Forums > Study > thoughts on study at KCELC?

Justin,

We never met and don't know each other.You are not eligible for personal attacks on me.

There is no need to explain anything to you!!

Forums > Study > thoughts on study at KCELC?

Ouyang,nihao,
I'm Julie Zhao---The current director of westerncampus

I only want to say a word to you that is -----You must take the responsbility for your words!!!

Forums > Study > thoughts on study at KCELC?

To clarify the facts about the American student ---- Ouyang published his essays at Gokunming web-site from October 2009 to December 28, 2009. Concerning the dispute of his tuition with the western campus of KCEL.

Hi Guys,Happy New Year,

Ouyang asked above if the situation he described was "even legal". Please allow me to explain in more detail what happened (he did not share the entire story) and try to respond to his question about legality as well.

I'm Julie Zhao, the new headmaster of the western campus of Kunming College of Eastern Language and Culture (Kunming Dongfang Yuyan Xuexiao). I was transferred to this western campus and began supervising here in November of 2009. I have worked at KCEL for 7 years.

The western campus opened on February 1, 2009. But, it was closed from August 2009 to October 2009 due to management problems of the former headmaster. This caused many inconveniences to the students who had already registered at the western campus. Each student at the western campus was informed at that time that they could have class at the main school beginning in September 2009.

There is an American student named Ouyang who had also registered at the western campus in July, and the former manager had prepared his visa for him. He received his study visa with an expiration date of March 31st, 2010. Unfortunately, he couldn't attend classes at the western campus as the campus closed. So, he chose to find another school to study Chinese, rather than attend at the main campus.

According to the foreign affair management rules, foreign students studying in China, when they transfer to another school, should inform the former school and ask the former school to prepare a transfer study certificate, so that the current school can change the study visa for the student immediately. The former school's visa would then be cancelled automatically.

Ouyang did part of this; he asked our school to prepare this certificate for him, and the manager did this for him quickly and efficiently. Ouyang didn't ask them to refund the tuition fee at that time. He did not come back to our school to ask for a refund after he applied at his new school, and, furthermore, he continued living on our visa.

(Later, on December 29, 2009, he and I met at the main school. At that time, he told us why he didn't ask us to refund the tuition fee. He was afraid the school would cancel his visa immediately. So, he wanted to get the transfer study certificate first, then think about getting the tuition fee later. This shows he understood that his continuing use of the visa was directly related to his having paid our school. What he didn't understand was that the visa office gives you a new visa through your new school when the application is made – your old visa simply automatically expires; your old school does not cancel your visa.)

From October 2009 to December 28, 2009, Ouyang wrote many essays here on Gokunming, criticizing the western campus and asking us to refund the tuition fee that he paid in July. During this time, he did not tell us about his dissatisfaction, nor did he ask us directly for a refund after he transferred – instead he posted here. In his posts, he claimed the prior headmaster of the western campus threatened him when he asked about a refund (before he had requested the transfer study certificate) and said he would call the police to send him back to his country.

In November 2009, we saw the essays on Gokunming, and we contacted him at once by email, and explained to him the foreign affair rules of China. We also tried to find a compromise – we suggested that he could attend classes at our school for free next semester, any class he would like, at any of our campuses. He did not want to do this, and asked us at that time for a refund. He also said that he will report this issue to the revelant departments if we do not refund his tuition.

On December 28, 2009, I invited him to meet with me at the western campus. He told me that nobody had informed him that he could attend classes at the main campus when the semester had first begun, so he had been forced to transfer to another school, so our school must take responsibility for this.

However, when I asked him to show his visa to me, I found that he was still using the visa that our school had granted him. When I explained this to the principal at our main campus, the main school's decision was that we cannot refund the money, because he was living on our visa. Our school felt, how can one ask for the money back, when you are still using the visa? Ouyang was not satisfied with this result. So, I told him, if you are not satisfied with this result, and if you decide to report to the police or court (as he had said he would), I am willing to have this handled by the law. I explained that I would be glad to work with him, if he decided he wanted to handle it that way, and that we could go to the police station together to file the report. He said he needed to think about it, and told me he would give me an answer the next day.

On December 29, 2009, he called to me to say that he wanted to meet with the principal of main school. So, we met in the main school that very afternoon. He insisted that he hadn't been told he could attend classes at the main campus. So, we called to the former manager immediately.

The former manager said they had informed him about attending at the main campus at the beginning of the semester, and that, furthermore, the student had not even asked for a refund, contrary to what the student was telling us.

What is most surprising in all of this is, the school which accepted Ouyang, and at which he is currently studying Chinese, had not changed Ouyang's student visa when they received the transfer certificate from our school. This is in violation of the provisions of the foreign affair rules of China.

This means that Ouyang used the visa from our school to study at another school the entire semester. So, the KCEL cannot refund his tuition fee. How can we? We provided the visa, and he used it.

From the above story, I hope all the foreign student who study in China can be aware of these rules. If you transfer to another school to study, your visa (applied for through the original school) will be cancelled automatically when the new school changes your visa record; this is not a threat (as this student termed it). This is simply the law.

And please make sure your new school changes your visa when they receive your transfer study certificate!

I hope Ouyang will have a new start in the New Year and that he will enjoy his studies at his new school! And I also hope that all foreign students enjoy their life and studies in Kunming!
Julie Zhao

January 14, 2010