Mr. Li Qiang, Zhejiang Governor & Deputy Secretary of CPC Zhejiang Provincial Committee paid a visit to Wenzhou-Kean University

On February 22, Mr. Li Qiang, Governor and Deputy Secretary of theCPC Zhejiang Provincial Committee and Mr. Chen Yixing, member of the Zhejiang Provincial Standing Committee of the CPC and secretary of the Wenzhou Municipal Committee of the CPC visited WKU. Accompanied by Mr. Wang Beijiao, Chair of University Council, Mr. Qian Qiang and Mr. Zeng Ruihua, both Vice Chairs of University Council, Li Qiang visited the campus, learned about the progress of campus construction and current status of university development. He also put forward some suggestions for WKU’s future development.

Li Qiang visited the library and received an introduction to the E-library. He also went to the model classroom, watching the demonstration of some teaching aids such as the multifunctional white board and Mediasite, a classroom recording and broadcasting system. Li Qiang discussed with Charles Greenberg, the Director of Library, and other staff on the issues concerning students’ learning.

Li Qiang suggested that WKU’s development should depend on a clear understanding of its identity and finding its right position in the education landscape. There was no lack of average universities in Zhejiang, while what is really needed is a distinctive university that is attractive to talents and also produces talents, acting as a driving force to the development of local economy. WKU, as one of the six Sino-foreign cooperative universities, should take advantage of local resources and advantage of the system, so that it can produce more talents to serve the society. Li Qiang also stressed that WKU should focus on establishing distinctive programs and strive to develop these programs to be top programs in China. He said WKU can utilize Wenzhou’s fashion industry and business to develop its business programs. Li Qiang hoped that WKU would aim high from the beginning, create a humanistic environment of the highest level, form a scientific teaching philosophy and merge Chinese and American teaching methodologies. WKU shall fully utilize its advantages as a Sino-American cooperative university to attract and produce more talents. He also put forward specific requirements for the quality of campus construction and maintenance management.

Chen Yixin expressed his gratitude to Governor Li Qiang for his constant concern for WKU even during the Spring Festival break. He also provided several suggestions: first, he hoped WKU would draw on the suggestions from Governor Li Qiang promptly and invite more experts from different fields to discuss the direction of developing WKU, as well as program development and further improve short-term and long-term development planning. Secondly, he suggested that besides the investment from the Wenzhou Municipal government, WKU may expand sources of funding by strengthening social participation, closely connecting with Kean University and the society. Third, he pointed out that the infrastructure construction is the foundation for everything. Since WKU has an additional 329 acres of the master plan, the Wenzhou Municipal CPC Committee and Municipal Government will increase their support for WKU to speed up the infrastructure construction so as to serve the needs of the university.

Chen Zuorong, member of Standing Committee of Wenzhou Municipal Party Committee and executive vice mayor, Qiu Yangjun, member of Standing Committee of Wenzhou Municipal Party Committee and secretary general, Li Qiuzhen, secretary of Ou hai District and Peng Lihua, district chief of Ou hai District accompanied the visit.