Leaders of Hainan University and HNU-ASU Joint International Tourism College hold a symposium on February 1.

Wu Yaoting, Party secretary of Hainan University (HNU), and Ye Guangliang, vice-president of HNU, conducted an inspection tour of its affiliate, the HNU-ASU Joint International Tourism College (HAITC), on February 1. Wang Lin, dean of HAITC, attended a symposium held during the inspection.

Wu Yaoting (L), Party secretary of HNU, speaks at the symposium and attendees take notes of the principal points in his speech on February 1.

Wu gave important instructions on the future development of the college at the meeting. He reiterated the positioning and mission of HAITC and urged the leaders to sum up their experience in running the college, indicating that more attention should be paid to its transformation and upgrading as well as better serving the backflow of overseas education consumption.

HAITC is the first Sino-foreign cooperative educational institution in Hainan province and also China's first Sino-foreign cooperative tourism institution. It aims to reinforce the training of high-quality tourism talents in Hainan and the country as a whole, and spur the cooperation and exchanges of higher education at home and abroad.

With a featured operation philosophy, quality discipline resources and advanced management mode, HAITC after four years of exploration has achieved many eye-catching results recognized by all sectors of society.

A good college-running pattern should be derived from HAITC's practical experience and promoted nationwide to improve the domestic school systems, according to Wu.

Wu indicated that the operation of Sino-foreign cooperative schools is in a process of dynamic development, and its transformation and upgrading are faced with different challenges at different phases.

He said that the college should make good use of its platform to introduce high-quality overseas resources and optimize curricula setting, striving for overall quality improvement.

Influenced by the raging COVID-19 virus overseas, the demand for shopping and studying abroad has veered. Hainan is on its way to becoming a free trade port that enjoys international exposure and a large domestic market, and is most likely to be a magnet for educational consumption from abroad.

Wu emphasized that HAITC needs to set up a long-term mechanism of teaching management, supervision and evaluation, cultivate high-quality international talents and amplify the public awareness of "Study in Hainan" to better serve the construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port (HFTP) and the province’s status as an international consumer center.

Ye Guangliang, vice-president of HNU, attends the symposium on February 1.

Ye reaffirmed the development planning of HAITC to accelerate the construction of a Sino-foreign cooperative school-running governance system and capacity and to cultivate international innovative talents with strong competitiveness in order to serve the HFTP construction.

Noting that the college will soon celebrate its first graduates, Ye underlined the basic task of fostering virtue through education, and added that it must grasp the law of students' growth, and continue to enhance their cognitive competence and professional ability.

Ye indicated that more attention should be paid to the training of counselors and other management personnel, especially those who have studied abroad. The college ought to strengthen targeted training for related personnel to help them better guide the developmental path of students.

Wang Lin, dean of HAITC, shares her ideas at the symposium on February 1.

Wang said that HAITC will continue to get closer to the high quality Sino-foreign cooperative school running pattern, and accelerate its internationalization construction and development. Its faculty members will institute a replicable school-running model based on the college's experience.

The college will do a good job in providing employment and guidance for this year's graduates, be well-prepared for the evaluation of the Sino-foreign cooperative institution by the Ministry of Education, and ensure the progress of the "Study in Hainan" program.