In the afternoon, October 9, XMU held a meeting on the degree and postgraduate education in this semester. The meeting was attended by vice President Wu Daguang,  deans of Graduate School, Admissions Office, the Examination Center and vice deans of colleges in charge of graduate work as well as graduate secretaries. The meeting was chaired by Tao Tao, deputy dean of the Graduate School.

Mr. Tao first made a comprehensive summary of degree and postgraduate education in the last semester. In the first half of 2015, XMU further promoted levels of postgraduate training, and successfully completed revision of professional Masters' training programs. Mr. Tao also mentioned more work should be done in terms of bi-supervisor system and Base of Internships. XMU has started research-oriented course reform, taking various means to strengthen training management and quality monitoring system. Teaching and Practice in the short term has become a highlight of XMU. A total number of 115 domestic and foreign experts and scholars were invited to XMU to open short-term courses and lectures. Graduate School strengthened its support for innovative projects, "XMU Graduate Fieldwork Fund" have gained increasing attention from teachers and students , of which a total of 27 projects were funded. The Internationalization of graduate education made significant progress. XMU students have reached to a record high for CSC funds, which have been granted to 118 students to do their research in world-class universities such as Harvard University, Oxford University and McGill University. Mr. Tao also pointed out that XMU graduate students are currently experiencing zero growth or even negative growth bottlenecks for overseas study. Schools should continue to explore the potential and lay the foundation for next CSC funding programs. In the first half of 2015, XMU signed agreement with the University of Cincinnati and the Australian Macquarie University  for cooperation in training doctoral students, which offers a new platform for XMU's international education.

Mr. Tao talked about the focus degree and postgraduate education work in this semester. He pointed out that research is the key to PhD students, which starts with the admission process and management. Graduate School and Admissions Office will follow develop scientific management methods and improve the ratio of students going straight for PhD . Schools should focus on the 2014 mid-term assessment of PhD programs so as to promote quality of PhD programs.We should also further strengthen Teachers' ethics and increase the cultivation of young instructors as well as foster more supervisors and improve management.

 Vice President Wu Daguang made concluding remarks. Mr. Wu noted that a challenge of XMU is PhD students' quality. Expanding enrollment of undergraduates to go straight to PhD is an important way to solve the problem, whose ratio will increase from the current 4% to 20% in 2017. XMU started the first mid-term assessment for PhD students in this semester, which is difficult. Schools should develop practical management methods and establish a scientific mechanism of elimination. He noted that schools should attach great importance to CSC programs, making full use of this platform to cultivate talents with international vision. Teachers' ethics has always been XMU's focus, we should continue to promote and create a favorable academic atmosphere. Meanwhile, schools should follow the university's rules to carry out various reforms to improve postgraduate education of XMU.