On June 30, Gateway Technical College in the United States completed its presidential transition. Morgan Phillips retired upon the conclusion of his term, and Veronique V. Tran, PhD, assumed office the same day. On the occasion of this leadership transition, Zhejiang Industry & Trade Vocational College (ZJITC) and Gateway Technical College convened an online working meeting to advance the development of the ZJITC-Gateway College of Engineering and Technology. The meeting was attended by ZJITC President Yu Chuang and Vice President Wang Yan, as well as former Gateway President Morgan Phillips, incoming Gateway President Veronique V. Tran, Shijun Espinoza, Head of International Affairs, and Chinedu Obowu, International Affairs Coordinator.

President Yu extended warm congratulations to Veronique V. Tran on formally assuming office and expressed sincere gratitude to Morgan Phillips for his contributions to deepening cooperation between the two institutions. He noted that the approval of the ZJITC-Gateway College of Engineering and Technology marks a major achievement in ZJITC’s efforts to advance China-U.S. cooperation in the internationalization of vocational education. The establishment of the ZJITC-Gateway College not only provides a platform for cross-cultural exchange and skills development for young students from both countries, but also creates opportunities for faculty on both sides to learn from one another, while offering a practical model for aligning China-U.S. vocational education standards and innovating industry-education integration.

Morgan Phillips offered his best wishes for the future development of the ZJITC-Gateway College of Engineering and Technology. He stated that the two institutions have built a solid foundation for long-term cooperation and achieved fruitful outcomes, and that he will continue to follow and fully support the college’s future development, actively contributing to deeper vocational education collaboration, broader areas of cooperation, and more substantive China-U.S. vocational education exchanges.

Veronique V. Tran expressed her appreciation for President Yu’s sincere congratulations. She highlighted the strong common ground between the two colleges in vocational education and fully endorsed the positioning and growth potential of the ZJITC-Gateway College of Engineering and Technology. She pledged to carry forward the positive momentum of cooperation, uphold a mutually beneficial partnership philosophy, coordinate institutional resources, and vigorously promote practical cooperation across multiple areas to deliver tangible results, working together to support the development of faculty and students and promote the college’s high-quality development.

Going forward, the two colleges will take this working meeting as an opportunity to jointly promote the establishment of the China-U.S. Vocational Education Alliance, bringing together high-quality resources from vocational colleges and industry partners in both countries. They will deepen practical cooperation in joint curriculum development, faculty exchanges, student mobility, and industry-education integration, with the aim of building a benchmark model for international vocational education cooperation between China and the United States.

The meeting was chaired by Shijun Espinoza. Members of the Joint Management Committee of the ZJITC-Gateway College of Engineering and Technology also attended.