The COVID-19 pandemic has brought great challenges to higher education. How to unswervingly promote high-level international cooperation, and how to cultivate compound talents in the digital age through interdisciplinary training? On December 2nd 2022, the 14th International Advisory Committee Meeting was held successfully at the School of Economics and Management (hereinafter referred to as SEM). Chinese and foreign committee members shared their insights on “How to Achieve High-quality Transformation and Development of Economics and Management Education?”, seeking best ways to cultivate outstanding talents with a global vision.

Prof. FANG Shouen, Chairman of University Council of Tongji University attended the meeting and delivered a welcome speech. Prof. XIE En, Deputy Dean of SEM (Interim Dean), briefed the past development and future plan of SEM. The meeting was hosted by Prof. HUO Jiazhen, the former dean of SEM and Director of International Advisory Committee. Committee members present at the meeting hall included:  Prof. YU Lijuan, Vice President of Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Shanghai Committee; Prof. ZHOU Zhen, Former Executive President of Tongji University, Former Dean of SEM, Tongji University; Mr. LIN Bin, Executive Vice President of Siemens Ltd., China, General Manager of Smart Infrastructure, Siemens Greater China; Mr. LIU Xinyi, President of Shanghai International Group; Mr. SHEN Xuejun, Vice President of JD Industry and General Manager of Region East; Mr. WANG Xiaoqiu, President of SAIC Motor;  Mr. SUN Jian, General Manager of Yantai Changyu Pioneer Wine Co., Ltd; Mr. XIE Wei, Vice President of Shanghai Pudong Development Bank.

Committee members present online included: Prof. WU Qidi, Former Vice Minister of Education, Former President of Tongji University; Mr. YIN Yu, Vice President of Tencent, President of Tencent Education; Prof. Daniel CASTRO-LACOUTURE, Dean, Purdue Polytechnic Institute, Purdue University; Prof. Dr. Jens WÜSTEMANN, President of the Mannheim Business School        ; Prof. Amir REZA, Dean, Babson Academy & Global Education of Babson College, US. Prof. GUO Chongqing, Academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering; China, sent written suggestions for the meeting.

In his welcome speech, Prof. FANG Shouen expressed his gratitude towards the guidance and support from the Committee members on the development of Tongji University, especially in the first half of this year, when the epidemic was the most severe in Shanghai, the committee members paid a lot of attention to Tongji. He introduced the important achievements made by the university in the past year in coordinating the epidemic prevention and control, reform and development, and building a world-class university with Chinese characteristics. He said that at present, the Party’s 20th National Congress has made special arrangements for science and technology, human resources and education, and pointed out that the strategy of rejuvenating the country through science and education, the strategy of strengthening the country through human resources and the strategy of innovation-driven development should be thoroughly implemented. Tongji University will continue to expand international scientific and technological exchanges and cooperation, strengthen the construction of international scientific research environment, form an open innovation ecology with global influence, support the Chinese-style modernization drive, and serve the global sustainable development.

At the meeting, Prof. FANG awarded certificates to the five new international Advisory Committee members, Mr. WANG Xiaoqiu, Mr. LIN Bin, Mr. YIN Yu, Prof. Daniel CASTRO-LACOUTURE and Prof. Dr. Jens WÜSTEMANN.

Prof. FANG awarded certificates to new Committee members

School leaders accepted certificates on behalf of online new Committee members

Prof. XIE En, Deputy Dean of SEM (Interim Dean), briefed the past development and future plan of SEM

Prof. XIE En,reported to the International Advisory Committee on the progress made by SEM in the past year in terms of team building, talent development, international influence, academic and research, and social reputation. He said that in 2022, the school took “double first-class” as the goal, and quality improvement as the aim, to improve the governance, optimize the structure, strengthen collaboration and continuous innovation. SEM actively implemented the “14th Five-Year Plan” tasks and suggestions put forward by the committee, and paid attention to the cultivation of interdisciplinary talents. To ensure the stable development of the college, we explored the transformation of high-quality development through interdisciplinary, internationalization and scientific research centering on national major strategies.

During the panel discussion session, members offered their thoughts on“How to Achieve High-quality Transformation and Development of Economics and Management Education?” from different perspectives.

Prof. GUO Chongqing in his written suggestions, pointed out that Tongji University and SEM need transformative innovation. The school should seize the great opportunity of “carbon neutrality” and formulate a long-term plan for carbon neutral research and development. SEM needs to break the shackles of the school system, actively integrate the multi-disciplinary and socialized and international innovation resources of the university, and strive to become an open, platform and ecological integration of digital teaching and research.

Prof. WU Qidi fully affirmed the development achievements of SEM in recent years, and encouraged the faculty and students of the school to give full play to their own advantages and characteristics, not only to publish high-level papers, but also to combine the reality of China, dare to innovate, dare to go ahead of The Times, and undertake important missions.

Prof. YU Lijuan congratulated SEM on its achievements under the influence of the epidemic. She pointed out that SEM should integrate related disciplines based on the overall situation, cultivate high-quality and international talents with the help of the integration of industry and education, and take the initiative to serve the country to achieve Chinese modernization and step onto the international stage.

Prof. ZHOU Zhen pointed out that SEM should continue to strengthen international cooperation by utilizing the advantages of Tongji University, and attaching importance to international cooperation and Chinese management exploration. It should not only introduce cutting-edge theories to students and open their horizons, but also introduce Chinese management mode to the world through cases.

Taking the development of the automobile industry as an example, Mr. WANG Xiaoqiu pointed out that the training of talents should pay attention to both the teaching of professional technology and the cultivation of strategic thinking, and the school should do a systematic talent reserve for the future Chinese industry to go global.

Mr. YIN Yu suggested strengthening the data cooperation between colleges and enterprises, helping students establish the concept of data analysis through the practice of integrating industry and education, and cultivating the thinking of using data and applying data to influence decisions and predict the future.

Prof. Amir REZA proposed that AI will replace some jobs in the next 20-25 years. In order to cope with the changing times, schools should focus on cultivating students’ critical and systems thinking, entrepreneurship, and cross-cultural adaptability.

Professor Daniel CASTRO-LACOUTURE also stressed the importance of integrating industry and education and reshaping the course structure. He encouraged students to participate in practical projects in different industries as early as possible, making enterprises a tool for university teaching and research.

From the perspective of cultivating professional degree talents, Prof. Dr. Jens WÜSTEMANN hopes to further strengthen the cooperation with the college, expand professional degree programs and cultivate more talents with professional experience.

Mr. LIN Bin expressed the hope that through executive sharing, case teaching, providing long-term internship positions, management training, etc., we can strengthen the cooperation between schools and enterprises, and jointly cultivate compound talents who are more suitable for the needs of enterprises’ digital transformation.

Mr. SHEN Xuejun believes that digital talents must be the accumulation of complex knowledge, which requires students to master the science and technology knowledge of their industry, the basic concept of IT and the tools of enterprise management, and apply them to systematic analysis.

Mr. SUN Jian suggested that SEM should innovate “immersive practical teaching”, so that students can have half a year or even two years of social practice in the enterprise, fully experience practical teaching, and deeply connect talent training and social needs.

Mr. LIU Xinyi pointed out that in the era of digital economy, a large number of traditional enterprises are facing difficulties in organizational structure, risk control and business process re-engineering in their transformation, and start-ups are also facing issues such as equity ownership, corporate governance and taxation, which should become the research and training objects of the school.

Mr. XIE Wei believes that internationalization should always be a business card of the school at present, to benchmark international standards, enrich international exchanges, improve international rankings. In addition, we can explore the introduction of new disciplines and new majors in the integration of industry and education.

In response to the committee’s suggestions, Prof. XIE En and Prof. SHI Qian successively made responses.

Prof. XIE En said the school attaches great importance to how to promote the innovation of talent training model in the current digital age. At present, the evolution of external technology and society has brought great challenges to the talent training of the college, which requires teachers to update their knowledge, introduce new teachers, combine disciplines, combine industry and education and other ways to better meet the needs of the country and society for talents.

Prof. SHI Qian said, at present, students have diversified resources to obtain information. Under the circumstances of extensive changes in the knowledge platform, only relying on classroom teaching can no longer meet the growth of students. The school needs to invest more resources and technical means, keep close contact with enterprises in all walks of life, including cooperation with overseas practice bases, to cultivate compound talents needed in the new era.

In addition, Prof. LI Yuan, distinguished professor and former Dean of Tongji University, attended the conference online as a special guest. Besides, deans, department chairs, faculty representatives, administrative department directors, and student representatives also attended the meeting.