Registration

The China GBE is a 1.5 credit one-week course offered between March 13-17, 2006. First Year students enrolling in the course will have 45 credit hours of 700 level courses and 1.5 credit hours of 800 level courses for their First Year. For ASC purposes, the grade for this course will count as a First Year grade for the spring semester. Second Year students will be given credit hours for this course in the spring of their Second Year and the grade will count as usual for ASC purposes. The 1.5 credit hours will count toward the 30 credit hours needed in the Second Year. 

All graded materials for the course must be completed before 5:00 PM, Monday, March 20, 2006. 

   For Second Year Students:

       30 slots have been reserved for Second Year students for BPE 8000C. You can 
       register for this course during pre-registration and during the add/drop
       periods. However, as of November 15, 2006, all slots had been filled. You can check
       current registration numbers on myDarden at the Registrar's site.

       The deadline for registering is the last day of add/drop, 4:30PM, Friday, January 
        20, 2006. 

       If any slots remain available for BPE 8000C (or any other GBE sections) after this
       deadline, Second Year students can drop/add into this (or any other open) GBE from
       1:30PM, Monday, January 24, 2005 to 4:30PM, Tuesday, January 25,
       2005. Information on open slots for all GBEs will be available through the Registrar's
       myDarden site.

       Students are not permitted to go to the same country in First Year and Second Year.
       The faculty expects that no student will attend a GBE in their home country.

   For First Year Students:  

        The China GBE is only available for Second Year Students.

                                                                                                                                                                              Program Costs

Program Costs for the China GBE do not include air travel. All students must make their own air travel arrangements. Information on air fares and reservations are provided below. 

Program Costs for this year are  $470.00. These fees are intended to cover  accommodations at the Cypress Hotel, bus transportation for company visits and cultural activities, as well as breakfast, some lunches and  dinners. Because students will be staying this year in a hotel rather than a dormitory, program costs are somewhat more expensive than last year.

A preliminary non-refundable deposit representing 20% ($94) of the program cost will be due by 5:00 on Friday, February 3, 2006. Payment of the remaining 80% of the program costs must be made no later than 5:00PM, Friday, February 17, 2006. If you would like to pay by credit card you can download and complete a credit card: credit card payment form. This form should be returned to Will Goldsmith in Room 136 of the Faculty Office Building. If you wish to pay the program costs in cash or by check (please make your check out to The Darden Foundation), please do so by visiting Will Goldsmith in Room 136 of the Faculty Office Building; she will provide you with a receipt.

In order to participate in a GBE each student must complete and return three University of Virginia travel forms, a University of Virginia Travel Waiver Form, an Insurance Verification Form and an online ISO Registration Form. The deadline for completing these forms is 5:00PM, Friday, February 17, 2006. You can pick up copies of these forms from Will Goldsmith in Room 136 of the Faculty Office Building or you can download them here - Waiver Form and Insurance Verification Form.  If you have insurance coverage from UVA's student health provider, Chickering, you automatically have international health care coverage. But you must still complete the Verification form. In addition to required individual medical insurance coverage, Darden will provide evacuation and emergency coverage at no cost to GBE participants.

Finally, UVA's International Student Office requires all students traveling abroad on University-related activities to register with them. Please read the information and fill out the registration form at: http://www.virginia.edu/iso/studyabroad/gradstudentsabroad/phpform.html

Visas and Passports

   United States citizens:

If you do not already have a passport, you will need one.  For more information on obtaining a passport, you should visit the State Department's passport website:  http://travel.state.gov/passport/index.html . If you are a United States citizen you will need a visa to travel to China. The visa will include a fee that you must pay to the Chinese embassy. Because your stay in China will be less than a month, plan to get a tourist visa.


For more information regarding PRC visas and travel in general in China, you can also look at both the US Embassy in China's website: http://www.usembassy-china.org.cn/ ,and the Chinese Embassy's: http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/ . 


Air passengers must also pay a RMB 90 airport user fee (approximately US $10) when departing from airports in China on flights to all foreign destinations as well as Hong Kong and Macau. For information about entry requirements and restricted areas, you should consult the Embassy of the People's Republic of China website above.

There are several  companies that you can use to expedite getting a passport, including: http://www.travisa.com/ .

   Non-United States citizens:

Visa policies for entering China differ for citizens of countries other than the United States. For information about visas, entry requirements and restricted areas, citizens of countries other than the US should consult the Embassy of the People's Republic of China website: http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/ . For more information regarding PRC visas you can contact the Embassy's visa section at telephone (1-202) 328-2517 between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. There are also Chinese Consulates General in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco. 

China does not recognize dual nationality. The Nationality Law of China holds that persons lose their Chinese citizenship, if they voluntarily take a foreign citizenship (naturalize). Some U.S. citizens who are also Chinese nationals (mostly U.S.-born children of Chinese students) have experienced difficulty entering and departing China on U.S. passports. In some cases, such dual nationals are required to use Chinese travel documents to depart China.

 For information on the locations of foreign embassies in the United States, see:

http://www.state.gov/www/travel/consular_offices/fco_index.html

Travel Reservations

You must make your own airline reservations.  The Financial Aid budget for air fare to China for the 2005 GBE is $1000.  The budget for this year will be available in mid-January You will be told specifically when and where to meet in February, but plan on arriving at the Cypress Hotel, in Shanghai, no later than Sunday afternoon, March 12, 2006.  Here are some websites that offer online travel reservation services:

http://orbitz.com      http://www.11thhourvacations.com      http://www.expedia.com

http://www.travelocity.com           http://www.cheaptickets.com


Host Institution

The  Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business in Shanghai serves as host for BPE 8000C. Here is the CKGSB website: www.ckgsb.edu.cn.


Accommodations


You will be staying on the Cheung Kong campus at the Cypress Hotel. All rooms are double occupancy. For more information visit the hotel website: www.cypresshotel.com .

Academic Program

Each GBE has a formal Orientation component that will meet approximately three weeks before the GBE begins. The Orientation serves several purposes. It allows all students going on the trip to meet one another; introduces the faculty GBE leaders, Wei Li and Peter Yu; provides an historical and cultural overview of the country and region to which you will be traveling; resolves any outstanding logistical problems or questions; and
provides any pre-course reading assignments. 


Specific dates and locations for each GBE Orientation will be announced in January.
                 

Financial Aid


If you are registered to participate in a GBE at the close of the add/drop deadline of Friday, January 20, 2006, you will be eligible for a student budget increase of a fixed amount according to the approximate travel, living, and program fees costs of this GBE. With this increase in your budget you may borrow up to the budget increase as a GATE Loan. You may request the loan after the close of the add/drop period on Friday, January 20, 2006.


After Friday, January 20, 2006 please send an e-mail to Amanda Mills at, millsa@darden.virginia.edu with your name, Social Security number, year at Darden, whether you are a citizen of the United States or not, and your GBE destination. You may then immediately file your GATE loan application on-line from the third-party loan section of the Financial Aid website: http://www.darden.virginia.edu/financialaid/sy/sy_loans.htm. A promissory note should arrive at Amanda Mills' office for you to sign within 10 business days. The money should be available within a month. 

Below is the budget for the 2005 China GBE:

Airfare*                         $950                                  

Program and misc.            $650      

Total                                $1600                                           

*from Dulles International Airport

Country Links

In order to give you more information on Shanghai and China, here are some very useful sites to visit.

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/province/Shanghai.html

http://www.chinatoday.com/ 

http://www.sh.com/ 

http://www.shanghaipost.com/

Deadlines

Registration:                                          Friday, January 20, 2006

Program Cost Down Payment:                     Friday, February 3, 2006

Program Costs Payment:                           Friday, February 17, 2006

Insurance and Waiver Forms:                     Friday, February 17, 2006