CBS reschedules 40 students’ studies in China due to coronavirus concerns
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Chinese universities are closing down as the coronavirus is continuing to spread. Consequently, 39 students from the bachelor program of International Business in Asia have had their exchange trips to Beijing suspended and been offered alternatives programs here in Copenhagen. One other student’s exchange trip has been rescheduled.
News | 03. Feb 2020
Thirty-nine students from the BSc in International Business in Asia (IBA) at CBS were all set to attend Beijing International Studies University (BISU) for their fourth semester. But the spreading coronavirus has resulted in the semester being suspended indefinitely.
“The situation is very unfortunate, both for our students, but also for our partner universities in China. We are doing what we can to minimize the inconvenience the situation is causing,” says Martin Jes Iversen, Vice Dean of International Education at CBS.
He explains that the 39 students have been offered alternative courses in Copenhagen, organized by the University of Copenhagen and CBS, to ensure that their educations are not delayed.
“BISU have suspended the teaching until further notice and IBA´s program administration work very hard in order to guarantee each IBA student teaching, which can take alternatively place in Copenhagen starting 1 March,” he says.
Fortunately for the students, the bachelor program is structured to permit students to spend a semester in China or another Asian country during their seventh semester instead. That is 1.5 years from now.
“For this semester, we are kind of lucky because most students go on exchange in the fall. Only one student, in addition to the 39, had planned an exchange trip to China via the CEMS program, and CEMS has offered that student an alternative destination. Our priority, however, has been to organize semesters for the 39 IBA students,” he says.
At CBS, students apply for exchange programs well in advance. This means that, so far, 46 students have applied for exchange trips at CBS’ Chinese partner universities, and due to the circumstances, they are being offered a choice of different destinations.
“Students are still applying for exchange trips, but the 46 students who have been accepted at Chinese universities have been offered the chance to apply for other destinations rather than risking that the universities in China may still not be open in the autumn,” says Martin Jes Iversen.
Students from CBS are not the only ones affected, as Chinese students also come to CBS. At the moment, 10 students from mainland China are studying at CBS. However, none of them are from the Hubei province, where the epidemic originated, explains Martin Jes Iversen.
“CBS has no partner universities in the Hubei province, and the 10 Chinese students arrived in Denmark before the outbreak escalated. So, we only ask them, and everyone else, to follow the Ministry’s travel advice,” he says.
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