pioneering program in China that ever offers a fully English-taught systematic FinTech curriculum for international students. It was designed to cultivate global FinTech talents and business leaders equipped with both financial expertise, technology skills and innovative spirits, especially with a focus on China.”

Ms. Song giving a speech

In the next part, two student representatives from the previous Master of Science in Finance (MSF) Program, shared their study experiences at SFRUC. Genyu Li(Canadian, class of 2019) encouraged new students to learn more about Chinese culture, make full use of RUC’s resources and actively participate in social practice activities. Anne Kaimuru (Kenyan, class of 2020) recalled,“during online learning, teachers kindly and patiently guide us to master the knowledge and broaden horizon; in daily life, the management team of MSFT Program always helps me whenever I meet difficulties, which really touches me.”

MSF students sharing their study experiences

(Genyu Li on the left, Anne Kaimuru on the right)

Finally, based on the recently edited Students Guidebook of the MSFT Program, Mr.Zhou introduced the rules and regulations of MSFT Program, including student conduct and discipline, course learning & activities, scholarship and awards, thesis writing and degree conferment policies. Then he elaborated on the curriculum design and course selection and answered students’ questions accordingly. He encouraged all students to interact with staff and teaching faculties more often and wished everyone an unforgettable and valuable learning experience at SFRUC.

Students Guidebook of MSFT Program (cover)

SFRUC is the 1st school in China that provides a fully English-taught MS_FinTech program for international students. It was designed to cultivate global FinTech talents and business leaders equipped with financial expertise, technology skills and innovative spirits, especially with a focus on China. (for more info, please check http://sf.ruc.edu.cn/msf/)