In order to strengthen the construction of the sub-committee for Agroforestry and Medicine of the Academic Committee of the Open University of China (OUC) and promote development of the agricultural and medical disciplines and majors of the OUC, the sub-committee held a plenary meeting, the 1st of the year, on 23 November 2021.
Li Song, Vice President of the OUC, and director of its Academic Committee, delivered a speech, and all members of the Agroforestry and Medicine sub-committee of the OUC Academic Committee, as well as teachers in the Faculty of Agroforestry and Medicine, participated either in-person or online.
Li Song pointed out that the purpose of research is to strengthen the construction of disciplines and majors. The OUC has over 20 undergraduate and junior-college programmes in Agroforestry and Medicine to support rural revitalisation and national healthcare. To implement the OUC Comprehensive Reform Plan and improve quality as a whole, the Agriculture and Medicine sub-committee should enhance its research of students, courses, teachers and textbooks in open education, strengthening construction of the Agroforestry and Medicine majors in terms of the characteristics of open education and the needs of the job market. He stressed that teaching is the essence of a university, and fostering virtue its fundamental task, with core socialist values being conveyed as part of an all-round education, teacher teams built for this purpose, and demonstration and “gold courses” constructed, the latter focused on the qualities specific to open universities. He also asked the sub-committee to provide diverse academic activities and bring in famous teachers, promote the development of open education, coordinate discipline construction with research, the latter carried out both inside and outside the OUC system, with interaction with general universities, vocational colleges, and research institutions at home and abroad strengthened in order to enhance the research undertaken at the university and promote the development of open education.
Li Guangde, deputy director of the Faculty of Agroforestry and Medicine, introduced measures to support research within it. Seven OUC branches in Zhejiang, Hainan, Fujian, and other provinces, along with eight members of the School of Life and Health, discussed teaching reforms in the Agroforestry and Medicine majors, as well as their research experiences and the development of these majors. First, the sub-committee should clarify its purpose and lead academic progress, including teacher development. Second, it should strengthen organisation and collaboration, and promote academic exchanges, in order to enhance the influence of the Agroforestry and Medicine majors of the OUC.
Written by Cao Qinzheng; photo by Ma Jun, OUC