[Seventy-five Years of Building Dreams Together, A Decade of Leaps and Remarkable Chapters] Building Dreams through Innovation and Entrepreneurship Ed
2024-10-23
General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized the need to "create a policy environment conducive to innovation and entrepreneurship," "enhance employment and entrepreneurship capabilities," and "continuously improve policies supporting employment and entrepreneurship, reduce related costs, and encourage the broad labor force to actively seek employment and boldly start businesses." Over the past decade, under the strong leadership of the CPC HUTB Committee, our university has adhered to the development concept of integrating "New engineering courses + new business courses + new liberal arts courses" with science. We have accelerated the construction of an innovative, first-class university, continuously deepened reforms in employment and entrepreneurship, and actively cultivated interdisciplinary, high-caliber talent. Our university has successively been approved as one of the first batch of "National Demonstration Universities for Deepening Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education Reform," ranked among the top 50 national universities with exemplary innovation and entrepreneurship practices, recognized as a National College Practice and Talent Development Base, registered as a national-level Mass Makerspace by the Ministry of Science and Technology, and awarded as an outstanding unit for the Hunan Provincial Employment and Entrepreneurship "Top Leader Project." We have gradually formed an employment and entrepreneurship model with distinctive characteristics of HUTB.
Academician Chen Xiaohong, Secretary of CPC HUTB Committee and Director of Xiangjiang Laboratory, visits the "Metaverse Creating the Future" Science and Technology Culture Theme Exhibition
I. Continuously refine the "HUTB Model" for innovation and entrepreneurship education
Our university explores a combined empowerment path of "Culture—Competition and Training—Innovation and Entrepreneurship Incubation." By fostering a culture of innovation, we lay a solid foundation for cultivating innovation and entrepreneurship talents. We integrate the innovation and entrepreneurship culture into the campus environment, publicity, activities, clubs, and cultural and creative products, activating the genetic code of innovation and entrepreneurship culture and creating a strong atmosphere where "everyone wants to innovate and start business, everyone dares to innovate and start business, and everyone can innovate and start business." Through competitions, we train and cultivate "innovation and entrepreneurship" pioneers. Relying on the college student innovation training program, we identify projects, build a project database, and select outstanding teams to participate in high-level innovation and entrepreneurship competitions. This approach accelerates the transformation of student competition results and enhances the effectiveness of innovation and entrepreneurship education. Promoting innovation and entrepreneurship through project incubation, we hone the core forces of innovation and entrepreneurship. Through the full process management of project incubation—"selection, application, roadshow, settlement, assessment, and graduation"—we conduct comprehensive and dynamic evaluations in areas such as result transformation, business performance, and job creation. This approach continually iterates the integrated incubation model of "talent cultivation—project development—result transformation," aiming to build an elite core force for innovation and entrepreneurship.
A wide variety of innovative and entrepreneurial activities
Shape a "hardware-elements-services" three-dimensional support system. Strengthen the hardware platform. The university has successively built 35 mass maker spaces with a total area of over 12,000 square meters. We have established a shared mechanism for the "innovation and entrepreneurship" platform, promoting interconnection and interoperability of various on-campus and off-campus practice platforms, including professional laboratories, engineering training centers, internship and training bases, mass maker spaces, innovation and entrepreneurship bases, and incubators. Strengthen element support. The university has established a four-tier management structure: "Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education Leadership Group – School of Innovation & Entrepreneurship – Secondary School 'Innovation and Entrepreneurship' Education Centers – Class 'Innovation and Entrepreneurship' Coordinators." It has also created a coordination mechanism involving multiple departments, including the Career and Entrepreneurship Guidance Office, the Undergraduate School, the Student Affairs Office, the Committee of the CYLC, the Scientific Research Administration Division, and the Alumni Association, to jointly manage and promote innovation and entrepreneurship initiatives. Additionally, a series of management systems for "innovation and entrepreneurship" education have been introduced, along with a credit accumulation and transfer system for "innovation and entrepreneurship." The effectiveness of "innovation and entrepreneurship" education is incorporated into the evaluation and assessment of teachers' professional and technical positions, as well as their performance reviews, providing element support and guarantees for innovation and entrepreneurship education. Enhance incubation services. Our university has built an intelligent mass maker space platform based on "Internet of Things + Big Data," offering a comprehensive range of services, including project consultation, mentor guidance, company registration, policy interpretation, supply-demand matching, and venture capital roadshows. We continuously hold branded events such as "Open Consultation Days," "Project Empowerment Meetings," "Eagle Program," and "Acceleration Program" to comprehensively enhance the level of incubation services.
Silver award team of the 10th China International College Students’ Innovation Competition
One of the "Innovation and Entrepreneurship" Education Support Platforms: Lingnan Maker Center
Optimize the "Point-Chain-Network" innovation and entrepreneurship practice ecosystem. The breakthrough at the "point" ignites the spark of "innovation and entrepreneurship." Our university has established an industry-education integration mechanism guided by innovation, quality, value, and contribution, aligning with market demand and supporting promising innovation and entrepreneurship teams, thereby igniting the spark of innovation and entrepreneurship. Connecting internally and externally to weave the collaborative chain of "innovation and entrepreneurship." Our university actively explores deep cooperation models between the university and local communities, as well as between the university and enterprises, accelerating the flow of innovation and entrepreneurship resources into the university and fostering a mutually beneficial social resource support system. We collaborate with leading companies such as Huawei and Baidu to promote the integration of elements like talent, technology, capital, industry, and market, while also establishing a collaborative chain for student entrepreneurship, faculty-student co-creation, and alumni return-to-campus entrepreneurship. Multidimensional connection to build the "innovation and entrepreneurship" network. Our university actively aligns with regional industrial development needs, strengthens deep cooperation with government departments and enterprises, and seeks government policy support. We select and appoint technical experts from industrial parks and industry enterprises as "innovation and entrepreneurship" mentors at the university. Additionally, we proactively establish channels for connecting with foreign universities, international companies, and overseas youth, aiming to create a comprehensive innovation and entrepreneurship education network.
Academician Chen Xiaohong, Secretary of CPC HUTB Committee and Director of Xiangjiang Laboratory, presents appointment letters to entrepreneur mentors
Develop an integrated model of "scientific research innovation and entrepreneurship—teaching innovation and entrepreneurship—professional innovation and entrepreneurship." Research and innovation are combined, opening a direct "research—'innovation and entrepreneurship'" pathway. Our university leverages high-level innovation platforms such as Xiangjiang Laboratory to implement the "Three Advances" initiative, encouraging students to join research teams, projects, and laboratories. This initiative aims to enhance students' innovation capabilities and creative levels. Through teaching innovation and entrepreneurship integration, we provide a comprehensive training system for foundational innovation and entrepreneurship skills. Our university incorporates foundational "innovation and entrepreneurship" courses and innovation practice modules into the teaching system, creating a four-tier curriculum structure: general "innovation and entrepreneurship" foundational courses, 8+N ideology innovation courses, science and technology innovation courses, and simulation practice courses. This structure promotes the integration of innovation and entrepreneurship knowledge into talent development. Additionally, over 200 "innovation and entrepreneurship" mentors, both internal and external to the university, are selected, with special incentive policies to drive the deep integration of professional education and innovation practices. Integration of professional education, entrepreneurship and innovation to enhance core capabilities in interdisciplinary innovation and entrepreneurship. The university has developed five major academic clusters, including "Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Computing," and co-builds practice, training, and internship bases with enterprises and local communities. By leveraging high-level "innovation and entrepreneurship" competitions, the university accelerates the enhancement of students' innovation and entrepreneurship abilities.
II. Innovation and entrepreneurship education yields fruitful results
The results of talent development are remarkable. In recent years, our students have won five national silver awards and 24 bronze awards at the China International College Students’ Innovation Competition, among other honors. They have also won the national first prize in the National Business Simulation Contest for three consecutive years. A total of 5,590 student innovation and entrepreneurship teams have been formed, with 279 startups nurtured. These efforts have attracted over RMB50 million in social investment, generated a total output value exceeding RMB500 million, and achieved a 60-fold increase in profits, directly creating 2,249 jobs. A number of innovative and entrepreneurial models have emerged, such as Changsha Jinbang Culture, which created over 1,000 original short videos focusing on the "three rural issues" (agriculture, rural areas, and farmers). These videos have accumulated over 6 billion views, and the Central Chinese Television (CCTV) International broadcast a 9-minute interview report on their work.
Remarkable results of "innovation and entrepreneurship" talent cultivation
The demonstration effect is prominent. The university has successively been approved as a National Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education Practice Base, a National Application-Oriented Undergraduate University for the Industry-Education Integration Development Project, one of the first batch of top 100 "National Demonstration Universities for Deepening Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education Reform," one of the national universities with exemplary innovation and entrepreneurship practices, and a national-level Mass Makerspace registered with the Ministry of Science and Technology. At the national seminar on typical experiences of innovation and entrepreneurship in higher education institutions organized by the Ministry of Education, the university spoke as a typical example on behalf of provincial-level undergraduate colleges. Our Chief Leaders have been invited to share their experiences at more than 50 events, including the China Innovation and Entrepreneurship 30 Forum, the China Management 50 Forum, and the National Steering Committee for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education of Higher Education meetings.
The social response has been positive. Leaders from the Ministry of Education, the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China, the Chinese Academy of Engineering, the Ministry of Railways, and the Hunan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China and the People’s Government of Hunan Province have conducted on-site research, fully affirming the university's achievements in innovation and entrepreneurship education. Over 100 academicians have visited the campus for inspections and offered high praise. More than 200 universities from across the country have visited for exchanges, all giving unanimous positive feedback. More than 50 mainstream media outlets, including CCTV News, CCTV International, Guang Ming Daily, People.cn, XINHUANET, and CCTV.com, have conducted special reports on our achievements in innovation and entrepreneurship education.
Theoretical achievements have been abundant. The university has compiled and published several textbooks and monographs, including Entrepreneurship Studies and Entrepreneurship and Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Management. It has also published over 80 papers on innovation and entrepreneurship education in prominent journals. The university has led and completed more than 40 national and provincial-level or ministerial-level research projects on innovation and entrepreneurship education and has won two second prizes of teaching achievements at national level.
III. Creating a new chapter in employment work
The university, focusing on its goal of building a distinctive, innovation-driven first-class university, has actively aligned with national strategies and regional development needs. Through high-level planning and advanced design, the university has introduced over 30 employment and entrepreneurship policies, including the "Ten Chains, One Hundred Enterprises" Graduate Employment Market Construction and "Visiting Enterprises to Expand Job Opportunities" Employment Promotion Special Action Plan of HUTB and the Comprehensive Implementation Plan for Building the "Employment-Oriented Education" System at HUTB. These measures are aimed at continuously promoting high-quality and full employment for graduates. After ten years of construction and development, our university's employment system has become well-established, with strong measures and significant results. The CPC HUTB Committee leads the employment work with the "Top Leader Project," promoting employment efforts across all personnel, processes, and aspects. It has developed an employment guidance system that integrates both online and offline platforms and built the "2+2+3+N" employment education model. The employment rate consistently ranks among the top three in the province, with both graduate and employer satisfaction rates exceeding 97%. The university continues to expand the employment market, making full use of its disciplinary, professional, and distinctive advantages. We have steadily developed distinctive "Digital Intelligence (Artificial Intelligence) +", "Green +", and "Culture + Technology" employment markets, and consistently carried out the "Visiting Enterprises to Expand Job Opportunities" special action. Over 1,500 employers have been visited, and more than 400 employment and internship bases have been established. At the same time, we have organized over a hundred specialized job fairs, including those for "Top 500 Companies," "Listed Companies," and "Corporate Headquarters." Additionally, we have built the "Internet + Employment" smart service platform, leveraging AI technology to provide precise guidance. The university has been successively awarded several honors, including the "Top Leader Project" Excellent Organization Award for Employment and Entrepreneurship Work in Hunan Province, Model University for Employment and Entrepreneurship in Hunan, Advanced Unit for Graduate Employment and Entrepreneurship Work in Hunan, and Civilized Service Window Unit in Hunan Province. The employment rate of our graduates ranks among the top among all provincial undergraduate universities, and has been featured as a typical example in specialized reports by Hunan Education News and other media.
The university has been successively awarded the "Top Leader Project" Excellent Organization Award for Employment and Entrepreneurship Work in Hunan Province
General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized, "Employment is the biggest livelihood issue," and that "young people are the most vibrant and creative group in society, and they are also the driving force behind innovation and technological development." He stressed the need to "support young people in shining and fulfilling their dreams through innovation and entrepreneurship." We will integrate the requirements of the new development stage, new development philosophy, and new development pattern with the advantages of our university. We will actively explore how to incorporate new quality productive forces into the university's educational mission, with talent cultivation as the foundation, technological innovation as the focus, and social service as the goal. In the process of building Changsha into a global R&D center city and realizing the "Three Highlands, Four New Missions" vision for Hunan, we are committed to fulfilling the new mission and tasks of employment and entrepreneurship at HUTB with high quality.
(Reported by the Employment and Entrepreneurship Guidance Division)
