First of all, the correct orientation is the premise of the healthy development of newly-built undergraduate colleges.
Correct orientation is the premise for the school to do all the work well, that is, to solve the problems of what kind of university to run and how to run it well. The orientation of newly-built undergraduate colleges at least includes the following aspects:
First of all, in the orientation of running a school, we should firmly establish the consciousness of serving regional economic and social development. Most newly-built undergraduate colleges are managed by local governments and play a very obvious role in local economic and social development. Therefore, the school can get more support from the local government and people, and the school itself can look down, face the local area and serve the local area, and closely combine the development of the school with the local economy, society and culture to increase its vitality.
Secondly, in the orientation of talent training objectives, we should pay attention to cultivating applied talents. The training goal of undergraduates is customarily called "solid foundation, wide knowledge, strong ability and high quality". In fact, there is not only one training goal of undergraduate education, but there are many models. For example, there are at least four training modes for higher engineering undergraduate education: research and development, engineering design, technology application and other compound talents with engineering background.
Judging from the development history of many countries in the world, in the period of rapid economic development, society needs a large number of applied talents, and professionals are more popular among applied talents. For example, the German Institute of Applied Technology has trained more than 70% applied talents such as engineers and accountants needed by society. This kind of high-level vocational education is called the secret weapon of German economic take-off. Before the "Cultural Revolution", many engineering colleges in China were called "cradles of engineer education", and at that time, they did cultivate a large number of applied talents for the country's economic construction. But at present, many universities have given up this goal and turned to cultivate research-oriented talents, which is one of the reasons why the society lacks excellent engineering and technical personnel. On the one hand, the employing department cannot recruit suitable talents, on the other hand, it is difficult for college students to find jobs. Newly-built undergraduate colleges can learn from the German Institute of Applied Technology and attach importance to the cultivation of diversified and multi-specification applied talents. This not only meets the needs of society, but also continues the characteristics of the original university education. The "career orientation of applied talents" proposed by Liaoning Institute of Technology may give us some enlightenment.
Thirdly, in terms of characteristic orientation, we should combine the reality of our school and the region, integrate educational resources, foster strengths and avoid weaknesses, and form advantages and characteristics. It is difficult for any university to develop in an all-round way, and only with characteristics can it have vitality, especially for newly-built undergraduate colleges. Therefore, it is necessary to seriously study the requirements of regional or industrial economic development for schools in terms of personnel training, scientific research and social services, closely combine the actual situation of school teachers, disciplines and specialties, management level, and give play to their comparative advantages and characteristics to make due contributions to regional economic and social development. In order to encourage the scientific orientation of newly-established undergraduate colleges, education authorities at all levels should give classified guidance in policy orientation, so that different types of colleges and universities can produce high-level and excellent products. Since its establishment, Shanghai University of Engineering Science, driven by the cooperation of Industry-University-Research, has promoted the rapid and healthy development of the university. In cooperation with related enterprises, the school has established secondary colleges such as Rail Transit College and Civil Aviation Transportation College. Enterprises provide part-time teachers, internships and training conditions for schools, and give priority to arranging work for students. Students participated in three internships (6-8 weeks each time) in four years, and both schools and enterprises benefited from each other and achieved a win-win situation. This school-running feature is becoming the brand of the school and has been widely recognized by the society.
Second, grasp the development trend of higher education and keep up with the times.
The development of newly-built undergraduate colleges must firmly grasp the development trend of higher education and keep pace with the times. Recently, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council put forward many guiding opinions on the development of higher education. At present, the development of higher education has the following trends:
First, in the popularization stage of higher education, different types of schools should be classified and developed. It can be said that colleges and universities of different levels and types can run high-quality education. The so-called quality education should at least include five aspects: first, advanced school-running ideas, second, advanced facilities, third, scientific management and quality service, fourth, distinctive school-running characteristics, and fifth, high-quality personnel training. These five connotations can be applied to all colleges and universities. Tsinghua and Peking University are quality education, and Shenzhen Institute of Technology can also be quality education. Therefore, newly-built undergraduate colleges should also strengthen their confidence and strive to build quality education.
Second, according to the requirements of economic and social development, reasonably determine the scale of running a school. In the past few years, China's higher education has developed rapidly, which has delivered a large number of talents for China's economic construction and social development. However, the expansion of scale is not synchronized with the improvement of conditions. In the coming period, the development of higher education will shift from rapid scale expansion to a new period characterized by improving quality. It is the common task of the higher education sector to appropriately reduce the enrollment scale, pay attention to improving school conditions, strengthen standardized management, deepen teaching reform, improve the quality of education, and run a satisfactory higher education for the people. Therefore, newly-built undergraduate colleges should clearly realize that the main contradiction of current higher education is the contradiction between the insufficient supply of high-quality educational resources and the strong demand of the broad masses of the people. In this case, the determination of school enrollment scale should proceed from reality, pay attention to the harmonious development of scale, structure, quality, benefit and adaptability, pay attention to brand building, and win social recognition and respect with high-quality education.
Third, enhance social adaptability and speed up the training of talents in short supply. In China, the knowledge-based educational values have always been dominant. Schools generally emphasize the systematicness of disciplines and the integrity of knowledge, and pay insufficient attention to the needs of society. Evaluation of students' quality is also based on how much knowledge they have mastered. At the executive meeting of the State Council held in May last year, it was clearly put forward that higher education should adjust the layout of disciplines and specialties, speed up the cultivation of talents in short supply in society, reform the teaching mode, and pay attention to cultivating students' sense of social responsibility, practical ability and innovative spirit. In fact, these requirements also reflect the social-oriented and student-centered educational values, which should be paid more attention to at present. They will not only directly promote economic construction and social development, but also have practical significance for the employment and future development of college students.
Fourthly, the fundamental mission of a university is to cultivate talents, and teaching is the first important position of teachers. In the early days, the mission of the university was only teaching. Later, with the progress of society, scientific research and social services gradually increased. In recent years, the functions of creating culture and inheriting culture have been added. It should be said that this functional transformation reflects the progress of society and the irreplaceable role of institutions of higher learning in social development. However, due to the spontaneous motivation of teachers' scientific research work, the lack of effective measures in teaching work, and the fact that scientific research has become an important index to evaluate schools, teachers mainly take scientific research projects and papers as their professional titles, which weakens the teaching work of schools to varying degrees. This is a very abnormal phenomenon. A university is called a university because it has the task of cultivating talents, otherwise it should be called a research institute. Therefore, the moderate regression of university functions is the development trend of higher education. From a philosophical point of view, this is also in line with the law of spiraling things. As President Zhan Tao of Shandong University said, "The fundamental mission of universities is to cultivate talents, and teaching is the bounden duty of teachers. It should be a strategic choice for universities to devote themselves to training the best undergraduates in China. Most newly-built undergraduate colleges should be teaching-oriented universities, and the relationship between various functions of the school should be handled well in the early stage of development.
Fifth, improving the quality of education is the eternal theme of university work. Quality is the lifeline of higher education, and constantly improving the quality of education is not only the requirement of social development for higher education, but also the requirement of the school's own development, and it is also the main content of running a satisfactory higher education for the people. At present, the state is taking two measures to improve the quality of education in colleges and universities: First, deepen the teaching reform. At the beginning of this year, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Finance jointly launched the "Higher Education Quality and Teaching Reform Project", and then issued the "Opinions of the Ministry of Education on Deepening Undergraduate Teaching Reform and Comprehensively Improving Education Quality", proposing 20 teaching construction and reform projects. These projects represent the forward-looking content of the current undergraduate teaching reform and lead the reform and development trend in the next few years. Newly-built undergraduate colleges should aim at these contents, start on-campus reform projects, strive for provincial and national reform projects, and promote the continuous improvement of undergraduate teaching quality; The second is to carry out phased evaluation of undergraduate teaching level. This kind of teaching evaluation organized by the government has strong guidance and authority, which can promote the correct orientation of schools, strengthen the basic construction of teaching, deepen the teaching reform, strengthen standardized management, improve the internal quality assurance system and promote the improvement of teaching quality. Since 2003, 304 schools have accepted undergraduate evaluation, and the evaluation practice of these schools has fully proved the great impetus generated by this external evaluation. Because most newly-built undergraduate colleges have not yet had three graduates, most of them will take part in the evaluation in the next 2-3 years. Schools should cherish this opportunity of evaluation and construction, and use it as a driving force to promote the continuous improvement of teaching quality.
The third is to promote construction by evaluation and strengthen the internal management and teaching capital construction of colleges and universities.
Compared with universities with a long history, newly-built universities have two main weaknesses: one is the nonstandard teaching management, and the other is the inadequate teaching infrastructure. These two aspects directly affect the level of running a school and the improvement of education quality. From the practice of undergraduate teaching evaluation, 84% schools think that teaching evaluation has brought earth-shaking changes to teaching conditions, and 95% schools think that evaluation has promoted the standardization of teaching management and obviously strengthened teaching construction. Therefore, newly-built undergraduate colleges should seize the opportunity of this evaluation, promote construction through evaluation, and focus on solving two fundamental problems: the standard of teaching management and the standard of teaching conditions.
It is a common task for colleges and universities to strengthen internal management and build a management system conducive to talent training. As State Councilor Chen Zhili emphasized at the consultation meeting of colleges and universities, the work of colleges and universities in 2007 will focus on three aspects, namely "quality, management and characteristics", which shows the importance of management. The management of newly-built undergraduate colleges can be roughly divided into two levels: first, it is the most basic requirement to establish rules and regulations and strictly implement them to achieve the purpose of standardized management. At present, we should pay special attention to the management of teaching process, strictly manage students, adhere to strict teaching and strict teachers, and ensure that every teaching link can be implemented with good quality and quantity. The second is to establish an incentive mechanism and an effective operating mechanism to fully mobilize the enthusiasm of teachers and students. It is necessary to establish the modern educational concept of "teachers are the main body of running schools and students are the main body of teaching", attach great importance to giving full play to the main role of teachers and students in the teaching process, and form a teaching management system and a student status management system that are conducive to fully mobilizing and giving play to the teaching enthusiasm of teachers and students. It is necessary to strengthen the construction of teaching management team and teaching management means, and actively promote the professionalization of teaching management team and the informationization of management means. Special attention should be paid to establishing its own teaching quality guarantee system and forming a regular and institutionalized self-evaluation mechanism for teaching work. Nanyang normal University is a newly-built undergraduate college in 2000. Taking this teaching evaluation as an opportunity, East China Normal University was invited to help the school build an undergraduate teaching quality assurance system, and a handbook on undergraduate education quality was also formulated, which laid a good foundation for ensuring the teaching quality in the future, initially formed a mechanism of "self-management, self-development and self-restraint" and improved the management level.
There are many contents of teaching construction in newly-built undergraduate colleges, but discipline construction, curriculum construction, teaching base construction and teaching staff construction are the four most important teaching capital constructions, which must be highly valued.
1, discipline and specialty construction. Different from junior college education, the setting of undergraduate majors emphasizes that there are mature disciplines and relatively complete theoretical systems as titles, and there are stable professional posts and talent needs. Therefore, undergraduate education is based on discipline classification, and the layout of specialty construction is based on discipline classification. The construction of disciplines and specialties should focus on the key points according to the goal orientation and social demand orientation of our university, actively develop disciplines and specialties that meet the needs, and constantly optimize the structure of disciplines and specialties. Generally speaking, the specialty construction of newly-built undergraduate colleges can be divided into four ways: focusing on majors with large market demand and strong professional strength, forming school characteristics and brand majors; We should vigorously support majors with large market demand and weak professional strength to meet social needs; Majors with small market demand and strong professional strength can retain and adjust their professional direction to adapt to market changes; Majors with small market demand and weak professional strength must resolutely give up. Through such reform and adjustment, a professional setting and adjustment mechanism that actively adapts to the needs of social development will be formed. At present, from the evaluated universities, we find that about 40% of newly-established majors (majors with less than 3 graduates) are obviously insufficient, which is a common problem in all schools. Newly-built undergraduate colleges are mostly newly-built majors, so more attention should be paid to the construction of newly-built majors.
2. Curriculum construction. The realization of training objectives and the improvement of teaching quality will eventually be implemented in every course. Therefore, the evaluation should focus on curriculum construction. For newly-established undergraduate colleges, the course textbooks may mainly use the textbooks published by others, but teachers must work hard to organize the courses. Therefore, schools should strengthen curriculum reform and construction on the premise of meeting the professional training objectives. In particular, it should be emphasized that curriculum construction is not only theoretical teaching in class, but also practical teaching course, which is the weak link of current curriculum construction and should be paid more attention to in planning, investment and quality control. In the course construction, we should fully study and learn from the construction experience of national excellent courses in recent years. By making a curriculum construction plan, we should make clear the overall goal of curriculum construction, attach importance to the construction of basic courses, specialized courses and series courses, pay attention to the reform of teaching content, teaching methods and teaching means, vigorously carry out research-based learning, and realize the overall optimization of curriculum system and structure. It is necessary to promote the construction of teaching materials and laboratories through curriculum construction and promote the transformation of educational concepts. Many schools have established a system to certify the teaching quality of each course through teaching evaluation, which is very beneficial to improve the overall level of curriculum construction.
3. Construction of teaching base. The construction of teaching base is very important for improving students' practical ability and practical ability, and in this respect, it is often the weak link of newly-built undergraduate colleges. Therefore, the construction of teaching base should match the construction of disciplines and courses, strengthen the construction of laboratories, on-campus practice bases and off-campus practice bases, increase funding, continuously improve the conditions of experimental practice, and improve the management rules and regulations of experimental practice. In the construction of off-campus practice base, we should also update our concepts and take a cursory look, all of which focus on holidays to practice, which is definitely not welcomed by enterprises. In the construction of school teaching bases, it is especially necessary to prevent the phenomenon of decentralized configuration, decentralized management, local use and low-level repeated construction, pay attention to the construction of public teaching bases, actively carry out comprehensive and innovative training, and improve investment efficiency and equipment utilization. We should actively explore cooperation with enterprises to establish laboratories. In addition, schools should encourage students to carry out innovative scientific and technological activities and actively participate in national college students' scientific and technological competitions such as mathematical modeling, electronic design and advertising design competitions. Conditional schools should expand the opening of laboratories so that most students can participate in scientific research and training under the guidance of tutors as soon as they enter school. If this kind of practical project can run through the university for four years, it can not only obviously improve students' practical ability, but also greatly enrich students' amateur life and promote the construction of study style.
4. Construction of teaching staff. Teachers are the foundation of education. Judging from the situation of the evaluated universities, the scores of "number and structure of teachers" and "lecturers" are low. The first indicator is mainly insufficient quantity and the education level is not up to standard; The second indicator is that teachers don't put enough energy into teaching, and the important part of teaching is quantity rather than quality. Newly-built undergraduate colleges should start from the height of strengthening the school with talents, seriously study and formulate the construction plan of teachers under the new situation, and enrich the teachers in a planned way. We must persist in reform and innovation, constantly establish and improve the system and system of building a teaching staff that meets the requirements of the times, and establish an incentive mechanism so that every teacher can realize that the school is a stage for them to realize their life value and show their talents. We should adhere to the combination of training, gathering and application, keep pace with the times, and strive to build a good team of teachers in schools.
[Editor: Yang Yunan]