Announcement: Keep Integrity to Innovate for Development and Inherit Tradition to Struggle for Future

On January 14th, USST held a conference to exchange views about next year’s reform direction and key tasks with the theme “keep integrity to innovate for development and inherit tradition to struggle for future”. USST leaders Zhang Hua, Zhao Ming, Zhang Daofang, Liu Ping, Cai Yonglian, Sun Yuedong and Liu Daoping in turn made themed reports on cultivation of top talents in disciplines, reimbursable use of public resources, deepening reform of logistics, two-level reform on the integration of enterprises and science with universities, and high-quality construction of curriculum. Sheng Chun made a written report on how to improve university students’ morality and the director of the university academic committee, academician Zhuang Songlin made a themed report of Recruiting Talents Without Overemphasizing Qualifications to Build First-class Faculty.

President of USST Ding Xiaodong made comments on the reports. He emphasized the following seven key issues. First, in terms of revenue increase and expenditures reduction, we will strengthen thoughtfully-designed administration and make resources as efficient as possible as to university operation; second, to provide better services, we will make better use of systematic thinking to tackle tough issues in administration guarantee and people’s welling-being, and innovate the administration mechanism for department collaboration and intensive resources; third, with regard to disciplines development, we need to focus on establishment of national key laboratories and national awards declaration to guide and drive the overall improvement in the hard power of disciplines; forth, in the field of talent cultivation, we will deepen reform in education and teaching based on characteristics of college and disciplines to strongly promote first-class undergraduate and postgraduate education; fifth, in the aspect of institutional development, we will guide and stimulate the innovative courage and creative vitality of secondary colleges underpinned by basic system improvement to encourage the implementation of “college-run university”；sixth, when it comes to university cultures, the assessment baton needs to play the guiding role to integrate the whole university’s efforts to establish a national civilized campus; seventh, concerning talent team construction, it needs to to give full play to unique functions of professional teaching and research offices, discipline teams, research centers (laboratories) and other “cell” units, letting professional experts seek for those who are fit for the positions; letting excellent talents match the urgently needed posts and avoiding purposely raising standards for talents introduction out of jealousy.

Wu Jianyong, Secretary of the Party Committee of USST, concluded that at the stage of new development, we should take specific measures to implement the new development concept to the new development layout construction. First, we must firmly bear in mind our original aspiration of “nurturing well-rounded individuals for the communist party and cultivating talents for the country”, undertaking the mission to make China strong in manufacturing and highlighting the nature of excellent engineering education. We need to seize the historical opportunity of the new technological revolution and the establishment of Shanghai Sci-Tech Innovation Center, and improve university’s hard power of technology in serving national and regional strategy. Through scientific research feeding teaching, integration of multi-disciplines of engineering, arts and science, and all-round development of 5 education on morality, intelligence, physique, aesthetics and laboring, the engineering education of USST in the new era will be made better and stronger, and its status and influence in the industry will be consolidated and enhanced. Second, we should fully stimulate the vitality of supply-side reform. Under the situation that the resources are fully saturated, it is better to "rely on ourselves" than to "wait to rely on others". Therefore, the second-level colleges should change their mindset to that they need to boldly promote reform and innovation under the guidance of "one college, one policy" to break shackles of system and thinking set on the premise of holding fast to the bottom line; the departments should further improve their conduct of work, take the initiative to ask deeper concerns and suggestions of colleges, and give them more work guidance so as to provide them with institutional support and guarantee services for colleges’ reform and development.