"Cancel the current doctoral supervisor evaluation system!"
"The qualification to supervise doctoral students is not a one-time possession and is used for life. ”
More than ten years ago, a university professor issued an article calling for the reform of the doctoral supervisor evaluation system at that time.
Now, the discussion of "mentors" is once again on the cusp. Why are there so many questions and controversies about the "mentors"?
"Mentors" are in urgent need of new and change
The graduate tutor system is not "original" in the mainland.
Liu Yamin, a professor of education at Huazhong University of Science and Technology, pointed out that the establishment of the graduate tutor system in mainland China is not based on the logical continuation of its own tradition, but more on the basis of local innovation based on the graduate tutor system of universities in developed countries.
In the late 40s of the 20th century, the mainland absorbed the American professional education model with a long history and more experience in the tutor system, and realized the transition from a single tutor system to a tutor system with one main and multiple auxiliaries, and in the next few decades, the tutor system of one main and multiple auxiliaries was the mainstay.
After years of development, the tutor system has become a basic system in the training process of graduate students in mainland China, and the tutor provides individual guidance and is fully responsible for the study, scientific research, morality and life of graduate students.
With the transition of higher education in the mainland from elite to popular, the scale of postgraduate education is also expanding rapidly, and the mainland has stepped into the ranks of major countries in postgraduate education at a rapid pace. As the main force in the training of graduate students, tutors have long played a key role in the development and construction of the graduate education system in mainland China.
Source: Internet
With the popularization of graduate education, the number of supervisors for graduate students has also developed rapidly. At the same time, there are also endless problems in mentoring: it is not uncommon for a supervisor to have more than a dozen graduate students under his supervision, and it is not uncommon for graduate students to meet with their supervisors for several months or even a semester...... These phenomena reflect the contradiction between the tutor system and the current situation of graduate education.
In addition to structural problems, the problems of the supervisors themselves are also controversial, including the lack of academic ethics of the supervisors, the lack of guidance for graduate students, and the decline in the quality of graduate students. According to a survey conducted by a university in southern Jiangsu, 84.4% of graduate students believe that their supervisors are less concerned about their own character, and 40% of graduate students are less than average satisfied with their teacher-student relationship.
The tutor system, facing the rapid development of higher education, is in urgent need of new and change.
Topics related to graduate tutors have attracted the attention of netizens
College tutor "change", in progress
In the face of problems such as "only teaching but not teaching", "only teaching but not guiding", and "not guiding and not teaching", the Ministry of Education and colleges and universities are taking joint action.
In view of the undesirable phenomena in the mentoring relationship and teacher ethics, the Ministry of Education has issued several blockbuster documents to set a "bottom line" for the guidance behavior of graduate tutors and effectively reform graduate education.
In 2017, the Ministry of Education issued the "13th Five-Year Plan for the Development of Academic Degrees and Graduate Education", which clarified that for tutors with problems in training quality, the training units will take measures such as quality interviews, enrollment restrictions, and suspension of enrollment according to the situation, and in 2018, the Ministry of Education issued the "Opinions on Comprehensively Implementing the Responsibilities of Graduate Tutors in Establishing Virtue and Cultivating Talents" In 2019, the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region issued the "Implementation Opinions on the Comprehensive Implementation of the Responsibilities of Graduate Tutors to Establish Virtue and Cultivate People", pointing out that tutors who fail to perform their duties of cultivating virtue and cultivating people or whose graduate students have academic misconduct and violation of academic ethics will be dealt with in accordance with regulations. In 2020, the Ministry of Education issued the Code of Conduct for the Guidance of Graduate Tutors to strengthen the construction of the graduate tutor team.
"Mentors, guides for college students", colleges and universities that connect tutors and students vigorously promote the new regulations. The clear definition of the responsibilities of mentors reflects the determination to strictly govern "guidance".
Punch out to establish morality. As early as 2016, Sun Yat-sen University issued the "Sun Yat-sen University Graduate Tutor Selection Measures (Trial)". The new regulations make it clear that those who fail to conscientiously perform their duties as supervisors during their tenure, fail to ensure the quality of graduate training (such as failing to pass the random inspection of dissertations), violate academic ethics, violate the code of conduct of university teachers and other violations of laws and disciplines shall be reported to the Academic Degree Evaluation Committee for reconsideration. If the circumstances are serious, their tutor qualifications will be cancelled, and their application for tutor qualifications will not be accepted for 3 years.
In addition, the "change of mentor" system is being activated. Tsinghua University, Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Northwest A&F University, South China University of Technology and other universities have made it clear in official documents that if "the conflict between teachers and students is difficult to reconcile", they can apply for a change of supervisor.
Although the process for students to apply for a change of supervisor may vary from university to university, the requirements generally include obtaining the consent of the original supervisor, the prospective supervisor and the college.
For example, Shenzhen University stated in the Regulations on the Determination and Change of Supervisors for Master's Degree Students that if a student proposes to change a supervisor, he or she must obtain the consent of the original supervisor and another supervisor is willing to take over. The original supervisor, the new supervisor, and the person in charge of the degree program sign the opinions in turn, and the college will report to the graduate management department for the record after approval.
At the same time, many colleges and universities have further promoted the reform of the evaluation and appointment system of graduate tutors, and the results have been remarkable.
In recent years, Southeast University has taken multiple measures to fully implement the responsibilities of graduate tutors to establish morality and cultivate people, which has provided a strong team guarantee for the school's "double first-class" construction and high-level talent training. Implement the separation of evaluation and hiring, strictly select tutor qualifications, and implement a "one-vote veto" where there is a problem of teacher ethics and style.
Since 2015, Dalian University of Technology has launched a comprehensive reform of the construction of the tutor team, and has achieved outstanding results after 9 years of practice and improvement. The school implemented the annual dynamic review of tutor enrollment qualifications and the two-way selection of graduate students and tutors earlier, so as to realize the complete separation of tutor evaluation and appointment. The failure rate of doctoral supervisors increased from 33% in 2018 to 47% in 2021, and the failure rate of doctoral supervisors increased from 3% in 2018 to 11% in 2021. The pressure of taking up the post has broken the "lifelong system" of tutors from the system and stimulated the vitality of the mentor team.
Dalian University of Technology 2018-2021 evaluation ratio
The above picture source: all network
The mentor is not only the builder of the individual knowledge structure of graduate students, but also the sound academic personality developer of graduate students, and the guide of graduate students to the academic road. Establishing a sound and healthy tutor system to ensure the quality of postgraduate education is the appeal and expectation of tutors and students who are committed to academics and working diligently, and it is an important milestone on the road to building a strong country in higher education in the mainland.
What do you think about the reform of the mentor system?
Source: Ranking