Colombian Embassy Partnership to Bring Interns to Beijing
The Beijing Center (TBC) has finalized a cooperation agreement with the Colombian Embassy in Beijing, approved by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Colombia, for TBC students who hold a Colombian passport to have the opportunity to intern during their study abroad in China with TBC.
For the past few months, we have been in contact with the Colombian Embassy in Beijing. We have been telling of our experience, history and about the excellent students we have welcomed to Beijing and TBC over the last 5 years from different universities. We talked about potential areas to collaborate including, the opportunity for our Colombian students to intern at the Colombian Embassy. This agreement was signed by Fr. Jim Caime, S.J., Executive Director at TBC and Oscar Rueda Garcia, Ambassador of the Colombian Diplomatic mission in Beijing on March 13, 2018. There is no end date for the cooperation agreement. Ariel C. from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana Bogota, will be the first TBC student to intern with the Colombian Embassy for the Spring 2018 semester.
What does this mean for Colombian students?
- The agreement covers any Colombian students who are enrolled at TBC in Beijing for a semester. It is also possible for this to be extended to the TBC summer program. So a student could do Fall and Summer, or Spring and Summer to extend their internship period.
- In the discussion, we agreed that hours the student would be required to intern at the Embassy was a minimum of 16 hours per week. In practical terms, this means that a student should look to take no more than 12 credits worth of other courses, in order to allow sufficient time in their academic schedule. TBC requires students to take between 12 and 19 credits.
- Students will undergo an interview with the Embassy after they arrive in Beijing, should they be successful they will agree a working schedule with the Embassy that aligns with their academic schedule which will have been set prior.
- Should the student be unsuccessful during the interview process, they can still take up the opportunity to do an internship with another of TBC’s internship partners.
- Students will be required to sign a confidentiality agreement prior to starting at the Embassy.
- All internships with the Colombian Embassy will be unpaid.
The paperwork requirements are as follows:
- TBC Student Certification;
- Student Intention Letter to start an internship with the Embassy;
- Colombian Identification;
- Valid medical health insurance (illness and accident);
- Valid Chinese student visa.
All of these documents are covered by the existing TBC enrollment process.
What are the next steps?
Tell your students! Encourage students to enroll at TBC for Fall, Summer or Spring semester or even the full year. We hope to provide the Embassy with the opportunity to work with a steady stream of students who meet the already excellent level of Colombian students who have come before.
