My name is Jingran Sun and I am writing this letter to express my intent to apply for VP
of Communication and Marketing. I am a 2nd year graduate student at the Department of Public
Administration and I will be starting my doctoral program in Public Administration with a
concentration in Public Finance in Fall semester. I have been studying at UNT for over 5 years
and I obtained my B.S in Emergency Administration in 2013.
Being born in a public servant family heavily influences my career interests, and this is
exactly why I am pursuing a MPA degree. I have witnessed how my family members
dedicatedly served the society, thus I have been working my way to become a public servant.
Receiving higher education in the United States and working closely with UNT- International
Office for more than 5 years has made me a bi-cultural individual. Consequently, I consider
myself a citizen of the world rather than defining myself in accordance with my passport. That is
to say, I have a strong desire to work for international organizations as an international civil
servant.
Unquestionably, research and studying weigh significantly to every graduate student. I
have received multiple academic scholarships including Joslin Memorial Scholarship, MPA
Alumni Scholarship, General Academic Scholarship, and Multicultural Scholarship. Besides
maintaining a high GPA of 3.8, I have published my very 1st paper, “Hierarchy, Construction, or
Mentality: Capacity-Limiting Government Actions in the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake of China” as
first author. In fact, I spent two weeks travelling 13 villages and interviewing 126 households
that were impacted by the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake. During my future doctoral study, I will
serving as a research assistant/teaching fellow at the Department of Public Administration.
The status quo of graduate students are essential in an increasingly knowledge-based and
global economy. One way to main the competitiveness of a university is to embrace new ideas
and research to discovery new knowledge and new ways of doing things. Graduate Student
Council (GSC) is an intermediary and a forum for all graduate, doctoral, and professional
students and it should not only facilitate communication between graduate students and UNT
Administration, but also help graduate students from academic and professional aspects. Due to
the fact that most graduate students are often occupied with research and studying and do not
have extra time, GSC is supposed to fill in the gap by design. For instance, GSC is expected to
help graduate students with different academic background with their professional development
by providing networking and interdisciplinary opportunities. Personally, the vision of GSC
should focus on promoting both academic and professional development for graduate students.
I have been serving as the President and Marketing Officer for Chinese Students and
Scholars Association (CSSA), the largest and only organization representing Chinese community
at UNT, for almost two years. Under my administration, I helped CSSA to receive more than
$12,000 external funding and sponsorships from a variety of businesses in DFW area. In
addition, I established “Survival Guide for Chinese Students at University of North Texas” as the
sole author so that new Chinese students can be better prepared and it has been printed for more
than 500 copies. It will be used during UNT’s International Orientation after being translated. As
far as event planning is concerned, I am the major event planner for CSSA. I hosted three major
events with more than 200 attendees in various locations, such as Hilton Garden Inn, UNT’s
Gateway Center, and Recreation Center of the City of Denton. At the meantime, I was
responsible for utilizing all social media including Facebook and sending bulk emails. As a
matter of fact, I received Outstanding International Student – Global Citizen Award for the Year
of 2015.
My work plan for the Vice President of Communication and Marketing shows below:
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I will oversee GSC’s website and establish a user-friendly page on Orgsync to ensure
updates and relevant information can be distributed.
I will oversee and manage all GSC’s social media presence.
I will design GSC’s flyers, brochures, handouts, etc.
I will collaborate with members of GSC as well as UNT’s Administration,
particularly UNT- International.
In summary, I firmly believe that I am qualified for this position for various reasons,
three of which strong academic are and research ability, bi-cultural background, and related work
experiences. I promise that I will fulfill my duty and do whatever it takes to promote graduate
students life at UNT as the Vice President of Communication and Marketing.