To chart a new course for the university’s international opening-up strategy and propel its international education towards a higher quality phase, the University Internationalization Conference was held on the afternoon of January 20th in Assembly Hall No. 1. Attending the conference were all university leaders, mid-level cadres, section-level cadres, dedicated staff, and all faculty members of the International Education College. The conference was chaired by Wei Kexiang, University Council member and Vice President.
Luo Yiping, University Council member and Vice President, delivered a keynote report titled "Co-creating the Future: Deepening International Education, Empowering Excellence in Development." The report systematically reviewed the remarkable leapfrog achievements made in international exchanges and international education during the university’s "14th Five-Year Plan" period. Luo Yiping emphasized the need to further strengthen overall coordination, deepen cooperation content, focus on enhancing quality and efficiency, reinforce faculty development, deepen cooperative education, and strengthen support systems to promote the high-quality development of international education.
The conference also held the inauguration ceremony for the Hunan Institute of Engineering – Otago Polytechnic Joint Institute. The establishment of this Joint Institute marks a new phase for the university’s Sino-foreign cooperative education, moving towards an institutionalized and entity-based operation. It is set to become a significant platform that integrates the strengths of Chinese and New Zealand engineering education and innovates talent cultivation models.
Cao Liying, Dean of the International Education College, and Hu Hui, Dean of the College of Electrical and Information Engineering, shared their insights and practices in advancing international education, drawing from their respective departmental and college contexts. Foreign faculty representative VYSHNEVSKA ANNA, along with representatives from the 2024 Young Faculty UK Study Tour Group and the 2025 Teaching Management Innovation UK Study Tour Group, delivered speeches, showcasing from various perspectives the positive outcomes of the university’s efforts to internationalize its faculty.
In his concluding address, Cao Zhiling, University Council Secretary, stressed the imperative to stay focused on the themes of "high quality" and "excellence," deeply integrating internationalization into the university’s development DNA. He put forward three requirements: First, to focus on "enhancing quality through substance," making the Joint Institute a "demonstration zone" for talent cultivation reform; second, to focus on "empowerment through strategy," transforming international resources into a "new engine" driving disciplinary development; third, to focus on "systematic integration," turning the internationalization strategy into a "catalyst" for upgrading university governance. He called upon all faculty and staff to embrace a more open mindset and pragmatic action, jointly writing a new chapter in the university’s internationalization journey.
(Reviewed by: Yang Huan, Wei Jian, Liu Dongbo)
