Graduate School held the conference of recent work arrangement for graduate education on the afternoon of April 21. The meeting was chaired by Prof. Tao Tao, executive dean of Graduate School and attended by Prof. Fang Ying, vice dean of Graduate School and director of Office of Academic Affairs, Dr. Xue Chenglong, vice director of Office of Academic Affairs and vice deans and teaching secretaries from all colleges.

Prof. Fang Ying first gave an introduction to recent key arrangements for graduate education. He said that we shall: firstly, highly value and actively apply for teaching achievement awards both in XMU and Fujian Province. The award will reward those innovative, novel and practical pedagogical methods that can reflect overall teaching rules of higher education. The first round of evaluation will be launched by Graduate School; secondly, carefully prepare for the assessment of graduate courses. After half a year’s preparation, graduate course assessment will be carried out later this year. We will invite some professors to select and popularize excellent courses. The assessment of graduate courses can help to summarize successful experience and identify problems so as to improve the quality of graduate education; thirdly, make scientific and reasonable amendments in the training programs for directly admitted Ph. D candidates and students of master-doctor combined programs. All colleges should set courses and training programs according to requirements and further standardize the management and training of directly admitted Ph. D candidates and students of master-doctor combined programs. And students are required to make their plans for study; fourthly, strictly and comprehensively carry out midterm evaluation of doctoral students enrolled in 2015. According to “XMU Interim Procedures for Midterm Rating of Graduate Students”, all colleges should set a reasonable rating ratio and further standardize the midterm rating of doctoral students; fifthly, prepare for the teaching and social practice in the coming short semester, focusing on arrangements of graduate summer school, academic forums and application for covering the spending of field researches for graduate students; sixthly, make a thorough preparation for China Innovative Practice.

At the conference, different colleges exchange ideas and consult in detail about the application of graduate teaching achievement awards, the assessment of graduate courses and the arrangement of graduate summer school.

At last, Prof. Tao Tao stressed again the importance of the work arrangement. Graduate teaching achievement award represents the innovation and achievement we have gained in our work. All colleges should carefully prepare for the application work of graduate teaching achievement awards both in XMU and Fujian province. We will make use of the assessment to discover excellent programs to represent XMU for 2018 China’s Degrees and Graduate Education Achievement Award. He emphasized that the assessment of graduate courses was in line with “the Thirteenth Five-Year Plan for Degrees and Graduate Education Development” issued by Ministry of Education and Academic Degree Office of the State Council—“highly value the establishment of graduate courses, standardize course assessment mechanism and improve the quality of graduate education”. Such assessments can facilitate and promote XMUers to build a high-level university, further improve the quality of graduate education, help to discover and popularize great pedagogical methods and thus normalize teaching evaluating mechanism. Midterm rating is an important tool to evaluate the scientific capability of doctoral students and a guarantee to improve doctoral education. It aims to further standardize the doctoral education and urge doctoral students to work hard. All colleges should treat the midterm rating seriously.