In order to thoroughly study and implement the guiding principles of the National Conference on Education, effectively enhance teachers' ability in guiding and evaluating graduation theses, comprehensively improve the quality of graduation theses in Economics and Management majors, and promote the high-quality development of these majors, from 7 to 8 November 2024, the School of Economics and Management in the Open University of China (OUC) hosted a seminar on the guidance for graduation theses in Economics and Management majors in Jinan, Shandong Province.

Guo Pikuan, a member of the Party Committee and vice president of Shandong Open University, attended the event. Liu Zhifang, dean of the School of Economics and Management of the OUC, presided over the opening ceremony. The event was carried out through methods such as keynote reports, field investigations, and exchange discussions.

Liu Zhifang highlighted that the OUC has entered a new stage of high-quality development and attaches great importance to the teaching process. The graduation thesis is the "last stretch" of the teaching process and a crucial part in achieving the goal of talent cultivation. Taking this seminar as an opportunity, we should continue to strengthen cooperation and exchanges with various branches and colleges, and use the improvement of the quality of graduation theses as a means to promote new progress and reach new heights in the cultivation of open-education talent.

Xu Jinhai, deputy dean of the School of Economics and Management at OUC, interpreted the distinct features of the book How to Write an Effective Graduation Thesis: Detailed Guidelines for Economics and Management Majors at the OUC. Sun Li from the Academic Affairs Department introduced relevant contents such as the management regulations, evaluation indicators, and defence requirements for the thesis degree conferral process.

Wang Xiaobing from Xi'an Branch and Li Fei from Dalian Branch respectively represented the Sub-Committee for Economics Degree Evaluation and the Sub-Committee for Business Administration Degree Evaluation to present degree thesis review reports. Peng Lin from Shandong Branch, Gu Maochun from Gansu Branch, Li Gaobo from Beijing Branch, and Cai Erxun from Fujian Branch, respectively, combined their rich experience in guiding graduation theses, shared thesis topic selection techniques, writing methods, and optimisation strategies, and pointed out the existing problems at the present stage and the work plans for the next step.

The seminar also carried out special discussions on the problems existing in the guidance of theses for Economics and Management majors, as well as the experiences and practices of various branches and colleges in the graduation thesis stage for Economics and Management majors.

All participants unanimously agreed that this seminar had a clear theme, diverse forms, and rich content, providing useful references for effectively implementing the teaching requirements of the comprehensive graduation practice for undergraduate majors in Economics and Management (starting from junior college) and further improving the quality of talent cultivation in economics and management.

More than 60 teachers participated in the event, including teachers from the headquarters, relevant responsible personnel from various departments of the university and the university-owned enterprises, as well as 43 branches and colleges.

Written by Bai Xue

Photo by School of Economics and Management