From 12-13 May, 2017, a working conference on the preparation of the OUC Council was held in Nanning, Guangxi Province. President of the OUC Yang Zhijian, responsible personnel from 43 units including the provincial RTVUs/Open Universities nationwide were invited to attend the conference.

A glance at the site of preparing for the working conference of OUC Community Council.

The main contents of the conference were as follows: consultation on the OUC construction work report; discussions on the OUC Charter (Draft) and the OUC Council Charter (Draft); summarising the preliminary work on the construction of the OUC Community and its future plan; discussions on the preparation work for the OUC Council.

Yang Zhijian delivered a report entitled Common Responsibility: Several Thoughts on the OUC Community. He stressed that the OUC is an open education community with participants of diversified backgrounds. It is run with an intensive style, and advocates co-construction and sharing. The building of the OUC Community adheres to the working principle of "voluntariness, equality, cooperation, and win-win", sticks to the principle of "mutual discussions, construction, management, possession , and win-win" to form the operating mechanism of "unified brand, standard, platform, management, and evaluation", so as to achieve the results that "everyone in his position can fulfill his own responsibility, capitalise on his own advantages, have his own characteristics, and get what he deserves".

OUC president Yang Zhijian delivers a report.

Yang Zhijian reported on the OUC's achievements over the past five years. By implementing the "1314 project", the OUC has made positive progress in education teaching reform, "Integration of Six Networks" learner development model, school organisation system and the basic system construction, deep integration of information technology and education teaching, credit bank and construction of non-degree continuing education. He pointed out that the construction of the OUC has presented a new outlook, initially forming the fifth model for the world’s open universities.

He also illustrated the follow-up work. During the 13th "five-year" period, the OUC took problems as the direction, reform and innovation as the power, engineering project as the lead, enhancing the ability, strength, level, and quality as the work goal, to implement the "learner development quality improvement project", "school organisation system construction project", "education informatisation promotion project", "credit bank construction project", "open and distance education research project", "non-degree education promotion project", and "international exchange and cooperation project". The key tasks for 2017 are as follows: to vigorously promote the school community, "Integration of Six Networks" learner development model, network platform, and the construction of the OUC’s credit bank.

In the end, Yang put forward his suggestions on the OUC Community Council, and sought suggestions from the participants on the preparation issues of the Council.

The participants reviewed the work report, and had a heated discussion on how to promote the construction of the Community, how to prepare for the Council, improve the OUC Charter and the Council Charter.

They unanimously agreed that the conference was very important, and that it was an important landmark for the OUC to improve the university governance system and the construction of a modern university system. It was an important reflection on promoting the governance system and modernisation of management structure. The work report fully reflects the top-level design and strategic layout for the construction of the OUC community. The participants unanimously approved the work report for its clear goal and thinking.

The participants reached a consensus on the following points:

First, uphold the concept of community, adhere to the system school operation, build the OUC community in the spirit of contract, share the same fate, make progress together, achieve prosperity and win-win, all in order to better extend the important role the OUC community in serving the construction of a learning society.

Second, strengthen the connotative construction of the community, have a clear understanding about the relationship between rights and duty, deepen reform in education teaching, fulfill all parties’ responsibilities, and step up efforts to promote community construction and the implementation of the teaching reform measures.

Third, actively encourage the branches to develop their own advantages and combine the advantages of the OUC headquarters to strengthen the core competitiveness of the OUC community.

Fourth, continue to expand the OUC’s leading role, strive to gain policy support, actively promote the transformation and upgrading of 39 provincial-level radio and television universities, build the unified image of the OUC system, better arouse the enthusiasm of the local government and society in promoting the transformation and upgrading of the RTVUs, better reinforce the open university system, speed up its transformation and development.

Written by Sun Fuwan, Editor: Yan Jingzhen, www.china.org.cn