On September 10 and 11, new student orientation was staged on all the three campuses of Southwest Jiaotong University.

To safeguard the health and safety of all teachers and students, the University has taken a series of preventive anti-epidemic measures throughout the admission process for students of 2020. The freshmen were required to show their Admission Letter and Tianfutong Health QR Code and undergo temperature checks, and each issued with a thermometer for the daily temperature self-monitoring. Furthermore, the University can collect the real time information on students’ arrival, registration, payment for tuitions, progress of admission, etc. with its digital orientation system upgraded this year, optimized procedures for the data collection and registration, and large intelligent screens erected on the three campuses.

Students of junior and senior years were recruited as volunteers to navigate the fresh ones on campus and help them complete the registration formalities.

The School of Information Science and Technology live broadcast the process from multiple angles in the orientation zone so the caring parents outside the campus could get the updates of their kids’ registration. The SWJTU-Leeds Joint School live streamed three Q & A sessions for freshmen. The School of Civil Engineering customized the Handbook for New Students to meet the fresh ones’ needs and outstanding seniors shared their valuable experience in course learning, discipline competition, student work, etc. The School of Electrical Engineering compiled the Must-does for the newcomers and listed 100 good practices for them to follow. The School of Mechanics and Engineering spared no efforts in preparing the Tips on Mechanics for the new ones, which covers the learning experience and methods for the major courses in the coming four years. The School of Mechanical Engineering presented students with souvenirs such as a “101 train” commemorative key chain, a metal bookmark engraved with “Jiaoda Spirit & Mechanical Spirit” and a card set with “rendezvous at the School of Mechanical Engineering”. The School of Foreign Languages offered their students a surprising gift bag in which a bottle of antibacterial body lotion was placed in addition to creative stationery such as a handbag, USB disk and train-like pen. To make the students’ university life memorable, the School of Transportation and Logistics prepared a “time capsule” in which the freshmen can put their written expectations to be reread four years later.

Li Jiaqi, a new postgraduate student from the Faculty of Geosciences and Environmental Engineering, excitedly said in an interview that SWJTU is the one she dreamed of and vowed to live up to her efforts. “It is beyond my expectation,” added Guo Zengyu, a freshman at the School of Civil Engineering. He indicated that the University is considerate in the orientation arrangement and all the procedures are streamlined and easy to complete.

To help the economically disadvantaged students, the University set up a “green channel” to provide them with “one-stop” services such as processing applications for deferred tuition payment, student loans in their birth places, offering consultation on subsidy policies, and issuing documents on financial aid.

On the morning of September 12 and 13, the welcome ceremony for 2020 students of Southwest Jiaotong University was held respectively in the northern stadium of Xipu campus and the Shaded Playground of Emei campus.

President Yang Dan delivered a speech entitled “Roads for the ‘Fresh Borns’” in which he stressed that the teachers and students of the University have been looking forward to the ceremony for a long time after the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic and it is the first one held on site for roughly 10,000 freshmen and new postgraduate students in many years. “Southwest Jiaotong University should carve out its own path of ‘rebirth’ and new SWJTUers should also find their own in their university life,” indicated Yang.

Prof. Yang Weiqing at the School of Materials Science and Engineering spoke at the Ceremony on behalf of the faculty. 

Chen Yushan, a doctoral candidate of the School of Mechanical Engineering, shared his university life as the representative of senior students on the campuses in Chengdu. Yang Peijie, a student of 2019 from the School of Civil Engineering made a speech on behalf of the juniors and seniors on Emei campus. On behalf of the freshmen, Yao Yingming from the School of Civil Engineering compared SWJTU to a book with a history of 124 years in his speech, which will be read carefully in the university life, while Deng Jiayang from the Faculty of Geosciences and Environmental Engineering likened University journey to the 2020 train that is about to leave and called on the fellow students to inherit and carry forward the spirit of Jiaoda, sharpen their minds, and draw nourishment from the ocean of books on this fleeting train. On behalf of the new postgraduate students, Han Qinru from the School of Foreign Languages expressed her aspiration for knowledge and academic rigour.

As a special procedure arranged at the opening ceremony, Wang Xinxin, a 2005 graduate of the School of Information Science and Technology, and Zhou Zemin, a 2013 graduate of the School of Mechanical Engineering, shared with all the freshmen their experience in the frontline of epidemic prevention and control in Wuhan.

At the sonorous and solemn sound of university anthem, the ceremony drew the curtain. We hope all the “fresh borns” of 2020 will bloom and grow, and paint their future of brilliance on the Campus!

As one of the series activities of “The Season of Flowerlike YOUNG Freshmen” supported by CCTV Channel 13, the opening ceremony on Xipu campus attracted wide attention from teachers, students, alumni and parents of the new ones, and more than one million people watched this live broadcast at CCTV News app, CCTV Sina Weibo account, CCTV video, the University’s Sina official account and Bilibili.