On May 22, a seminar series on Internal Governance of New Research Universities – Institutional Construction 2021 was held at the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech). Fengliang LI, University Council Vice Chairperson of SUSTech, and Qin YE, Chief Financial Officer and Secretary-General of the SUSTech Education Foundation, attended the meeting.
Also in attendance were scholars and experts from Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), Xiamen University, Renmin University of China (RUC), Beijing Normal University (BNU), Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen (CUHK-Shenzhen), Soochow University, Shenzhen University (SZU) and other institutions. They discussed their thoughts and practices on issues related to the establishment of a new research university system.
This event was hosted by SUSTech and jointly organized by the Office of Party Affairs and Administration at SUSTech and the Center for Higher Education Research (CHER). This meeting is the first in a series of seminars supported by the SUSTech Institute of Finance and Technology.
The seminar focused on how to standardize universities’ governance structure and management methods by building rules and regulations and discussing the content of the university’s internal governance and decision-making. New research universities take reform and innovation as their mission and have set out new mechanisms and practices. Improving the internal management system is an integral part of building a modern university system with Chinese characteristics and accelerating the development of a new research university.
Fengliang LI welcomed the experts and scholars participating in this seminar. He noted that in this new era, the new type of research university is responsible for building strong relationships with multiple parties, such as various government bodies and members of society. In addition, he also highlighted how a university should handle difficulties and complications when they arise, emphasizing the importance of coordination between the discipline development and frontier research, resources equalization and allocation, education and research, fundamental study, and innovation application.
Other scholars that presented keynote reports included Tingzhu CHEN, Dean of the School of Education at HUST, Hongcai WANG, Deputy Director of the Institute of Education at Xiamen University, Liguo LI, Deputy Director of the School of Education at RUC, Ruijun DU, Deputy Director of the Faculty of Education at BNU, Jie LIN, Professor of the Faculty of Education at BNU. Siqi CHEN, Director of the Office of Party Affairs and Administration at SUSTech, Jiaqing HE, Associate Dean of the College of Science at SUSTech, Yiyang ZHANG, Director of the Research Office of Development and Reform at SJTU, Guohua YANG, Director of the President’s Office of CUHK-Shenzhen, Peng WU, Director of the President’s Office of Soochow University, and Xiao KE, Director of the Office of Party Affairs and Administration at SZU.
In their presentations, they spoke in detail on various topics such as university structure, decision-making mechanisms, the construction of an efficient system, safety management, and personnel training. They analyzed the traditional functions of universities. In doing so, they recognized the importance of strengthening research, improve on the current mechanisms in place, and propose specific work plans for new research-orientated universities.
More than 150 participants from 20 research universities and institutions attended the seminar, including Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, and Harbin Institute of Technology, Shenzhen. They spoke highly of the seminar and said they look forward to attending similar events in the near future. Participants also visited the Cultural Heritage Laboratory at the Social Science Center at SUSTech.
