The past 10 years has witnessed HYIT’s perseverance and fruitful results. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, our school has always been adhering to the overall leadership of the Party, closely focusing on the implementation of the fundamental task of cultivating students by virtue, facing up to difficulties, pioneering and innovating, and working hard with passion and persistence, and has composed a bright chapter of the high-quality and scientific development. The school Publicity Department (News Center) has launched from today on, “Our Ten Years” column, focusing on showing our school’s breakthroughs and landmark achievements in the decade to motivate teachers and students to forge ahead more energetically with firmer determination, and take concrete actions to embrace the 20th National Congress of the CPC.
Our Ten Years: Adhering to Open Education and Forging ahead Overseas Cooperation and Exchanges
For ten years, HYIT has been actively responding to the requirements of the provincial and national education planning outline, following the concept of “expanding the international space, introducing high-quality resources, serving teaching and research, and cultivating talents”, revolving around the focus of the school’s work, constantly promoting its internationalization, and have harvested in the foreign exchange platform, introducing resources, service output, work in relation to Taiwan and so on.
HYIT’s International Influence Significantly Enhanced by Expanding the International Exchange Platform
We have expanded overseas cooperation and exchange. By far, 82 batches of personnel from universities (institutions) have visited our school from 17 countries including America, Russia, France, Italy, Finland, Japan, Britain, South Korea, Cuba, and Taiwan region, signing cooperation agreements with 59 universities including Delaware State University (America), Bunin Yelets State University (Russia) and Solent University (Britain); 11 HYIT professors have been employed as part-time doctoral professors or visiting professors and 18 joint courses with overseas universities have been built.
We have promoted the sustainable development of the student-cultivating mode of Sino-foreign joint cultivation and mutual credit recognition, cooperating with 14 overseas universities in France, Japan, Russia and other countries to carry out joint cultivation of undergraduate, master and doctoral programs. For example, employing the embedding teaching mode, we cooperated with NIIT Education Group from India and have trained 597 computer talents for the society, and 327 applied students through cooperation with Genetic Computer School, Singapore.
We have strengthened international academic exchanges. We successfully held China-Japan Scholar Forum on “Low Carbon and Biomass Transformation”, established “Sino-European Canal Culture Studies Center” with Università del Salento in Italy, held international academic seminars on “Digital-era Canal Culture Inheritance and Protection” and “Canal Ecology and Urban Construction”; assisted relevant faculties in holding 6 seminars on international talent cultivation; and has been elected as Vice-president unit of Applied University Branch of China Education Association for International Exchange .
We have been approved 5 “14th Five-Year” provincial projects of education opening-up quality improvement, the only one among peer universities to be approved all the three-category projects, including 2 “brand major construction projects of international talent cultivation”, that is, software engineering (funded) and communication engineering), 1 funded key platform construction project of recruiting overseas high-level talents, 2 funded projects of international joint laboratory construction.
Introducing rich and high-quality resources, and improving the international level of talent cultivation
We have achieved zero breakthrough in the Sino-foreign cooperative education program of the Ministry of Education and promoted the internationalization of student cultivation. In 2018, the undergraduate project of Logistics Engineering held in cooperation with Jyväskylä University of Applied Sciences (Finland) was approved by the Ministry of Education, initiating in 2019, with 178 students at present and 2 students have been selected to study in Finland. Through negotiating with universities of the United States, South Korea, Russia, Finland and others, we have actively explored new cooperative education programs (institutions), and jointly promoted the sustainable development of Sino-foreign cooperative programs.
Introducing high-quality foreign intellectual resources and highlighting the effectiveness of foreign expert management.
In accordance with the principle of “setting up posts according to the needs, selecting the best ones, ensuring the quality, utilizing their strengths, and stressing the practical results”, 80 experts have been recruited from the United States, the United Kingdom, South Korea, India, Egypt, Pakistan and other countries. Our school’s management of foreign cultural and educational experts has been awarded the provincial “Advanced Unit of Foreign Cultural and Educational Experts” for two consecutive years; our foreign experts have been awarded the titles of “Touching Jiangsu: Outstanding Foreign Friends”, “Jiangsu Friendship Award”, Jiangsu “100-Talent-Plan” Foreign Experts, “Jiangsu May Day Labor Medal of Honor”, “Jiangsu Friendship Ambassador”; one foreign expert has been selected into the global leading scientists in 2021 Clarivate Analytics. Our school has been approved 3 “Jiangsu Foreign Experts Studio”, and won the excellent grade in the provincial performance appraisal; and has been granted 3 Foreign Management scientific research projects of Jiangsu Higher Education Association.
We have optimized the international cultivating modes of students and teachers, and made remarkable achievements in going abroad on business, co-building three overseas teacher training bases with Université de Lorraine, Caltech, University of South Carolina; 644 HYIT teachers have been to USA, UK, Australia, Finland, Italy and others for short or long-term exchanges, accounting for 26.3% of all the teaching staff, and teachers with more than one year of overseas study experience accounted for 14%. 490 students have studied abroad, accounting for 2.3% of all the students in our school. We have actively expanded the overseas and online exchange projects between teachers and students in the “post-pandemic era”, jointly holding three series of student scientific seminars with Odessa State University, Ukraine, and published one paper collection of the seminars. The international vision and cross-cultural communication ability of both our teachers and students have been continuously improved.
Deepening service output, and highlighting “Studying Abroad in HYIT”
We have been actively responding to the national Belt and Road Initiative and promoting the education of overseas students. In 2014, the first batch of 43 international students from 15 countries, including Russia, Kazakhstan and Pakistan, came to our school for short-term Chinese language learning and cultural exchanges between Chinese and foreign students. In 2015, the second batch of 16 international students from nine countries, including France, Germany, Poland, Hungary and Mongolia, came to our school to study Chinese language and culture.
In 2016, our School of International Education was established, achieving a zero breakthrough in education for international students. A total of 306 overseas students from 40 countries have been enrolled, including 284 students of 6 undergraduate majors and 3 master’s majors. By September 2022, the number of overseas postgraduate students has exceeded that of undergraduates for the first time, reaching 52. Over the years, we have won one national first prize and one second prize of Chinese classical recitation competition and other provincial and municipal competitions, 2 Overseas Students’ Belt and Road counrry study projects and 1 Overseas Students’ Education research project in Jiangsu Province; we have been awarded the “Advanced Group of International Students Education in Jiangsu Province” for 3 times, 4 “Advanced Individuals” and 2 “Outstanding Counselors”.
Integrating scientific and educational resources from both sides of the Taiwan Straits to promote the integrated development of education in Jiangsu and Taiwan
In 2014, cooperating with three Taiwan universities, Taiwan office of Huai’an municipal government and some well-known Taiwan enterprises in Huai’an, we established School of Taiwan Entrepreneurs which was approved as the “National Cross-strait Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship Demonstration Site” in 2016, becoming the only national cross-strait youth entrepreneurship base in central and northern Jiangsu. In 2017, Zhang Zhijun, the director of the Taiwan Work Office of the CPC Central Committee and the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, came to investigate and guide our work in relation to Taiwan and awarded the plaque of the Demonstration Site for the School of Taiwan Entrepreneurs. In 2019, with the approval of the Taiwan Affairs Office of Jiangsu Provincial People’s Government, together with 6 sister schools in Taiwan, our university jointly established the first “School of Innovation and Entrepreneurship with Taiwan Youth” and “Innovation and Entrepreneurship Alliance for Youth in Jiangsu and Taiwan” to provide stronger intellectual support and talent guarantee for cross-straits economic and social development.
Focusing on the development of local industries, we launched the “100, 000 Taiwan Enterprise Employee Training Project” and hosted several training sessions for Taiwan entrepreneurs. In 2021, School fof Taiwan Entrepreneurs was jointly awarded the “Industrial Employee Training School in Huai’an Demonstration Area of Taiwan Investment Cluster” by Jiangsu Provincial Federation of Trade Unions and the Provincial Taiwan Affairs Office. We deepened cross-straits scientific and cultural cooperation and exchanges, and have been approved Huai’an Science and technology exchange and cooperation platform with Taiwan; we have been successively approved nearly 30 Taiwan-related research projects of Taiwan Affairs Office of Huai’an, 10 of which have been awarded as key Taiwan-related projects of the city. We deepened exchanges and cooperation between universities across the Taiwan Straits, integrate educational resources from both sides, recruiting 59 doctors and professors from Taiwan, appointing 7 part-time professors from Taiwan, selecting 43 teachers to study for doctorate or visit in Taiwan universities, 9 teachers being employed as doctoral supervisors and lecture professors in Taiwan universities.
We have made outstanding achievements in Taiwan-related work, highly recognized by provincial and national leaders, and received a total of 6.508 million yuan special funds. We have been interviewed and reported by more than 60 cross-straits media, and the school leaders have been invited to attend the cross-straits Entrepreneurs Zijin Summit and delivered keynote speeches in sub-forums. Our school has been approved by the Ministry of Education as the only local university to receive this award; we hosted twice the Cross-straits Youth Forum on Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Taiwan; we organized 512 Taiwan university teachers and students to participate in the “29th Cross-straits Youth Forum on Urban Transportation”, “Cross-straits Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship Training Camp”, “Cross-straits Youth Canal Culture Study Camp” and “Su-Tai (Huai’an) Youth Elite Summit”; and sent 326 students to 4 Taiwan universities for half-year exchange and study.
