On December 22nd, “Changbai Mountain Academic Summit: The 2nd Private University Presidents Summit of Jilin Province” was held in the International Exchange Center lecture hall at Jilin International Studies University (JISU). The summit was sponsored by the Education Department of Jilin Province and hosted by JISU. Presidents, vice-presidents, and directors in charge of teaching and research from 17 private colleges and universities in Jilin Province attended the summit.

Presidents of private colleges and universities in Jilin Province attended the summit.

Zeng Fanming, Deputy Director of the Scientific Research Industry Division of Jilin Provincial Education Department, attended the summit and delivered a speech. He affirmed the efforts and achievements of private colleges and universities in the development of education in Jilin Province. He then clearly explained the new goals and new requirements for the development of private higher education in Jilin Province, and he pointed out the direction of future development for private colleges and universities.

Focusing on the theme of “Thinking on the Sustainable Development of Private Higher Education in the New Era”, the presidents and directors from seven different private colleges delivered keynote speeches successively. They shared their experience and practical achievements in running a school and discussed topics including educational philosophy, talent training mode, education reform and innovation, scientific research, discipline development, university culture, and sustainable development of private colleges and universities.

Keynote speech by President Qin He

President Qin He delivered a keynote speech entitled “Bringing Out the Full Potential of Higher Education: The Only Way Out for Sustainable Development of Private Higher Education in the New Era.” She said the new era has put forward new requirements for higher education. Private universities are facing new opportunities and new challenges. Reaching their full potential of higher education is the only way for private colleges to achieve sustainable development. For 23 years, Jilin International Studies University has always been committed to running a non-profit first-class, market-oriented, and internationalized private university. Our university has now become an example of the desired reform of private higher education in China. It’s a place for applying high-quality foreign language talents in Jilin Province, a multicultural education center with the most languages and distinctive features in Northeast China, and the cradle of the “multi-lingual translation +” talent training model in Jilin Province. The “Thirteenth Five-Year Plan” is of great importance for school development, and our university must remain true to its original aspiration, keep its mission firmly in mind, and continue to forge ahead to build a high-quality, non-profit, international, application-oriented, first-class foreign languages university. This way, the democratization, legalization and internationalization of our school can lead to it becoming a world-class university.

Attending presidents and leaders in the library hall

As an important part of the Jilin Changbai Mountain Academic Forum and supported by The Education Department of Jilin Province, “The Private University Presidents Summit” is spontaneously organized by private colleges and universities in Jilin Province. It is a highly regarded interactive platform for sharing wisdom, thinking innovatively, and achieving new consensuses about higher education.

After the implementation of the “double first-class” university initiative in our country and the “double characteristic” university initiative of Jilin Province, the summit was held to implement the spirit of the National Education Conference and to review and summarize the achievements and experiences of China’s reforming education in the past 40 years. The summit provided valuable insight for private universities in regards to how to improve their educational philosophies, strengthen their personnel training, and better serve local economic and social development.