On the afternoon of May 26th, the university held a meeting to promote the construction of the new agricultural discipline and the new engineering discipline, pushing forward the research and practice of the construction. President CHEN Fadi and Vice President DONG Weichun attended the meeting.
CHEN Fadi addressed the meeting by affirming the progress made in the education reform of undergraduate programs and made further requirements on the construction of the new agricultural and engineering disciplines. He urged that all colleges shall reflect on the five questions regarding undergraduate programs, centering on students and the requirements of the four new discipline construction (the construction of new disciplines of engineering, medicine, agriculture and liberal arts). The first is how to optimize the structure of the program. It is important to establish a link between enrollment, employment and education, activate the adjustment mechanism, set up new programs and cancel old programs which are out of date. The second is how to upgrade traditional programs. It is urgent to enhance research and implementation of program reform via biotechnology, information technology, engineering technology and management science. The third is how to build a calibre of faculty. The university shall introduce talents according to the developing needs of disciplines and programs and strengthen the training of faculty on the capabilities of teaching and practice, thus optimizing the faculty team. The fourth is how to build platforms for practice. The university shall integrate the experiment and practice platforms, seek cooperation with industries and co-build practice bases with fine equipment, advanced technology and efficient management. The fifth is how to lead reform on teaching mythology and pedagogy. The reform shall apply modern technologies of the internet, big data, artificial intelligence and virtual reality in teaching resource collection, teaching environment improvement and education management.
DONG Weichun introduced the strategic blueprint for first-class undergraduate program reform centering on the new disciplines of agriculture and engineering for the next three years. He proposed two objectives and one support system for strengthening undergraduate program. The two objectives are to reform the education mode and to adjust to the changing industries. To be specific, the one education objective is to provide first-class education supported by first-class research, to create student-teacher academic connectivity and to train outstanding and innovative talents. The other is to develop new education mode from the perspective of the whole industry chain and to train comprehensive and practical talents. The support system provides institutional development of first-class undergraduate programs to realize the two objectives. DONG illustrated the construction of new agricultural discipline from the perspectives of developing theory, education reform, practice-and-industry-based education, and quality culture. He proposed that NAU shall take the lead in the research and practice of education reform among agricultural universities in China.
DING Yanfeng and other 11 project leaders reported on the construction plan.
