UM Shanghai Short-Term Summer Program
Preparation Instructions
Admin Procedures & Timeline
Directions: please look over each section below. TAKE NOTE of this symbol: ☷. It indicates that there is a short confirmation form to complete. You’ll find the link in orange at the bottom of the section. Pay attention to due dates, and make notes on your calendar if you need to.
Final Dates & Schedule
Financials
Estimated Program Costs
Item |
Amount |
Notes |
| Program Fees : | $3,215.23 | All SU & UM Charges, including trips |
| Insurance : | $42 | Travel Insurance through Study Abroad Office |
| SA App : | $100 | Charged when completing Study Abroad application in March |
| China Visa : | $165 | Group rate provided by our agent |
| Airfare : | $1,750 | Estimate (last year’s average was $1,500) |
| *Total : | $5,272.23 | |
| Cost without airfare : | $3,522.23 |
*These calculations are still estimates. Costs may increase or decrease with a rise or fall of participant numbers.
Curriculum
All students, regardless of their spring coursework, will take the same course and earn the corresponding credit:
Chin 321: Chinese Culture and Civilization (3 credits)
Content
CHIN 321 is a study of the history of Chinese civilization and its impact on contemporary Chinese culture.
This course will count toward the Chinese major or minor. For this program, cultural knowledge is emphasized more than proficiency gains; however, students will receive language practice and will benefit from direct interaction with their environment. Even in 3 weeks, they can and should expect to improve their proficiency.
Structure
Morning classes: 2 hour-long lectures on Chinese history and culture.
Afternoon classes: 2 hours of language practice geared toward students’ levels.
A Typical Day
Students will live in dorms, take classes, and eat most of their meals on the Shanghai University Yancheng campus. There are restaurants and even a shopping center within walking distance.
You will have two hours of lecture in the morning and then two hours of language practice in the afternoon. This will give you ample prep time before class and time to study, exercise, interact with locals, etc., in the afternoon and evening.
You will probably spend a good amount of time in the areas surrounding campus, and occasionally going to visit the touristic areas of Shanghai (always abiding by our travel policies and getting permission as required). You will have to judge how much time you will have to get back to campus before curfew and how much time you will need to be fully prepared for class each day.
Policies & Warnings
This program’s curriculum will increase your knowledge of Chinese culture in a formal sense. Much of cultural knowledge, in a more practical sense (i.e., “cultural competency”), must be learned through exposure to a culture’s people. It usually involves a process of trial and error, which can involve lots of embarrassing and even frustrating situations. You can only succeed by paying close attention to your environment and asking questions when things don’t make sense, or if you find that your interpretation is overly negative or positive.
Our expectation is that you will treat everyone you encounter with respect, particularly your teachers and administrators at Shanghai University. “Respect” is demonstrated differently in different cultures, and we expect you to be open to learning new rules and applying them to the best of your ability.
Curfew:
Students must return to campus at night before the university gates close.
Alcohol:
Students must abide by UM Study Abroad policies, but in general, for those who are allowed to drink, they are to exercise EXTREME CAUTION, as alcohol in China can be fake or contaminated. For the sake of everyone, students should also exercise moderation and not let their choices negatively affect their experience, much less those of the other participants.
Attendance:
This is an academic trip, and your academic performance will affect your cumulative GPA at Ole Miss. You are required to attend every session of every class unless you have approval to miss (i.e., due to illness). It is extremely offensive in Chinese culture for a student to miss class (or even be late) without giving prior notice to the teacher, and with profuse apologies included.
Leaving Campus & the Vicinity:
Outside of planned trips, students are not to leave the immediate vicinity of campus (approx. 1 mile radius). They may only do so without prior approval on a case-by-case basis.
Leaving Shanghai:
Apart from the Beijing trip, students are absolutely forbidden from leaving Shanghai, even on a weekend excursion. China is a relatively safe place, but if something should occur it is extremely important that our staff be nearby.
Arrival & Departure:
Shanghai University will arrange transportation to and from the airport, but only on the prescribed arrival and departure days. Only one or two trips will occur on those days (most likely at 12pm and 8pm), so plan your flights accordingly. Those arriving during the will need to prepare to take a taxi (ask for our guidance, and review the arrival section in our Program Handbook) and to pay elevated fares when they do.
Applying for or Renewing a Passport
As you will see in the China Visa application section, your passport must be good for at least 12 months from the time your application is submitted to the Chinese consulate. If there is any concern, you should definitely get it renewed.
All information for doing so can be found on the State Department’s website:
https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/passports.html
This process can take more than 6 weeks in some cases. We cannot request an invitation from Shanghai University until you have a valid passport, which means you cannot submit a visa application until several weeks after receiving your passport. This is the step that creates the most amount of stress and uncertainty when it is not completed on time, and it is also the most procrastinated. Do NOT delay. Do NOT wait until the next time you happen to be in your home town and/or have your parents to help you. Begin immediately!
Study Abroad also requires a valid passport for their records, so you should have one by their deadline if at all possible.
Study Abroad Application Instructions ☷
Due date: Thursday, Mar. 2, 2017 (The Study Abroad Office deadline is March 9, 2017 (always the 2nd Wed. in March), but there are steps to complete between the initial online submission and the final submission of all documents — steps that will require signatures from both your Chinese teacher and the dean of liberal arts, which means a trip to Ventress Hall. These extra procedures will each probably require a minimum of two business days. While this is a “due date,” you do not turn the form in to us; instead, we will need confirmation that you have submitted it to Study Abroad (after picking it back up from Liberal Arts).
Access the application via the Study Abroad Home Page
- Follow links to “apply”
- Log in to my.olemiss.edu when prompted
- Select the “simple search” option.
- Put the word, “Shanghai” into the “program title” box and click “-Search->”
-
In the results, select the program called, “Chinese Language in Shanghai.”
(NOT the Flagship program).
Notes:
-
The Course Approval Form could take several days to acquire.
An unofficial copy of your transcript, accessible through my.olemiss.edu, must also be included. - You will also need to submit a scan of your passport, although possibly not until after submitting the application. If you are late acquiring a valid passport, do NOT let this delay your submission of the Study Abroad application. We recommend making a copy for yourself as well.
- You do not need to include the application fee. As an Ole Miss student, this will be charged to your bursar’s account automatically.
-
Each time prompted, use the following information:
- Program:Chinese Language Shanghai
- Study Abroad Advisor: Blair McElroy
- Term: Summer
- Location: Shanghai University, Shanghai, China
- Program Dates: (departure and return dates above)
- Health & Emergency Treatment Authorization Form – Your Address = permanent address (not a P.O. box)
-
For Your Info:
- The SA application fee is included in our program cost estimates. Be prepared for it to show up on your bursar’s bill at some point, and make sure your parents know to expect it.
- $500 withdrawal fee – pay attention to dates and policies, in case you need to drop out for any reason (never happened to date).
- Faculty-Led Course Approval Form: For students participating in the Shanghai program, note that you must get Dr. Yang to sign a faculty-led course approval form (make sure to download the right one – “faculty-led”!) and then submit it to the office of the Dean of Liberal Arts (usually in Ventress Hall, but currently in Lester).
- The “Study Abroad Course Number & Title” is CHIN 215: Chinese Practicum I.
- Do not give the dean’s office your entire Study Abroad application.
- You do NOT need to submit an unofficial transcript to the Dean of Liberal Arts along with the Course Approval form, but you will need to bring one to Study Abroad (follow the SA website instructions).
- You do NOT need to register for CHIN 215 yourself. Study Abroad will do that for you, once you’ve completed that documentation and been approved.
- You will need to drop off the form in Ventress and come back later (1-2 days) to pick it up signed.
Please submit these short Google forms for our records:
Chinese Visa Application Instructions and Due Date
CHINESE VISA APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS
Due date: Monday, March 6, 2017
Submit to: Chinese Flagship staff (Nate Flake) in person. COME SEE ME IMMEDIATELY IF YOU WILL NOT BE READY ON TIME
Note: you must include the following:
-
Your actual PASSPORT
If you would have to FedEx it and are going home for spring break, you may submit the actual passport on Monday, March 16. ALL OTHER ITEMS ARE DUE BY THE REGULAR DATE, including copies of the passport, which could be high-quality scans, emailed by your parents. Remove sleeves or safety covers. They will be removed before submitting them to the consulate and could be lost. -
TWO PASSPORT PHOTOS
These are usually sold in sets of 2. One is required for the visa application, and Shanghai University is requiring one from each student in advance to create ID cards, ready upon arrival (see passport photo section below in visa application instructions for specifications and ways to obtain them.) -
Two photo copies of your passport
By passport, we mean the page bearing your photo and vital info, and the page where you have SIGNED your passport. We will include one copy with your visa application and save the other in our files as a backup. You should PRINT A THIRD COPY TO BRING WITH YOU TO CHINA and consider leaving a fourth with your emergency contact in the States -
One copy of your Driver’s License (if you have one)
Front side only. This will act as proof of residence for the Houston Consulate. -
One copy of your University of Mississippi student ID card
Front side only. This will also act as proof of residence for the Houston Consulate and is REQUIRED even if you also have a driver’s license
One copy of any Chinese visa(s) that were granted to you in the last 2 years.
This corresponds to question #2.9 on the Chinese visa application form (see below) -
$165 as cash or check
If submitting cash, place the EXACT AMOUNT in an envelope (provided by you) with your name on it; otherwise, checks should be made out to “The University of Mississippi.” This amount goes towards the cost of the visa (~$140), plus the broker’s fee, which includes a group discount. We will be paying the shipping to and from Houston. We cannot make change, nor can we accept money through online sites or mobile apps. -
The Visa Application Form (instructions below)
Please fill out the Chinese visa application generated by the following URL (updated for 2017):Chinese “F” Visa Application (V.2013)*Do NOT attempt to fill this out without consulting the detailed instructions below. We WILL make you fill it out again if you do.
* The latest version says “V.2013” in the top right corner of the document.This document is also accessible from the following page:
Chinese Visa Office (our broker in Houston)
The page says, “Chinese Business Visa,” but the instructions and documents for the M & F visa are both given here. - the completed application
- $165 as cash or check
- your actual, physical passport
- two passport photos (one for the application and one to be submitted to Shanghai University for processing your registration)
- a copy of your driver’s license or UM student ID card (proof that Houston is the correct regional consulate to process your application). A scan or copy of the front side will suffice.
- Section 1.2— Name in Chinese: [Unless you have a Chinese name on your passport (some Heritage speakers have Chinese middle names), we recommend that you leave this blank. If you are able to type Chinese characters into the form, you may do so. Do not write in the Chinese characters by hand after printing.]
- Section 1.9— Local ID: [leave blank, do NOT list your SSN or driver’s license]
- Section 1.13— Place of Issue: [in the past, U.S. visas listed the city in which they were issued. Newer passports may not include this, in which case you can simply put “U.S.A.”]
- Section 1.15— Current occupation(s): “Student”
- Section 1.16— Education: “College”
-
Section 1.17—Employer/School:
Name: The University of Mississippi
Address: Modern Languages, Bondurant Hall C-115, University, MS 38677
Phone number: 1-662-915-7298”
Zip Code: 38677 - Section 1.25— Country or territory where applicant is located when applying for this visa: U.S.A.
-
Section 2.1— Major Purpose of Your Visit:
Short-term study for less than 180 days (left-hand column, near bottom) -
Section 2.2—Intended Number of Entries: Check the fourth box: “Multiple entries valid for e year from the date of issue.” (For American citizens, this option is the same price as single-entry).
IF YOUR PASSPORT EXPIRES IN LESS THAN ONE YEAR, contact us before completing this section (to be safe, you should treat this criterion as “less than one year from the date you are reading this”; NOT one year from the date you plan to arrive in China). - Section 2.3—Are you applying for express service?: check “NO”
- Section 2.4—Expected date of your first entry into China on this trip: IF YOU HAVE IT ALREADY, consult your airplane ticket. Otherwise, do not complete this section until you are fairly certain of when you intend to arrive. If, for example, you intend to travel to China early (and have discussed your plans with us to make sure that there won’t be any conflicts in dates OR funding policies), you will want to pin down your intended arrival date with reasonable accuracy and probably give yourself a few days’ buffer. Keep in mind that 90 DAYS IS THE MAXIMUM CONTINUOUS STAY on this visa, even if it is valid for 1 year. If you intend to arrive several weeks before our start date, calculate in reverse, beginning from the date you intend to leave China (i.e., the day after our program ends). Conversely, if you intend to stay in China after our program ends, make sure your departure date is within 90 days of your arrival. Even if you don’t intend to go to China early, you should choose a date that is a few days before our program begins, just in case the fares on the normal arrival date end up being significantly more expensive than those leading up to it. Make sure you WIRITE THE DATE IN THE FORMAT GIVEN, beginning with the year. Talk to your classmates or known participants immediately if you think you would like to travel with them before or after the program. Changing/extending a China visa can be a major endeavor — one for which we can offer very little help.
- Section 2.5—Your Longest Intended Stay in China among all entries: “90” Days.
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Section 2.6—Itinerary in China:
First Column:
2017/5/20 – 2017/7/17
(of course, this will be different if you are arriving early or staying after the program ends. Make sure your entire time in China is no longer than 90 days)
Second Column:
Shanghai University
No.149 Yanchang Road, Shanghai
(fit both lines in one cell) - Section 2.7—Who will pay for your travel and expenses during your stay in China?: “Self” (we will be giving you a scholarship, but in most cases and for most charges, we will not be paying them directly)
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Section 2.8—Information of Inviter in China:
Shanghai University
No.149 Yanchang Road, shanghai
+86-21-5633-1820
Relationship with the Applicant: Institution providing short-term language training and housing. - Section 2.9—Have you ever been granted a Chinese Visa?: If you mark “yes,” YOU MUST INCLUDE A COPY OF THAT VISA WITH THIS APPLICATION
- Section 3.8—If someone else travels and shares the same passport…: LEAVE BLANK and DO NOT ATTACH YOUR PHOTO HERE. Your photo should be affixed to Page 1.
- Part 4—Important: (DO NOT FORGET TO SIGN THE DOCUMENT)
- Part 5 —Application Form Completed by Another Person: (We presume that you will be filling out this document yourself and will therefore leave this section entirely blank. DO NOT LIST US IN THIS SECTION. You are to complete this form and sign it before giving it to us.
China Visa Application DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS
You are applying for the F visa, which will require an invitation letter provided from Shanghai University.
YOU MUST TYPE YOUR ANSWERS in ALL CAPS in this fillable PDF document at a computer that can print. It cannot be saved. If your computer does not allow you to fill in the blanks, try a public computer in the university library.
DO NOT SUBMIT IT TO THE CONSULATE; give all of the following items directly to Nate:
We will submit all applications together. Note: while there are Chinese consulates in various parts of the country, the Houston consulate has never failed to process visas for all our Flagship students, regardless of their home state. They have confirmed that, as long as your school address is in their region, which includes Mississippi, the Houston consulate can process them. Your other options are to hand deliver the documents to a Chinese consulate or to submit your application (including passport) to a China visa brokerage, which will hand deliver it for you. The fees for such a brokerage could be more than the discounted rate that we receive to process visas in bulk ($165, and we pay the shipping, as long as you submit your materials on time).
Tips on completion:
** If you were born in China, please read all pertaining submission requirements on the same website (Chinese Visa Office, Inc. – Tourist Visa info)
-Passport Photo: More specifically, this means a “passport style color photo, with full face, front view, no hat, and against a plain light background.” DO NOT attempt to shoot your own photos or otherwise create them from an amateur photo. You may want to print out the form and get a sense of how big the photos should be before having them made or cut.Locally, there are several places to have these made, including Walgreen’s and Chaney’s Pharmacy.
Instructions for Potentially Problematic Questions (READ CAREFULLY):
U of M Summer Financial Aid Form ☷
**The purpose of this procedure is mostly to get you in the Financial Aid system for the summer if you are receiving any kind of UM scholarship (we cannot provide scholarships for this program).**
If you are applying for funding other than your Flagship (and/or Modern Languages) scholarship, you should fill out the form in accordance with its native instructions. The instructions below assume that you are only interested in your Flagship funding. If you have financial aid questions that are not related to you Flagship scholarship, I encourage you to talk to Financial Aid directly.
The summer financial aid application will become available late March.
It can be found by searching for “Summer Financial Aid Application” once logged in to my.olemiss.edu.
- Page 1:
Enter the form as an undergraduate; not a graduate student. - Page 2:
Box 1: You have completed the …. FAFSA ….
-OPTIONAL (Unless you are seeking funding in addition to a Flagship (and/or Modern Languages) scholarship, you do NOT need to have completed the FAFSA to complete this form.)
Box 2: You must be enrolled prior to completing this application. (In general, you must have a minimum of 6 summer hours to receive federal aid.)
-OPTIONAL (Unless you are seeking funding in addition to a Flagship (and/or Modern Languages) scholarship, you do NOT need to have been registered for CHIN 215 before completing this form, but bear in mind that 5 credits is below the minimum for most financial aid)
Box 3: You have checked your Financial Aid status to ensure that you are not on Financial Aid Suspension, in Verification, or have any other problems. If you have any issues that must be resolved, please call our Helpline at 800-891-4596 for assistance.
-REQUIRED (You should also check for any holds on your Ole Miss bursar’s account or anything else that would prevent you from being registered for CHIN 215)
Box 4: I have read and understand the Summer School Notice.
-REQUIRED - Page 3:
Update your contact information, if necessary. - Page 4:
1. This summer, I plan to be a/an (please select one):
-Undergraduate2. I am planning on receiving federal aid: (please select one):-No (unless you are seeking OTHER sources of funding. For Financial Aid’s purposes, a
Flagship scholarship is not considered federal aid because you are not applying for it through them)
3. I also have the following special classification for summer (check all that apply):Study Abroad Participant
When selected, the following dropdown menu will appear:
** Select Study Abroad Program: [ask us if the program to choose is not obvious] (note: the program is no longer “full summer,” but has not yet been updated in this application)4. These are the five terms of enrollment during Summer …
I will be enrolled in the following number of credit hours for the session(s) listed below:-[ 5 ] CREDIT HOURS for FULL SUMMER SESSION
-[ 5 ] TOTAL NUMBER OF CREDIT HOURS YOU WILL COMPLETE DURING THE SUMMER TERMS
5. I will attend these classes at the following location(s):
-Other: Study Abroad [Shanghai, China, CHIN 321]6. Additionally I will be applying for the following this summer:
-OPTIONAL
7. I have scholarship eligibility as noted below (Check only the ones that apply):
-[list any that apply]”
Note: unless you are planning to take more courses this summer after returning from China, you will not have enough credits to be eligible for summer aid (the minimum is usually 6). Still, if you are the child of an alum or your parent is a UM faculty member, you may want to go ahead and disclose it.
8. In addition to any aid programs listed above or any grant eligibility which will be awarded automatically (e.g. Pell), I may be eligible to receive, I am anticipating funds from the following sources ….
-[list any that apply]
IF YOU COMPLETE THIS FORM (most students will not), Please submit this short Google form for our records:
Summer Financial Aid Application Submission Confirmation Form
Purchasing Airfare ☷
Shanghai FLIGHT SELECTION:
If possible, we recommend that you purchase your airfare at the same time as other students so that you can purchase seats on the same flights. Even students departing from opposite ends of the country often end up on the same trans-Pacific flight, if they coordinate properly (this is usually Chicago, L.A., or San Francisco, but look for a pattern, and ask your friends if they see a similar one in their flight research).
Make sure to consider multiple itinerary possibilities. For example, if your parents live in Jackson, MS, and you go stay with them after spring semester, you might find and purchase a flight from Jackson. However, if you have friends you could crash with near Memphis (i.e., Oxford) or New Orleans, you might search for flights departing from either and find that you save several hundred dollars by sleeping on a sofa one night. If you are planning to travel in China or elsewhere after our program dates, you may find that it’s cheaper to return from another airport, such as Beijing or Hong Kong, even though you are arriving in Shanghai. The ticket might be cheaper, and you will also save on round-trip in-country airfare or train tickets.
When you begin your flight searches, here’s what to be looking for:
REMINDER: Book a ticket departing TO Shanghai and Returning FROM Beijing (our Beijing trip will be at the end of the program).
1) round-trip ticket that, if at all possible, arrives in Shanghai no earlier than 8am and no later than 7pm. SU has arranged to pick up students in two groups. The earlier of these will depend on the most typical flights. The second will be no later than 8pm. Given the time needed to get through customs, students should aim to arrive in Shanghai well before that time. Students who arrive outside of this time frame may have to make their own arrangements to get from the airport to the SU campus.
2) Most U.S.-China flights depart from the U.S. the day before they arrive in China.
3) When purchasing tickets, make sure to give yourself plenty of time for layovers. 40 minutes is NOT ENOUGH. 3 hours is long, but not that long, considering that you’ll be on a trans-pacific flight for 13+ hours.
4) In China, taxis are relatively inexpensive and can often save you a good bit of travel time. You only need to consider this if you are not arriving at a regular time, when we will arrange for teachers or representatives from Shanghai University to pick you up.
5) Do NOT assume that our staff can make special exceptions for you if you choose a very inconvenient travel plan. We will certainly make sure that you are ok, but you will drive a wedge between you and your teachers if they believe your travel troubles were the result of careless planning.
If you need advice on which flight-searching tools to use, ask us, and ask older students (don’t forget about our Facebook page).
Here are the factors you will be considering in searching for the best deal:
- dates (pay close attention to the ARRIVAL date, as it may differ from the DEPARTURE date.)
- departure cities (any near you)
- Departing TO Shanghai and Returning FROM Beijing
Be prepared for itineraries to be less than ideal. Part of the experience will be dealing with the issues that occur; fortunately, however, you should have plenty of friends to help you.
As soon as you purchase your flights, email both Nate and Zhu Laoshi (nflake@olemiss.edu, lzhu@olemiss.edu) an electronic copy of the receipt.
Also, please add your flight info to this shared Google sheet:
Additional Notes on Preparations for Shanghai
NOTES:
A. This summer course is 5 credits, which is less than the minimum required for summer financial aid.
B. If you plan to arrive at Shanghai University on the arrival date by means other than an airplane, you need to inform us of this ASAP. Remember that you will be responsible for getting to Shanghai University on the arrival date at a normal hour.
C. There will be a Shanghai orientation scheduled in the week before exams in late spring. This orientation will address any practical questions you might have about your time in Shanghai, such as what to pack, how to exchange money, etc. A representative of Study Abroad will also be there to go over general issues on traveling abroad in China as well as your travel insurance, which is provided through their office. If you would like answers to these types of questions ahead of time, we suggest that you consult our Facebook page and/or speak with older students.
We realize that this is a lot of information to take in, and there are almost certainly many more questions you’ll need answered for your specific situation.
Don’t hesitate to call, write, or stop by the office.
Syllabus, Weekly Schedule & Pre-Departure Briefing Docs
Most of these documents are from previous years and are available just to give you a general idea of what is to come over the course of the spring semester.
2016 UMCLF Summer at Shanghai Language Pledge
2016 UMCLF Summer at Shanghai Cultural Sensitivity & Performance Policy
Course syllabus-CHIN 215 – Summer 2016
Shanghai 2017 First Pre-departure Briefing-Flagship
Second Pre-departure Briefing 2015
UM Flagship 2015 Summer China Study Abroad Itinerary-updated on April 27, 2015
UMCLF Summer in Shanghai 2015 Program Handbook
TENTATIVE UM Flagship 2017 Summer China Study Abroad Itinerary
Resident Director’s Phone Number in China
(86) 158 0083 9254
Note: This is a cell phone and has a different format from China land lines you may have seen. Also, 86 is the country code. It may not be necessary when calling within China.
This number will be updated in mid-May, when Zhu Lin Laoshi arrives in China and sets up a new phone number.