vocational education management in china朱璋龙-从管理到治理^7高职院校决策体系的现代化转型-英文.pptx

a presentation on management of vocational education in china

1. From Management to Governance: The Modernization Transformation of the Decision-Making System in Higher Vocational Schools Zhu Zhanglong Vice President of Wuxi Institute of Commerce 2025

2. The Imperative for the Modernization of the Decision-Making System Management and Governance: Conceptual Differentiation and Core Differences Reflections on the Decision-Making System in Higher Vocational Schools Core Dimensions and Implementation Paths of the Modernization Transformation 01 02 03 04 CONTENTS

3. The Imperative for the Modernization of the Decision-Making System 1

4. Institutional Guarantees for the Modernization of Decision-Making Systems: A Critical Front in Enhancing National Governance Capacity “ The modernization of governance in vocational education is inherently rooted in the historical process of China’s political reform and has become an important projection and extension of the concepts and ideas of political reform in the field of vocational education. ” Part 1 The general purpose of deepening China’s all-around reform is to advance the modernization of its governance system and governance capability. - at the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee “The socialism with Chinese characteristics forms the basis for state governance in every field, and is fully represented in the state governance system and capacity.” - the CPC Central Committee’s Decision on Some Major Issues Concerning How to Uphold and Improve the System of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics and Advance the Modernization of China’s System and Capacity for Governance “ We will improve the internal governance system by establishing a modern vocational school institutional framework centered on statutes, creating self-management and self-regulation mechanisms for schools, so as to advance the modernization of governance capacity.” - Guidelines on Promoting the High-level Vocational Schools and Specialty Construction Plan with Chinese Characteristics by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Finance of the People’s Republic of China

5. Improving the modern institutional framework of vocational schools centered around their statutes, adhering to the fundamental system of the president ’ s responsibility under the leadership of Party committees , strengthening and refining the deliberative and decision-making systems such as the Party committee meetings, the president’s office meetings, the general Party branch meetings of secondary colleges, and the joint party-administration meetings as well as promoting the systematic integration of the decision-making organizations, support systems, and implementation frameworks to establish self-management and self-regulatory institutions are crucial for the modernization of the governance system and governance capacity in higher vocational schools. These efforts should be grasped from a holistic perspective of enhancing national governance capabilities, considered within the historical context of advancing educational modernization, and comprehended in light of the core essence of the overall development of higher vocational schools. Part 1 Institutional Guarantees for the Modernization of Decision-Making Systems: A Critical Front in Enhancing National Governance Capacity

6. II. Building an Open and Collaborative Decision-Making Model through the Integration between Industry and Education: An Essential Path to Enhancing the Adaptability of Vocational Education “Promoting vocational colleges and industries to form a community with a shared future” marks a pivotal shift in China’s vocational education reform, transitioning from government-led internal regulation to multi-stakeholder governance involving governments, industries, enterprises, and schools. It is also a shift from management to governance. Deepening the industry-education integration has become both an essential path for high-quality development and a strategic direction for modernizing vocational education governance. It is important to establish open and collaborative mechanisms for decision-making, organizational management, implementation, and evaluation to energize industry and enterprise stakeholders in vocational education. Establishing an institutional ecosystem that guides industries and enterprises to participate in vocational education provision, share its outcomes, and jointly advance its development is essential for enhancing the quality and social service capacity of higher vocational schools, as well as for strengthening the adaptability of vocational education. Part 1

7. III. Innovating Precise and Efficient Decision-Making through Digital-Intelligent Empowerment: A Key Lever for Advancing the Modernization of Vocational Education Transforming fragmented data into holistic business insights through multi-dimensional analytical frameworks of time, space, behavior and context Delivering precise decision references via visual dashboards Triggering strategy adjustment warnings and responses through real-time execution monitoring Making cross-departmental o perational synergy the breakthrough Integrating decision, implementation and operational flows through data stream convergence Driving systemic restructuring, process reengineering, and institutional transformation across sectors Digital Teaching-Learning Ecosystem AI, Real-Time Monitoring and Automated Decision-Making Technologies Advancing the transformation in education: f rom experience-driven to data-driven decision-making f rom unilateral management to collaborative governance f rom passive responsiveness to proactive service delivery Part 1

8. IV: Stakeholder-Coordinated Governance Centered on Teacher and Student: An Imperative for Strengthening Institutional Cohesion in Higher Vocational Schools A Academic entities represented by teachers hold relatively high dominance and control over the internal governance of higher vocational schools. They serve as the decisive force in realizing the development goals of those schools and are also key stakeholders in the internal governance. C Leverage school councils, academic committees, faculty congresses, student assemblies, youth league conferences and other institutional platforms through consultation, coordination, and interactive engagement to enhance governance efficacy. B As the primary learner stakeholders, students are both key beneficiaries of the development of higher vocational education and critical nexus points connecting administrative and academic authority. Their engagement bears fundamental relevance to the goal attainment of higher vocational schools. D Higher vocational schools should proactively address the diverse needs of core stakeholders including faculty and students, establish collaborative decision-making systems and operational mechanisms for multi-stakeholder participation, and promote joint governance among all parties. Stakeholders Higher vocational schools constitute complex and distinctive social organizations. Within these schools, faculty, students, and party-administration personnel represent distinct stakeholder groups, whose interests fundamentally align with the core mission of those schools. Part 1

9. Management and Governance: Conceptual Differentiation and Core Differences 2

10. I. Traditional Management Model Bureaucracy The bureaucratic structure is an organizational system and management approach in which power is divided and stratified according to functions and positions, with rules serving as the primary governance mechanism. Since the unification of the six states by the Qin Dynasty in the 3rd century B. C. , bureaucracy began to emerge in China. During the Qin and subsequent dynasties, it manifested in forms such as the prefecture-county system, official selection system, and hierarchy system, effectively constituting the hierarchical governance structure of Chinese society during the feudal agricultural era. By the late 19th century, Max Weber’s seminal analysis of rational bureaucracy initiated scholarly discourse on bureaucratic theory. In his framework, the ideal-type bureaucracy characterized by hierarchy and impersonality aligned with then industrial society’s emphasis on efficiency above all, thereby evolving into a stable operational mechanism for modern national governance. Part 2

11. The management model of higher vocational education is primarily college-based, typically adopting the college-subordinate school structure. At the college level, responsibilities include strategic planning and resource allocation, while subordinate schools, as the core operational entities, undertake key functions such as major development, talent cultivation, and research organization. Limitations Core Features Bureaucracy The bureaucratic organizational structure of higher vocational schools follows a pyramid hierarchy with clearly defined boundaries of power and responsibility . It also features relatively centralized power and a strong top-down chain of command . The relationships within organizations are fundamentally impersonal in nature, with specialization and impersonality being defining features. The responsibilities, authorities, and modes of operation of various levels of structure and personnel within a bureaucratic organization are all defined by a strict set of rules and regulations, resulting in insufficient dynamic adaptability . Bureaucratic organizations emphasize the clarity of division of labor, with each position having clearly defined and fixed responsibilities and authorities, which often leads to the neglect of stakeholders’ demands. Part 2 I. Traditional Management Model Bureaucracy

12. （二）现代治理模式 Governance refers to the collective methods through which individuals and public or private institutions manage their common affairs. It constitutes an ongoing process of reconciling conflicting or diverse interests and facilitating joint action. 03 04 01 02 Governance encompasses both the public sector and the private sector. Governance constitutes sustained interaction. Governance is about coordination rather than control. Governance is a process. Higher vocational schools serve as dual-value communities integrating both institutional and industrial values. By establishing multi-stakeholder governance mechanisms, they facilitate collaboration and coordination among diverse interest groups, promptly address their respective concerns, effectively prevent potential conflicts, and ultimately optimize social benefits. Part 2 II. Modern Management Model Management Model

13. Reflections on the Decision-Making System in Higher Vocational Schools 3

14. Imbalance in Decision-Making Types Absence of Decision-Making Subjects Excessive Levels of Decision-Making Outdated Decision-Making Methods Reflections on the Decision-Making System in Higher Vocational Schools Part 3

15. Under the president responsibility system under the leadership of Party committees, the implementation process exhibits a high degree of integration of deliberation and execution , with excessive concentration of decision-making and executive powers . This unidirectional power structure results in relatively weak supervision and checks-and-balances mechanisms. Academic power exhibits inherent structural weaknesses , with its core constituents of professors facing marginalized authority in decision-making, waning engagement in institutional governance, and insufficient drive. Other stakeholders, including academic bodies, student organizations, and democratic oversight entities, remain constrained due to inadequate participation channels and institutional underdevelopment, preventing them from fulfilling their roles effectively. The organizational structure follows a clearly stratified management hierarchy of university- schools/departments-academic programs, which corresponds to a multi-tiered authority system of the university’s governance power, colleges’ power in running schools, and the power in major development . The top-down unidirectional power structure tends to overlook organizational dynamism and human agency, consequently leading to insufficient subjective initiative, openness, and collaborative awareness among secondary departments . The bureaucratic organization of higher vocational schools divides functional departments according to the principle of authority-responsibility specialization, which inadvertently fragments the institution into “isolated silos” and creates organizational barriers between departments . Imbalance in Decision-Making Types Excessive Levels of Decision-Making Part 3

16. Absence of decision-making entities in higher vocational schools primarily manifests as misallocated and unbalanced power distribution . Externally, the participation of industry and enterprise stakeholders in the governance of higher vocational schools is either limited in authority or merely nominal. This stems fundamentally from their lack of decision-making voice within the power structure . Internally, the bureaucratic system in higher vocational schools manifests as unidirectional governance, where power is concentrated within administrative departments. This leads to professors, outstanding young teachers, students, and other decision-making subjects being deprived of their voices in the school’s decision-making system and becoming the “silent majority”. The intelligent governance model, enabled by artificial intelligence, big data, and cloud computing technologies, provides robust support for precision governance, multi-stakeholder participation, and evidence-based decision-making in higher vocational schools. The absence of unified standards for data governance in data standardization, quality control, and security protocols coupled with inadequate data integration and outdated intelligent technology upgrades, has hindered data-driven decision-making by limiting value extraction and visualization capabilities, ultimately undermining its scientific rigor and effectiveness. Absence of Decision-Making Subjects Outdated Decision-Making Methods Part 3

17. Core Dimensions and Implementation Paths of the Modernization Transformation 4

18. Pioneering Conceptual Innovation: Shifting from “Management-Centric” to “Governance-Oriented” Approaches to Advance the Modernization of Decision-Making Centered on fostering the growth and development of faculty and students, this approach emphasizes empowering them to fully articulate their needs and interests, transforming unilateral administrative mandates into bidirectional service engagement, thereby shifting from bureaucratic control to humane and effective governance. From “Path Dependence” to “Bursting with Vitality” With a focus on maximizing public interests, this approach employs deliberative democracy, collaborative governance, consultative dialogue, and mutual coordination to transform stakeholders from passive observers into active decision-making participants , thereby unleashing the endogenous drive of all educational entities. From “Siloed Centralization” to “Collaborative Governance” By refining decision-making mechanisms, balancing interests among stakeholders, and transforming closed unilateral approaches, efforts shall be made to promote collaborative governance through stakeholder consultation, enhance the quality and efficiency of public goods provision, and ultimately promote a win-win cooperation development paradigm. Management-Centric Governance-Oriented From “Management-Centric” to “Service-Oriented” Advancing the Modernization of Decision-Making Part 4

19. II. Institutional Safeguards as the Foundation: Refining Governance Rules and Oversight Systems to Advance Law-Based Decision-Making Strengthening Specialized Deliberative and Advisory Mechanisms Enhancing Decision-Making Mechanisms for Academic Authority Strengthening the Deliberative Decision-Making System of subordinate schools Upholding and Improving the President Responsibility System under the Leadership of Party committees Advance Law-Based Decision-Making Part 4

20. 1. Upholding and Improving the President Responsibility System under the Leadership of Party Committees The delineation of responsibilities between the Party committee and the administration requires clear boundaries between their respective decision-making bodies. As the executive and decision-making entity of Party leadership, Party committee oversees major institutional matters and provides overall guidance, while the president is responsible for implementing its resolutions through administrative measures. The decision-making scope, rules, procedures, and processes of both the Party committee and the President’s Executive Council shall be refined . Meetings shall be convened in appropriate formats based on agenda items, strictly adhering to standardized protocols of preliminary deliberation, meeting notification, thorough discussion, item-by-item voting, decision finalization, and minutes documentation. Enhancing institutional mechanisms, including reporting major issues to superiors, regular internal communication within the Party committee leadership, collective leadership with individual responsibility, faculty participation in democratic governance, and soliciting feedback on key matters , to elevate decision-making quality at the leadership level. Part 4 II. Institutional Safeguards as the Foundation: Refining Governance Rules and Oversight Systems to Advance Law-Based Decision-Making

21. 2. Strengthening the Deliberative Decision-Making System of Subordinate Schools As the fundamental operational unit of colleges, subordinate schools play a pivotal role in their governance structure, with their deliberative and decision-making capacities being crucial to overall functioning and development of universities . Clarifying the composition, procedures, scope, and methods of decision-making for the committees of general Party branches and the joint Party-administration m eetings in subordinate schools is essential to establishing a scientific, standardized, and efficient deliberative and executive mechanism. This serves as the foundation for ensuring democratic and evidence-based decision-making while enhancing governance quality and operational efficiency. Establish a system for university leaders to regularly attend and guide committees of general Party branches and joint Party-administration meetings in secondary departments , ensuring the translation of Party policies, higher-level decisions, and university resolutions into strategies to enhance governance capacity at the subordiante level. Part 4 II. Institutional Safeguards as the Foundation: Refining Governance Rules and Oversight Systems to Advance Law-Based Decision-Making

22. 3. Strengthening Specialized Deliberative and Advisory Mechanisms The leading Party Members Group of the Ministry of Education of the Communist Party of China issued Implementation Measures for Improving the Triple-One Rule (The rule is commonly applied in formal meetings or decision-making processes, where the goal is to achieve an efficient and effective decision-making process.) to enforce compliance with laws, Party regulations, and policies. It mandates a decision-making mechanism integrating public participation, expert consultation , feasibility studies, legal review, and collective deliberation to ensure lawful, scientific, and orderly outcomes. LOREM Part 4 II. Institutional Safeguards as the Foundation: Refining Governance Rules and Oversight Systems to Advance Law-Based Decision-Making

23. For major issues involving universities’ core functions (e.g., program development, scientific research, talent cultivation), priorities (e.g., teaching reform, faculty ethics, evaluation systems), and operational support (e.g., logistics, campus development, digital transformation), particularly those requiring specialized expertise, broad coordination, and long-term impact, specialized committees with dedicated deliberative mechanisms shall be established . On one hand, it is essential to fully leverage the deliberative, advisory, and consultative functions of various coordinating bodies by improving systems for expert evaluation, risk assessment, stakeholder feedback, legal review, and collective decision-making on major issues, thereby enhancing the quality of key reforms. On the other hand, strengthening collaboration between democratic decision-making bodies and administrative units is crucial to bridging the “gap ” between policy formulation and implementation , ensuring democratic decisions are effectively executed. Part 4 II. Institutional Safeguards as the Foundation: Refining Governance Rules and Oversight Systems to Advance Law-Based Decision-Making 3. Strengthening Specialized Deliberative and Advisory Mechanisms

24. 4. Enhancing Decision-Making Mechanisms for Academic Authority Increasing the representation of faculty and experts on academic committees is essential to fully leverage the roles of scholars and academic bodies in participation, advisory, and decision-making for academic issues. This requires refining scientific decision-making mechanisms and establishing effective academic governance models to ensure the proper and impartial exercise of academic decision-making authority. Effectively balancing administrative and academic authority requires clear delineation of their respective boundaries. While ensuring administrative power provides robust operational support, its overreach or undue interference in academic matters must be prevented. This facilitates a shift from bureaucratic management to rule-based governance, achieving synergistic coordination between administrative and academic authority. Part 4 II. Institutional Safeguards as the Foundation: Refining Governance Rules and Oversight Systems to Advance Law-Based Decision-Making

25. III: Structural Optimization as the Key: Building a Multi-Stakeholder Collaborative Decision-Making Mechanism to Advance Democratic Governance Establishing a Collaborative Governance Platform for the Integration between Industry and Education Establishing and Improving Mechanisms for Faculty and Student Participation in University Governance Optimizing Decision-Making Bodies Shifting the Focus of Management Downward Building a Multi-Stakeholder Collaborative Decision-Making Mechanism Structural Optimization as the Key Advance Democratic Governance Part 4

26. 1. Optimizing Decision-Making Bodies Decision-making bodies serve as the operational vehicles of power within higher vocational schools. Grounded in public rationality, democratic decision-making institutions prioritize communication, consultation, consensus, and cooperation. Guided by the principles of democratic deliberation and collaborative governance , higher vocational schools should establish Party and government institutions as well as academic and mass organizations with clearly defined roles, responsibilities, and authority, ensuring balanced coordination between the leadership of Party committees and presidential administration, as well as between academic and executive powers. By appropriately decentralizing decision-making, executive, and oversight powers among distinct departments, a balanced power structure can be established that ensures mutual checks and coordination while maintaining clear divisions of responsibility. Part 4 III: Structural Optimization as the Key: Building a Multi-Stakeholder Collaborative Decision-Making Mechanism to Advance Democratic Governance

27. 2. Shifting the Focus of Management Downward With the advancement of streamlining administration, delegating power, improving regulation and upgrading services in education, higher vocational schools are implementing a two-tier management system reform centered on delegating personnel, financial, and operational authority, gradually transforming secondary departments into relatively independent academic entities. The decentralization of management authority requires clearly defining responsibilities and boundaries between university and department levels. By effectively implementing decision-making protocols for committees of general Party branches and joint Party-administration meetings, secondary departments can enhance independent governance while ensuring accountability, shifting the management focus downward.. Part 4 III: Structural Optimization as the Key: Building a Multi-Stakeholder Collaborative Decision-Making Mechanism to Advance Democratic Governance

28. 3. Establishing a Collaborative Governance Platform for the Integration between Industry and Education Vocational education is inherently cross-boundary, with the integration between industry and education and the collaboration between school and enterprise being both its essential operational model and core evaluation indicators of modern governance . Guided by the vision of community with a shared future, modern vocational education prioritizes strengthening industry-education alliances and industry- e ducation i ntegration c ommunities to leverage their platform coordination and resource aggregation functions. This involves establishing robust governance frameworks, including boards/councils with multi-stakeholder participation (schools, industries, communities) and optimizing operational structures of decision-making by councils/boards, coordination by secretariats, project execution by committees, and oversight by supervisory bodies, while enhancing stakeholder engagement in the governance of universities. Part 4 III: Structural Optimization as the Key: Building a Multi-Stakeholder Collaborative Decision-Making Mechanism to Advance Democratic Governance

29. 4. Establishing and Improving Mechanisms for Faculty and Student Participation in University Governance As key bearers of the mission and the most direct stakeholders of higher vocational schools, faculty and students should better play their role as major decision-making participants. Maximize the role of faculty congresses, trade unions, student congresses, communist youth league congress es, student unions, and student organizations. For matters concerning the interests of teachers and students as well as major and important issues related to schools’ reform and development, it is essential to improve the decision-making consultation mechanism for significant school affairs and the evaluation mechanism for the effectiveness of faculty and students’ participation in school governance, and to fully recognize and respect their proactive engagement potential. Establishing open and diversified communication channels enables faculty and students to contribute insights to institutional governance while legally safeguarding their rights to participate in democratic decision-making, management, and oversight. Part 4 III: Structural Optimization as the Key: Building a Multi-Stakeholder Collaborative Decision-Making Mechanism to Advance Democratic Governance

30. IV. Technology Empowerment as the Engine: Enhancing Digital Governance Tools for Precise Decision-Making Science and technology are advancing at an unprecedented pace. Modern information technologies such as the Internet, cloud computing, and big data have profoundly transformed human thinking, production, lifestyle, and learning methods, vividly showing the prospects for global development. - General Secretary Xi Jinping’s Congratulatory Letter to the International Conference on ICT in Education in 2015 “Establishing a precision governance and multi-stakeholder collaboration model” is set as the primary objective, emphasizing big data as a key tool for enhancing government capabilities. By efficiently collecting, integrating, and utilizing government and social data, decision-making and risk prevention capacities will be elevated. - Action Outline for Promoting Big Data Development by the State Council in 2015 Enhance the development of digital government by integrating advanced technologies into public administration to streamline governance processes, optimize operational models, and improve decision-making precision and service efficiency. - The 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035 Advance efficient and precision-driven education governance by leveraging AI and big data to promote operational synergy, process optimization, structural transformation, and targeted management, enhancing both administrative efficacy and evidence-based decision-making. – Speech by Minister of the Education of the People’s Republic of China at the World Digital Education Conference Part 4

31. 01 04 02 03 Strengthen data standardization to ensure high-quality decision-making data sources. Expand data application scenarios to deliver precise decision support systems. Enhance digital literacy to strengthen the foundation for data-driven, precision decision-making. Advance data integration to develop flat decision-making management models. Part 4 IV. Technology Empowerment as the Engine: Enhancing Digital Governance Tools for Precise Decision-Making

32. 1. Strengthen Data Standardization to Ensure High-Quality Decision-Making Data Sources Lorem ipsum Clarify management requirements for information systems, educational data, and management services, and regulate data activities throughout the entire lifecycle, including data collection, storage and transmission, utilization and processing. Big data built on unified standards can transcend the rigid boundaries of bureaucracy, break down data silos, and bridge collaboration gaps, providing foundational support for data sharing and coordinated governance. Part 4 IV. Technology Empowerment as the Engine: Enhancing Digital Governance Tools for Precise Decision-Making

33. Big data technology enables smarter support for constructing and developing full-sample decision models , facilitating participation from all stakeholders, especially informal power entities, to achieve collaborative governance in decision-making and management. Big data empowers broader faculty and student participation, transforming the “silent majority” into an emerging “opinion class”. Leverage cutting-edge technologies like deep learning and generative pre-trained AI to integrate massive data across campus and beyond. Conduct dynamic monitoring, statistical analysis, trend forecasting, effect evaluation, early warning, and risk prevention across student behavior, teaching quality, research output, and resource utilization. Establish a full lifecycle data management system to achieve an information loop integrating decision-making, execution, oversight, and feedback. Empower managers to shift from experience-based decision-making to leverage data for analysis, decisions, management, and innovation, enhancing transparency, real-time responsiveness, and precision of the decision-making process. 2. Expand Data Application Scenarios to Deliver Precise Decision Support Systems Part 4 IV. Technology Empowerment as the Engine: Enhancing Digital Governance Tools for Precise Decision-Making

34. Integrating AI across various management and service aspects of campuses , the establishment of a unified data center consolidates academic, research, administrative, and HR systems to enable cross-departmental data sharing and operational synergy. This shifts traditional bureaucratic models toward flatter, networked management while providing decision support for multi-level coordination, enhancing internal information flow and responsiveness. 3. Advance Data Integration to Develop Flat Decision-Making Management Models On one hand, enhancing data literacy training for managers, faculty, and students strengthens their data awareness, skills, accountability, and privacy protection capabilities, laying the foundation for data-driven decision-making and governance. In the era of digital and intelligent transformation, AI-driven teaching assistance systems are employed to offer personalized recommendations and evaluations based on teachers’ teaching conditions and students’ learning status, thereby promoting precise and personalized knowledge production and providing decision support for differentiated instruction by teachers and adaptive learning by students. Part 4 IV. Technology Empowerment as the Engine: Enhancing Digital Governance Tools for Precise Decision-Making 4. Enhance digital literacy to strengthen the foundation for data-driven, precision decision-making.

35. From Management to Governance The Modernization Transformation of the Decision-Making System in Higher Vocational Schools The modernization for the capacity of governance is the path higher vocational schools must take to pursue high-quality development. Part 4

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