Cover Story

OUC Aims to Build a Respectable Open University

On the occasion of the 40th anniversary for the founding of the Open University of China （OUC）， to respond to the call of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China （CPC） held in October 2019 to “build an educational system for lifelong learning”， the First Conference of the CPC of OUC took place in November 2019， which defined the new development strategy of OUC to build a world-class open university through “Three Steps”. In January 2020， The Opinions of the Open University of China on Improving the Education and Teaching Quality （The Opinions） were printed and distributed， indicating that a new round of educational reform has been officially launched at OUC. After the overall strategy has been defined， the OUC has taken actions to implement the strategy. In this Special Issue， the journalists attempt to present a full picture about the “Program of Creating Excellence and Improving Quality” of OUC， in particular the best practices and key challenges， so as to provide reference for the standard management and high-quality development of the continuing education sector. In addition to addressing the three major problems， OUC is committed to achieving its ambitious， long-term objective： to build a new-type university that is a major component of national lifelong educational system in China.

Fully Promoting the Educational Reform

On January 16， 2020， The Opinions of the Open University of China on Improving the Education and Teaching Quality （The Opinions） were printed and distributed， suggesting that OUC has embarked on a journey of implementing the strategy of “creating excellence and improving quality” of academic education so as to better serve the strategic task of “building an educational system for lifelong learning” proposed by the central government. As Lin Yu， vice president of OUC said， “to govern a university in a modernized way， we must change our mind and build a modern educational system. There is a pressing need for us to improve the quality of open education. The Opinions are a top-level design. As long as we work closely and take concrete steps， we can definitely achieve the objective of ‘Creating Excellence and Improving Quality’ of academic education， and build the OUC into a respectable university.”

Creating an Open Learning Resource Database for Lifelong Learning

In open education， we must focus on enhancing the building of specialty， courses， resources and teaching teams and advancing educational supply side reform to meet the needs of national socio-economic development， industry upgrading and learners’ personal needs. The Resources Department （Digital Library） of the OUC will try to build an open learning resource database for lifelong learning， said Cheng Gang， chief of the Department.

Allowing the Whole Process of Open Teaching to Be Monitored and Controlled

The Quality Control Department of the OUC is not merely responsible for its quality monitoring and assessment， but is a guardian of its brand reputation. To bring into full play the role of monitoring and assessment， the Quality Control Department will establish a system to monitor and control the whole teaching process， and implement a mechanism of punishing those malpractices and ultimately develop a closed loop system of information feedback.

Building a High-Quality Discipline and Specialty System at OUC

At present， the strategy of the OUC of “Creating Excellence and Improving Quality” is being carried out. As Ye Zhihong， chief of the Academic Affairs Office of the OUC noted， the OUC must establish relevant rules and regulations and implement them to ensure its educational quality. “As a saying goes， all beginnings are difficult. Fortunately we have taken the first step. As long as we hang in， we can succeed in building a high-quality discipline and specialty system at the OUC.”