On 6 January 2021, the Open University of China (OUC) held the fourth meeting of the third session of its Academic Degree Evaluation Committee via video conference.

The meeting discussed issues related to degree granting for the 2020 autumn semester and decided to award 2,122 graduates OUC bachelor’s degrees, including Xing Yang.

The meeting was presided over by Chu Qihong, vice chair of the Academic Degree Evaluation Committee, and attended by vice chairs Yuan Wen and Ye Zhihong, and other members of the committee. A total of 2,307 undergraduate graduates applied for bachelor degrees in the 2020 autumn semester, including students from 43 branches at the provincial level, as well as the OUC Experimental School, the Bayi School, the School for the Disabled, the School for the Air Force, and the Postal School. The meeting considered issues related to degree awarding, including non-awarding reports submitted by the sub-committees.

Chu Hongqi summarised the members’ speeches. He stated that the quality of theses has clearly increased this semester but still there were some problems in terms of the thesis writing norms and the sense of responsibility of the supervisors. He suggested that each branch should strengthen the review process for theses and pay attention to the demonstrative roles of outstanding theses, as well as attach importance to the management of the teaching process and the guidance of paper writing.

Written by Liu Yuxia, photos by Huang Yuyang, OUC