The Department of Student Management and Services has actively implemented the educational concept of providing an environment that is conducive to student development, placing great emphasis on the construction of a harmonious and vibrant campus life. Building upon substantive, consistent and sustained achievement of high quality service, the Department has developed key services such as the Center of Financial Aid for Students, the Center for the Student Self-aid, the Student Counselling Service, the Centre for Communication and Volunteer Service, Student Recruitment and Career Services, and Center for Development and Management of E-Class. Recently,to enhance “students’ service orientation” the Department has succeeded in defining in-class and extracurricular activities; creating an integrated

relationship between professions and occupations and building up a social bridge between campus and community, as well as university and society, which has created an innovative environment for a better and more supportive service for the students. Based on the principles of constructing an academic atmosphere that can motivate and support university study and research,the cultivation of a rounded ethical and civic development of students as active and responsible citizen, as well as the promotion of professionalism, the Department has created various educational thematictopics, each of which fitting to corresponding a different stage of student life at university, ranging from their fresher stage to their final year of studies. These thematic topics are (in sequential order): Situation and Policy Education; Construction of Learning and Academic Atmosphere; Cultivation of Harmonious Campus Culture; Improvement of Overall Quality of University Students; and Management and Education of E-learning. The Departmenthas, consequently, organised a series of educational events focused around the themes of returning to parents, community and society; more specific foci and activities included, for example, ‘Writing a Letter Home’ and ‘The Blessings of the Lunar New Year Gift’ which have been designed on the basis ofthe key tenets underpinning the provision of ethical and civic education, the promotion of China’s citizenship values as well as the efficient management of student life:

1. Aprofessional and specialised services by the management team

By virtue of emphasizing and enacting the values of spiritual, co-operative and learning cultures, the Department has evolved into a professional and specialised service team with an efficient management and innovative vision; the members of the service team have accordingly developed their mode of work through the construction of a leaning team and initiating research projects, thereby expanding their international horizons through exchange and study-abroad programmes.

2. Mechanisms of cultivating students’ sense of citizenship

Through systematic mechanisms of cultivating students’ sense of citizenship, the students have acquired a sense of social

responsibility and enhanced social, interpersonal and communicative skills that can facilitate their handling of the complex and potentially challenging relationships between individuals, community and society. In April 2005, the Residents’ Committee of Fangsong Street, Songjiang District, Shanghai, was founded in accordance with the Regulations of Urban Residents’ Committees of the PRC; and the committee membership is composed entirely of SIFT students.Nearly ten thousand students of SIFT participated in the volunteering services that have organised 50 international activities and events, including the Beijing Olympic Games, theShanghai World Expo and the FINA World Championship in Shanghai. SIFT students have become the backbone of the volunteer team of Shanghai universities.

3. Efficient management and organisational achievements

After years of exploration and practice, the achievements of the Department of Student Management and Services have been sociallyrecognized. By virtue of the inclusive, nurturing and learning context and the high-quality scholarly and pedagogic environment created and consistently supported by efficient management, students have obtained solid roundedknowledge, excellent mastery of foreign languages,practical experiences, social and communicative skills, and a deep awareness of professionalism. These achievements and merits have won SIFT students a great number of prizes in various national contests.
The graduate employment rate of SIFT students has been

ranked among the topmost in recent years. According to the survey of university employment rates released in 2011, SIFT ranked second nationwide with an employment rate of 98%; and the figures released by the Central People's Broadcasting Station in 2011 show that most of SIFTgraduates work in sectors and enterprises offering high salaries for employees.? Among SIFT graduates studying abroad this year, one out of four on average gained admission to one of the world's top 100 universities (the 2011 ranking, US News & World Report), including Oxford University, Columbia University and many other distinguished universities of international standing; five graduates, for instance, were offered places at the London School of Economics and Political Science.