The year of 2018 came to an end, and the bell of the New Year has just rung. At this happy moment of bidding farewell to the old year and welcoming the new, I would like to extend my New Year greetings and sincere thanks to all the faculty and students in our school, to all the alumni at home and abroad, and to friends from all walks of life who have always cared for and supported the development of our university. Happy New Year and best wished to all of you!
The year 2018 served as an important one for China as it entered a new era and embarked on a new journey. 2018 marked the 40th anniversary of the reform and opening up and the first year of implementing the guiding principles of the 19th CPC National Congress. It was also a crucial year of achieving a decisive victory in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and implementing the “13th Five-Year Plan”. And it was a year in which fruitful results have been achieved in the great cause of education.
The year 2018 was also a crucial one for the rapid development of our school. With arduous efforts, our school was renamed Jilin International Studies University (JISU). The change of name is an evidence of the full recognition of our performance in recent years, and higher expectation and requirements for development in the future. The historical significance and profound influence is more than the name itself. This leapfrog development benefits from the reform and opening up policy, kind care from the Party and the government, strong support from the Ministry of Education, Jilin Provincial Government, Jilin Provincial Department of Education and all sectors of society. The running of the school in the right direction, the great efforts from all faculty and students, and even more so, the overriding philosophy of running a non-profit private university are all contributing to today’s success. JISU, the witness and beneficiary of the reform and opening up, takes the lead in reforming China’s private higher education and embarks on the great journey of building a high-level university with firm steps and a new starting point.
In 2018, JISU deepened its comprehensive reform. Significant progress was made in terms of education and teaching, discipline construction, academic research, teaching staff construction, personnel system reform, and international exchange, laying a solid foundation for the future development of JISU. Over the last year, taking the opportunity of assessment and reform of higher education, our university carried out the reform plan seriously and set new goals of building a high-level university. It also endeavored to improve the quality of teaching and gained symbolic achievements. For instance, our university was granted the qualification to set up research projects supported by the National Social Science Foundation and won the First Prize in the Jilin Provincial Teaching Achievement Award. The Foreign Languages and Literature and Pedagogy were rated as high-level disciplines with characteristics in the 13th five-year period accredited by Jilin Province. The English, Japanese, translation, international economics and trade, and Italian majors were rated as high-level majors with characteristics in the 13th five-year period accredited by Jilin Province. The School of Central-Eastern European Languages was established as the first base for building up the strategy of “the Belt and Road” and training talents of central-eastern European languages in Jilin Province. The Polish major was set up to fill the gaps in language learning in Jilin Province and even in northeast China. The university was authorized to enroll international students supported by the new Chinese Government Scholarship---Silk Road Program. Our teachers won the First Prize in the FLTRP “Star Teacher” Contest. Our students won championships in the 7th “LSCAT Cup” National Interpreting Contest (Heilongjiang and Jilin Division), and Games of Women’s Basketball and Volleyball in the 11th College Students’ Sports Meeting, won the First Prize in a Tai Chi competition, and ranked first in a team swimming competition. Our university has even ranked first in Top Private Universities in China for Foreign Languages for five consecutive times. In a word, efforts in the past year have finally paid off.
Over the past 23 years of construction and development, our university now has become an excellent example and pioneer in the reform of higher education in China’s private universities. It is now serving as a base for cultivating applied and high-quality talents of foreign languages and affairs in Jilin province, as well as in the World Multicultural Education Center, with the largest number of languages and distinctive characteristics in northeast China, and in the cradle of “Multi-language Translation Plus” talents and innovative postgraduates. It is undoubtedly the banner of China’s non-profit private universities.
We have a long and arduous journey to go, and need to move forward with greater efforts. Standing on this new starting point, our university undertakes new missions. The year 2019 is the second year in which JISU is to reach towards the goal of 2020 and a crucial one for building a high-level university. We will face new pressures and challenges. The 19th NPC put forward the notion that modernization will be realized by 2035. And by 2020, our university is to be built as a leading private university in China. Realizing the goal necessitates transformations from learning to transcendence, from the pioneer to the leader. It is not only about the change of quantity but more about the leap of quality. We will reach new heights with long-term perspectives and hard work.
Taking the building of a high-level university as its main goal, our university spares no effort to serve for the building up of “the Belt and Road” and local economic development. The fundamental task is to strengthen moral education and cultivate people. Improving the quality of education is the core of our work. Discipline construction and high-level scientific and technological achievements are cornerstones of education. Deepening reform is a driving force. We need to strengthen connotation construction, as well as improve internationalization, capacity, and level at which the university is running in a comprehensive way. Centered on these key words of “distinctive features”, “high-quality”, “non-profit”, “application-oriented”, “internationalization” and “high-level”, we need to draw a blueprint for the building of a high-level university by mapping out top design and development strategies for the next 20 years. We should continue to carry forward the working styles as stated in the following quotes: “The greatest task must start with the most trivial detail,” and “Be simple to be a man and diligent in doing things,” so that we can put all the blueprints into practice.
Let’s jointly move forward, and embrace new opportunities and challenges with utmost enthusiasm and great ambition. Let’s work together to promote long-term and steady development of JISU, and pursue for a brighter future!
President Qin He
January 1st, 2019
