Dear faculty members and students,
As we bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new, on this first day of 2025, on behalf of the University Party Committee and administration, we extend our most sincere greetings, heartfelt gratitude, and warmest New Year wishes to all faculty, staff, and students; to our retired colleagues; and to leaders at all levels, alumni both domestic and overseas, and friends from all sectors of society who have consistently supported our university’s development.
The past year of 2024 was an extraordinary year in our university’s journey of reform and development, a year marked by persistent endeavor and scaling new heights. Under the correct leadership of the Party Committee of the National Ethnic Affairs Commission and the Hubei Provincial Party Committee, our university community has remained guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. We have consistently studied and implemented the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee, thoroughly studied and implemented General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important thoughts on strengthening and improving ethnic affairs and his important discourse on education. We have comprehensively studied and implemented the spirit of the National Education Conference and the National Commendation Conference for Ethnic Unity and Progress. Through diligently conducting Party discipline education, we have maintained our focus on consolidating the strong sense of community for the Chinese nation as our main thread, promoted reform and development, and consistently worked to enhance talent cultivation by implementing the fundamental task of moral education. These efforts have steadily advanced our university’s transformation, upgrading, and high-quality development.
Staying True to Our Mission Through Party Leadership, Advancing Forward with Vigorous Development.In 2024, we used Party building as our banner to guide our educational endeavors. We thoroughly studied and comprehended General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important thoughts on Party building, transforming the Party’s political, organizational, and institutional advantages into political effectiveness that drives the high-quality development of our university’s undertakings. We integrated and simultaneously advanced theoretical learning, investigation and research, development promotion, self-examination and improvement, and system building. We issued the “Implementation Plan for Consolidating and Expanding the Results of Studying and Implementing Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era”, and formulated the “SCMU Party Committee’s Work Plan for Contributing to Building a Strong Education Nation in Implementation of the National Education Conference Spirit’, establishing 108 specific measures across 37 tasks in six major areas. Notable achievements include one Party branch being selected as a national “Model Branch” for Party building work, one individual being named among the nation’s “Hundred Outstanding Graduate Student Party Members”, and one person being selected at the national level and four at the Hubei provincial level for the “Strong Nation Initiative” special program for “Dual-Role Model” teacher Party branch secretaries. Throughout this year, members of our university community have devoted themselves to studying ideology, strengthening Party spirit, emphasizing practical work, and achieving new accomplishments. Through dedicated work and innovative practices, we have used high-quality Party building to guide the university’s high-quality development.
Focusing on Our Core Mission to Write New Chapters, Building Dreams Together as We Journey Forward. In 2024, we concentrated on consolidating the sense of community for the Chinese nation as our main theme, gathering collective strength to build our dreams. We continuously enhanced our capability to implement this core mission, deeply advancing the development of the Chinese National Community School (Institute of Chinese National Community Studies). Adhering to “special zone” policy support and coordinating university-wide resources to support the school’s development, the Chinese National Community School (Institute of Chinese National Community Studies) was honored as a “National Model Collective for Ethnic Unity and Progress” by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, and received the title “National Advanced Collective in Education System”. We strengthened our Introduction to Chinese National Community teaching team, with four members selected for the National Ethnic Affairs Commission’s lecture group on consolidating the sense of community for the Chinese nation. Three faculty members delivered demonstration lectures at training sessions organized by the National Ethnic Affairs Commission. In the Commission’s teaching competition for the Introduction course, our faculty members won one first prize, two second prizes, and one third prize. In the Commission’s evaluation of quality teaching resources, we received three first prizes and one third prize. Three of our research bases were selected as Hubei Provincial Research Bases for consolidating the sense of community for the Chinese nation. The Introduction course teaching and research section was recognized as an Outstanding Primary-Level Teaching Organization at the provincial level among Hubei’s higher education institutions. At the 12th National Traditional Sports Games of Ethnic Minorities, we won three bronze medals, achieving a historical record in the number of awards. Throughout this year, members of our university remained steadfast in their original mission, united in their efforts to deepen and solidify the work of consolidating the sense of community for the Chinese nation.
Nurturing the Soil of Talent, Empowering Excellence in Teaching. In 2024, we took outstanding teachers as our beacon while building a highland of talent. Keeping true to our fundamental mission of nurturing talent for the Party and the nation, we seized the opportunity presented by the new round of undergraduate education evaluation to accelerate the optimization and adjustment of disciplines and majors and promote reforms in talent cultivation models. We successfully completed the university’s undergraduate education quality assessment, receiving positive feedback for our distinctive talent cultivation system. The university gained approval for two new doctoral programs in Pharmacy and Education, one academic master’s program, and three professional master’s programs. Following Chemistry, Engineering, and Materials Science, our Environmental Science and Ecology discipline entered the global top 1% in ESI rankings. The School of Computer Science’s industry-education integration project with Kingsoft Office was selected as an outstanding case by the Ministry of Education. Eight courses were selected for the international version of China’s National Smart Education Public Service Platform. We added three new Hubei Provincial Outstanding Primary-Level Teaching Organizations. One school and one faculty member were respectively awarded National Advanced Collective and Advanced Individual in Science Popularization Work. The Engineering Training Center’s teaching team won the Special Prize in the National College Teachers’ Engineering Maker Teaching Ability Competition. Throughout this year, our university community remained committed to achieving first-class status, strengthening faculty development and educational excellence, and reaping the rewards of our dedicated efforts.
Gathering Wisdom and Building Momentum to Enhance Research Quality and Impact.In 2024, we took science and technology as our engine, sparking new fountains of innovation. Building upon our disciplinary strengths and reinforcing organized research efforts, we achieved several breakthrough accomplishments: for the first time in our university’s history, one of our faculty members participated in winning a second-prize National Technology Innovation Award. We received unprecedented success in provincial awards, securing one first prize, three second prizes, and one third prize in the Hubei Province Science and Technology Awards. We also won a first prize in the Yunnan Province Science and Technology Innovation Awards. Our achievements extended to humanities and social sciences, with three awards in the Ministry of Education’s Outstanding Achievement Awards for University Scientific Research (Humanities and Social Sciences). We secured approval for 33 national-level projects in social sciences and 20 in natural sciences, achieving a historical record in National Arts Fund project approvals. Additionally, we obtained 12 general projects from the Ministry of Education’s Humanities and Social Sciences Research program and 25 Hubei Provincial Natural Science Foundation projects. In another first, we received approval for one China Postdoctoral Science Foundation General Grant project. Our researchers also discovered three new plant species in China. Throughout this year, our university community pursued their dreams with dedication, working tirelessly day and night, adding new highlights to our scientific and technological innovations.
Enlightening Minds and Nurturing Hearts Through All-Round Education, Building Character Through Five-Aspect Integrated Education.In 2024, we maintained our student-centered approach in cultivating talents for the nation. A total of 25,333 student were recorded in provincial and ministerial-level academic competitions, winning 983 awards, including 178 national-level prizes. Notable achievements include: one first prize in the 19th National University Students Intelligent Car Race, eleven first prizes in the 2024 National Undergraduate Electronics Design Contest (Hubei Region TI Cup) and Analog Electronic System Design Special Contest, and our first-ever second prize in the China Graduate Programming Contest. Our students earned 2 gold, 5 silver, and 7 bronze medals at the 2024 Hubei Provincial University Track and Field Championships. In the China Collegiate Programming Contest National Invitational (Zhengzhou), we won one gold, one silver, and one bronze medal. Our international student joint team secured first, second, and third prizes in the Third National College Students’ Digital Trade Competition Finals. Our Self-Improvement Association was recognized as a “National Outstanding Self-Improvement Association”. Mr. Zhu Fangmeng, Chairman of Apeloa Pharmaceutical and our distinguished alumnus, donated 2 million yuan to establish the “Fanghua Scholarship”. Throughout this year, we focused on character building and comprehensive education, nurturing our students like tender saplings, allowing them to blossom and flourish.
Throughout this year, we continuously enhanced our campus environment, with “Cultural Wall Displays” complementing our beautiful campus construction. We focused on addressing pressing concerns, with the President’s Mailbox and Leadership Reception Days serving as warm bridges connecting faculty and students. We successfully hosted the Chinese National Culture Study Camp and established a new overseas Chinese language education internship base in a Belt and Road country, expanding our circle of friends through high-quality cooperation. We passed the re-evaluation for “Provincial Highest Grade” in archives management target assessment, further demonstrating our governance effectiveness. Whether in the meticulous work on the teaching frontline, the scaling of new heights in research, the inheritance and innovation of Chinese culture, or the active implementation of national strategic needs, the forward momentum of our university community was evident everywhere.
In the past year, we both faced challenges head-on with pioneering spirit and built steadily for the long term. Looking ahead to 2025, the university will hold its Ninth Party Congress. At that time, we will transform our blueprint for high-quality development over the next five years into detailed construction plans, uniting and leading faculty and students of all ethnicities to work together in turning these plans step by step into a magnificent tapestry of achievements. We strive to become a leader in education and research on consolidating the sense of community for the Chinese nation, a pioneer in high-quality development among ethnic minority institutions, a driving force in serving local economic and social development, and a practitioner in cultivating new talent capable of shouldering the responsibility of national rejuvenation.
As new achievements in education flourish like peach and plum blossoms, spring brings forth even more promising branches. Here, together, we wish:
May our great motherland continue to prosper and grow stronger!
May our university’s development continue harmoniously, writing new chapters of glory!
May all faculty, students, and alumni enjoy family happiness and good health!
