XI. Deepen the reform of the inner management system of the OUC and to improve its assurance level for operation

23. Deepen reform of the management system and operation mechanism

Objectives: To raise the management efficiency and scientific level of the headquarters.

Measures: To maintain the adjustment of institutional functions and to study and determine the internal bodies, size of staff, setup of subdivisions, responsibilities, and qualifications; to complete the selection and employment of section-level cadres; to improve payment management and performance appraisal, and to intensify the role and function of incentives; to steadily promote the reform of the endowment insurance and occupational pension system; to continue to revise and improve the personnel management system; to update and improve the regulation system for government procurement and contract management; to strengthen the management of key links between consultation, countersignature, and the execution of important contracts, agreements and documents, in order to standardise the procedure, reduce the risk, and improve the efficiency; to strengthen work supervision and to explore the establishment of a system for summarising work and exchange among the departments in the middle of the year; to establish the formation and training system for cadres, to give special trainings, and to raise the cadres’ competence and quality in a positive way.

Adjustments will be made to the functions and responsibilities of the teaching and teaching management departments of the headquarters, to rationalise the workflow, to establish a synergistic work mechanism, to improve policy support, to guarantee conditions, to make a scientific and rational allocation of manpower, finance, materials, and other corresponding resources, and to implement a management system and operation mechanism for the headquarters’ teaching departments that coordinates teaching work across the OUC educational system.

24. Improve scientific management and academic research

Objectives: To strengthen scientific research management, to achieve high-quality scientific research results, and to improve the scientific research influence of the OUC.

Measures: To establish regular contacts with national scientific research institutions and actively aim for national scientific research projects; to study and introduce measures for the management of major scientific research projects; to increase the rewards for scientific research achievements and to improve the teachers’ enthusiasm for scientific research work; to organise special research focused on major issues, such as development strategies, system and mechanism, talent formation model, information construction, credit bank construction, and internationalisation, and to give the OUC support for all of its reform and development tasks; to offer valuable opinions and proposals for OUC reform and development on the basis of studying the operational experience of open universities abroad.

A scientific research work conference will be held in the OUC education system. We will act in accordance with the constitution of the Academic Committee and further play the role of the OUC Academic Committee in terms of scientific research and academic affairs. We will promote the teaching reform of each sub-committee to boost discipline construction and student development by way of bridging and focusing on projects, research topics, and forums. The construction of the OUC think tank will be initiated.

We will release the Annual Report on the Development and Research of Distance Higher Education in China and publish the World Open Universities Case Study Series in Chinese and English. We will collect and promote the transformation of research results and strengthen the OUC’s research and innovation ability and academic influence. A number of research institutes will be set up at the headquarters and the construction of OUC research centres will be actively promoted both inside and outside the OUC system. We will gather and train scientific research teams in a more open way. We will strengthen academic exchanges and cooperation with Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and host the Third Open and Innovative Education Forum in cooperation with the Open University of Hong Kong.

25. Strengthen publicity work

Objectives: To positively enhance the OUC’s social image.

Measures: To enhance theoretical and ideological publicity work, to update information on the official website in a timely fashion, and to strengthen the shaping and publicity of new achievements, new progress, new image, and new brand as part of OUC construction; to hold a propaganda work conference inside the OUC educational organisation system, to strengthen top-down design, and to work together to create a good environment for the transformational development of radio and TV universities with the cohesive strength of the system; to create the OUC’s “Media Convergence” publicity team , to tell “the OUC story”, to expand the brand effect, and to improve the popularity and influence of the OUC through its website, official WeChat account, China RTVU News, and various other media. 

By OUC