On April 3, 2014, the Expanded Meeting of the Presidents of the Association of Chinese Graduate Schools(ACGS）was held in Nankai University, Tianjin. Chen XI, Vice President and Dean of Graduate School of Peking University, Yan Chunhua, Executive Vice President of Graduate School, Wang Tianbing, Vice President, Chen Hongjie, Professor of College of Education, Tong Jiadong, Vice President and Dean of Graduate School of Nankai University, Li Jing, Executive Vice President of Graduate School, Sheng Bin, Vice President, Wang Jiaping, Executive Vice President of Graduate School of Zhejiang University, Zheng Xiaolin, Executive Vice President of Graduate School of Chongqing University, Assistant to President of East China Normal University Li Zhibin, Executive Vice President of Graduate School Tang Yuguang, Deputy Director of Degree Office Li Haisheng, Director of Secretariat of the Joint Committee Wang Xiaoyue and Qu Yizhen attended the meeting. Huang Baoyin, Deputy Director General of the Department of Academic Degrees and Graduate Education of the Ministry of Education, Xu Weiqing, Hao Tongliang and Zhang Yan, Directors of Quality Supervision and Information Division, were invited to attend the meeting.
The meeting focused on the preparation for the establishment of "China Postgraduate Education Quality Alliance", and the work of the joint committee in 2014 was studied and arranged. The two stages were presided over by Chen XI, Secretary General of the Joint Council of Deans, and Tong Jiadong, Dean of the Graduate School of Nankai University, the rotating chairman.
The meeting clarified that the "China Graduate Education Quality Alliance" will be jointly initiated by the members of the Joint Council of Deans of Chinese Graduate Schools. As a self-regulatory organization to ensure and improve the quality of postgraduate education in China, the Alliance will, under the guidance of the Ministry of Education and other competent departments, formulate and abide by the agreement on the quality of postgraduate education based on the principles of "voluntariness, equality, cooperation and development". The Alliance will create a high standard quality assurance system, actively promote the construction of quality culture, and devote itself to the development goal of "pursuing excellence and being advanced in the world" in postgraduate education. At the same time, as a third party organization different from the government and universities, the Alliance will play the role of supervision and guarantee of the industry organization and play an active role in building the quality assurance and supervision system of graduate education. The meeting discussed the establishment plan, constitution and declaration of the Quality Alliance, and requested the secretariat to continue to do a good job in the preparatory work for the establishment of the Quality Alliance, and strive to make the work special and bright.
The meeting made it clear that the Joint Deanship will continue to maintain the existing scale and high-end development positioning, and further innovate the working mechanism and work content. After the establishment of the Quality Alliance, as the core component of the Quality Alliance, the Joint Council of Deans should play a leading role in the field of domestic graduate education and continuously enhance its brand status in international exchanges.
The meeting discussed and arranged the work of the Joint Committee in 2014. It was decided that the 2014 Annual Meeting of the Association of Chinese Graduate Schools(ACGS）would be held together with the International Forum (2014). The meeting is tentatively scheduled to be held in Tianjin on October 18-19, and will be hosted by Nankai University; to further play the leading role of the Joint Conference, it was decided to hold a training course for deans (managers) of graduate schools in the western region. The course content and learning sessions will be set up in accordance with the actual needs of postgraduate education and management in the western region, with the purpose of support and exchange, and jointly improve the level of postgraduate education and management; continue to enhance the work exchange and learning among the graduate schools within the Joint Conference. Introduce and publicize the latest progress of graduate education, reform programs and implementation effects of each member institution through the Joint Deans' Association eNewsletter; edit "Graduate Schools of Chinese Universities" to review history, summarize experience and commemorate the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the graduate school system; further improve the international exchange activities of graduate education and continue to organize dean delegations to attend the 2014 annual meeting of CGS in the U.S., the "Global Graduate Education Strategic Leadership Summit (2014)", "CGS Summer Workshop and New Deans Institute (2014)" and other international exchange activities On the basis of the existing work, we will continue to promote the communication and coordination with the China Scholarship Council and implement the "European Study Program for Graduate School Deans"; strengthen the contact and communication between the Joint Committee and the competent departments, seek policy support and guarantee for the future development of the Joint Committee, continuously improve the construction of the Joint Committee itself and promote the sustainable development of the Joint Committee.
The meeting also listened to the report of East China Normal University on the preparation and publication of the Annual Report of China Postgraduate Education (2013), and reached a preliminary consensus on the selection of topics for the Annual Report of China Postgraduate Education (2014).
The meeting was well prepared and comprehensive, which pointed out the direction for the future work of the joint meeting and achieved the expected effect.
Secretariat of ACGS
April 4th, 2014