Dear students,

Welcome to join the family of the School of Information at Renmin University of China! As the dean and alumnus of the school, it is my duty also my desire to give you a few words of advice at this moment.

Congratulations for your excellent work! When you set foot on the campus of the RUC, You've secured a great start point for your lives. I don't think you have much to worry about getting a decent job in the future. You have been students for many years, and are all capable of things like working hard in and after class, getting good scores on exams et cetera. After all, you wouldn't have been here if you can’t achieve that. However, our school and community have higher expectations for you, as RUC has made “Pillar of Rejuvenation, Pioneer of a Powerful Nation” the goal of talent fostering.

The word higher in higher education has a special meaning for university students. The subjects you study here will greatly surpass your previous experiences in breadth and depth. You will learn the expertise, and more importantly, you will learn how to learn. However, many students did not adapt well to university life or found their own positions, left behind only regrets. A common misconception is that one doesn't need to study hard in college anymore. All you need to do is passing the exams. Here, I want to make it clear, Grades Do Matter. They are the main basis for assessing your academical performance and your attitude. I used to work as an interviewer in  university and company, and interviewees’ academic performance is very important. We have a simple criterion for that, if students cannot do well in their major courses, there must be something wrong with either their ability or their attitude. How can others believe they can do well in work if they can’t even do well in school? In addition to your expertise, you should also learn about our society, and our people. I especially encourage our students to engage with other fields, especially those of humanity and social sciences. Absorb their ideas and methods, as they are also the intelligence gathering of us. I never believe in genius, cause all of the outstanding people I know have gone through a long period of training. And I hope you work with diligence here, seizing the day and living to the fullest.

I’d like to briefly introduce our school here again. The School of Information is the oldest and largest engineering school with the widest influence on other disciplines at Renmin University. It used to be the Department of Economic and Information Management, which held high status and prestige among domestic financial and economic institutions. After nearly forty years of development, we have adjusted and standardized our disciplinary structure, forming the current one based on computer science and software engineering, with information management and information system as applied discipline.

We have always regarded talent development as the most important work. In order to implement the advanced talent cultivation concept of "Broad Field and Solid Foundation", we have adopted an unique approach to undergraduate admissions since 2009. Rather than divided by the department, students are admitted to the school directly. They have flexibilities to choose courses based on their own interests within specific curriculum modules, obtaining degree in relevant domain. This approach allows students to build a strong foundation while exploring various areas of interest within the broad field of information science. Students can obtain two degrees concurrently if they are academically able. That’s what we call Major Combination and Degree Composition. In 2016, we established Turing experimental program for competitive undergraduate students in the field of computer science. For postgraduate education, we provide first-class research environment, international exchange programs and internship opportunities. The school of Information offers you infinite potential for future development. May you fly your dream here.

The campus of Renmin University may not be vast, but the world within is expansive. I sincerely hope that concept of talent fostering called “Pillar of Rejuvenation, Pioneer of a Powerful Nation” go beyond rhetoric and be valued by us all. I hope you can all have a pleasant and fulfilling time here.

Ji-Rong Wen

Dean of the School of Information