Focusing on Internationalized Schooling, Promoting Internationalized Talent Cultivation — A Symposium Held at ZSTU

On the afternoon of April 12, a symposium concerning internationalized talent cultivation was held in Academic Report Hall on Floor One in the Administration Building. President Qiu Songliang, Cheng Gang,Vice-secretary of the ZSTU Party Committee, and Chen Jianyong, Vice President, attended the symposium and delivered speeches. Deans, party branch leaders, personnel in charge of undergraduate education, foreign affairs and students affairs of all schools of ZSTU, directors of Academic Affairs Office, International Exchange & Cooperation Office, Student Affairs Office, Graduate Students Affairs Office, Enrollment and Career Guidance Office, Publicity Office, Youth League Committee, Personnel Office, Finance Office,Research Centre for Higher Education Development, Center for Educational Assessment, General Affairs Office, Laboratory and Equipment Management Office, Library, Logistics Service Center, etc, attended the meeting presided over by Vice President, Prof. Chen Jianyong.

At the symposium, Director of International Exchange & Cooperation Office introduced the newest principles of the national and provincial plans for medium and long term educational reform and development, the provincial plan for the internationalization in higher education, the action plan for international students coming to study in Zhejiang, introduced and analyzed the present situation of international student education at ZSTU, and clarified the urgent issues to be tackled in the process of cultivating internationalized talents. Director of Academic Affairs Office gave a general report and analysis of ideas and measures about education management concerning the internationalization of talent cultivation. After the analysis of inadequacies, he proposes the short-term goals and missions for next-step education management and construction. Recently the internationalization of talent cultivation has been progressing rapidly at ZSTU; international student education and international collaborative programs at various levels are well underway; and the accomplishments in the cultivation of internationalized talents have contributed to the improvement of the quality of education offered by ZSTU. Meanwhile, he remarked that there exist such problems as inadequate attention, imperfect systems and mechanism, insufficient curricula and internationalized faculty, incompetent management，and weak internationalization.

Thereafter, Prof. Chen Jianyong delivered his keynote speech concerning the task of internationalization of talent cultivation. He pointed out that, the internationalization is a necessary choice with the globalization of higher education; it is an effective path to start the work to foster high-level competitive talents, and a requirement to improve schooling level and university competitiveness. There is a long way to go for ZSTU., and the following fields are to be strengthened: internationalization of majors, curricula, faculty, students, textbooks, teaching methods. To make its internationalization of talent cultivation prestigious, ZSTU shall attach great importance to the construction of internationalized teaching resources, strong academic atmosphere, competent administrative teams, better foreign language teaching and learning, further expansion of international collaborative programs and more accesses of having graduates employed overseas,.

Chen Gang made three proposals concerning foreign student management and internationalization of ZSTU domestic students: to further study the official regulations and rules concerning the management of foreign students in China; to perfect ZSTU systems and regulations regarding foreign student management by following the principle of moderation while strengthening the awareness of services; to further enrich foreign students’ culture life on campus, encourage and involve them in various cultural and physical activities, and enrich the connotations of their campus culture activities.

Eventually President Qiu delivered a concluding speech elaborating on the significance and necessity of the internationalization of talent cultivation, and the requirements and principles for future work from six perspectives. First, the internationalization of higher education is an inevitable trend for universities all over the world. Second, internationalization is an intrinsic demand of the construction of high-level universities. Third, internationalization is the necessary choice and path for the development of ZSTU. Fourth, internationalization of talent cultivation is a major part of ZSTU strategy of internationalization. Fifth, prominent progress has been made in the recent years in the internationalization of talent cultivation, but tough tasks are to be accomplished. Finally, administrations at various levels and scholars should regard internationalization as their duty and spontaneous actions. To achieve the goal of internationalization, two principles are to be observed. First, a solid foundation is to be laid by enhancing awareness, improving capabilities, strengthening infrastructure construction and perfecting system, and go ahead in a down-to-earth manner with an ambitious goal in mind ; secondly, a combination of a perfect top-down design and a powerful bottom-up momentum is needed.