I. A Panoramic View of the College's Development
(1) Historical evolution and strategic positioning
As an important part of the higher education map in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Guangzhou College of Applied Science and Technology has gone through more than two decades of development. Its predecessor, Songtian College of Guangzhou University, has been rooted in South China since 2000, serving the economic and social development of the region. In December 2020, with the approval of the Ministry of Education, it was officially transformed into an independent full-time undergraduate college, opening a new chapter in building a high-level applied college. The college has two campuses in Guangzhou and Zhaoqing, covering a total area of 1,065 mu, forming a coordinated development pattern of "one college and two campuses". It has a full-time undergraduate student population of 31,744, with students coming from more than 20 provinces across the country and has established a wide-ranging talent cultivation system.
In terms of its educational orientation, the college has clearly defined its development direction as "local, applied and open", with the mission of "cultivating high-quality applied talents to meet the demands of industrial upgrading in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area", and is committed to becoming a high-level applied college with distinct disciplinary characteristics, in-depth integration of industry and education, and outstanding service capabilities. The college motto "Be erudite and diligent, Apply Knowledge to the world" profoundly interprets the college's educational philosophy of emphasizing the combination of theory and practice and the emphasis on serving the society, and has become the spiritual banner leading the college's development.
(2) College conditions and resource guarantee
The college has continued to increase its investment in infrastructure. The total floor area of college buildings has reached 750,700 square meters, including 419,600 square meters of teaching and administrative space and 13.22 square meters of teaching and administrative space per student, meeting the needs of modern teaching. The total value of teaching and research equipment is 176 million yuan, with an average of 5,533 yuan per student. 257 laboratories of various types have been built, covering multiple disciplines such as engineering, science and management. Among them, there are two provincial experimental teaching demonstration centers. The utilization rate of laboratories has remained above 90% all year round, and the experimental opening rate has reached 100%. It provides solid support for practical teaching.
The library construction has achieved remarkable results, with a collection of 1,0998,300 paper books and 732,200 electronic books, totaling 1,830,500 books, with an average of 34.49 paper books per student. The library is equipped with functional areas such as the smart reading area, study room, and electronic resource retrieval area. It is open for 98 hours per week, with an annual borrowing volume of 86,800 books and over 2 million visits to electronic resources, creating a smart knowledge space that integrates literature services, academic exchanges, and self-study.
Funding mechanism: Over the past three years, the college has consistently prioritized teaching investment. The daily operating expenditure per student for teaching was 2,317 yuan (2022), 2,092 yuan (2023), and 2,584 yuan (2024) respectively, all higher than the 1,200 yuan per student standard set by the Ministry of Education for undergraduate institutions, and has been steadily increasing. The total value of teaching instruments and equipment has increased by 141% over the three years, and the library's collection has increased by 126.52%, which fully demonstrates the college's strong guarantee of basic teaching conditions.
(3) Layout and characteristics of disciplines and specialties
Discipline and major system: The college has established a discipline and major pattern with engineering as the main discipline and coordinated development of multiple disciplines. It has 14 teaching colleges and offers 48 undergraduate programs, covering eight major disciplines including engineering, economics, management, law, education, literature, art, and science. Among them, there are 20 engineering programs, accounting for 41.67 percent. It has formed advantageous professional clusters such as intelligent manufacturing, electronic information, and computer science and technology, which are closely aligned with key industrial fields such as high-end manufacturing and digital economy in the construction of the "dual zones" in the Greater Bay Area.
In the development of disciplines and specialties, the college focuses on connotative development and characteristic cultivation, and has two key disciplines in Guangdong Province: Civil and Commercial Law focuses on the rule of law construction in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, forming characteristics in the cultivation of foreign-related legal talents; Taking advantage of the development opportunities of the sports industry in the Greater Bay Area, the college of Physical Education has developed advantages in areas such as social sports guidance and management, and sports economics and management. It has three provincial first-class undergraduate programs: The Social Sports Guidance and Management program builds an "integration of sports and education" model to cultivate compound sports talents; The law major highlights the characteristics of "law + science and technology" and offers a direction in artificial intelligence law; The finance major aligns with the construction of the Greater Bay Area as an international financial center and builds practice bases with several financial institutions. In addition, the three provincial-level pilot programs for comprehensive reform of the major have continued to promote innovation in talent cultivation models, creating a demonstration effect.
(4) Faculty team building and structure
Faculty size and structure: The college currently has 1,543 full-time teachers, including 1,386 in-house teachers and 157 external teachers, with a student-teacher ratio of 20.64:1, meeting the basic needs of undergraduate teaching. Among the faculty, there are 405 teachers with senior titles, accounting for 29.22%, including 89 professors and 316 associate professors. There are 1,235 teachers with master's degrees or above, accounting for 89.11%, among whom 133 have doctoral degrees (8.59%), forming a teaching staff with young and middle-aged teachers as the main body and an improved structure of academic qualifications and professional titles.
To strengthen the characteristic of cultivating applied talents, the college has vigorously promoted the development of the "dual-qualified" teacher team. Currently, there are 279 "dual-qualified" teachers, accounting for 20.13%. Through the implementation of the "Teacher Enterprise Practice Program", teachers have been encouraged to take up positions in companies such as Huawei, Tencent, and GAC for training. A total of 326 teachers have been sent out in the past three years to enhance their practical teaching ability. At the same time, a pool of part-time teachers from industry experts has been established, and more than 200 people, including senior executives and technical experts, have been hired as part-time teachers to form a "dual-qualified and dual-capable" teaching team, which has strongly supported the teaching of practical courses and the implementation of industry-education integration projects.
II. Support students' education
(1) Improve policies and regulations to ensure students' education
1. Improve the rights protection and appeal mechanism
• Policy basis: According to the Implementation Measures for Handling Student Appeals, students who have objections to decisions such as disciplinary actions or cancellation of admission may submit written appeals within 10 working days after receiving the notice. The college's appeal committee shall complete the review within 15 working days, and for complex cases, the period may be extended by 15 days.
• Specific measures:
◦ The appeal committee is composed of college leaders, heads of functional departments, teachers and student representatives to ensure fair procedures.
◦ If the appeal is upheld, the original handling department needs to make a new decision, and major decisions such as expulsion need to be submitted to the Party Committee for review.
• Case reference: International students who apply for an extension of registration due to visa issues may apply for special handling through the appeal mechanism.
2 Strengthen academic integrity and violation handling
• Policy basis: The "Regulations on the Handling of Academic Misconduct in bachelor's Theses" clearly states that those who purchase theses, plagiarize, or fabricate data will face severe penalties such as degree revocation and expulsion.
• Implementation details:
◦ The thesis must pass the plagiarism check, and the defense will not be granted if the repetition rate exceeds 30%; Those who have obtained their degrees will have their degrees publicly revoked and their certificates retrieved if they are found to have engaged in academic misconduct.
◦ Tutors are required to educate students on academic norms, and those who fail to do so will have their tutor qualifications revoked.
3. Comprehensive student rights protection program
• Policy basis: The Student Protection Plan covers multiple dimensions of protection including academic, living and expenses:
◦ Academic continuity: In case of force majeure such as typhoons and epidemics, the "Guangying Intelligent Teaching Platform" will be activated and practical classes will be converted into virtual simulation experiments.
◦ Fee refund: Tuition fees will be refunded based on "total tuition ÷10× (10 - months studied)", and accommodation fees will be settled based on the actual number of days.
◦ Special group support: International students are assigned full-time counselors to provide visa consultation, and students with sports specialties are subject to a dual-track assessment of "theory + practice".
(2) Establish a quality assurance system for teaching
1. Full-process course assessment and monitoring
• Policy basis: Requirements of the "Regulations on Curriculum Assessment and Grade Management":
◦ Course grades consist of regular grades (30%-50%) and final exams (50%-70%), with regular grades covering attendance (20%), assignments (30%), and class performance (50%).
◦ Teachers are required to publish the assessment plan before the course starts, submit the test paper analysis report at the end of the term, and explain the reasons if the average score is abnormal.
• Quality monitoring:
◦ Teaching supervisors conduct random observations monthly, and students participate in teaching evaluations at least three times per semester.
◦ Establish a question bank management system, with the repetition rate of test questions not exceeding 20%, and update no less than 30% annually.
2. Online and offline integrated teaching guarantee
•Emergency Response mechanism:
◦ In case of level 1 response, the Guangying Cloud Classroom platform is enabled, supporting 4K live streaming, offline download and real-time Q&A.
◦ Practical classes can be completed through virtual simulation laboratories (23 VR laboratories), with the assessment criteria remaining the same.
• Faculty assurance:
◦ The ''Dual-Qualified Program" was implemented, with 63% of professional teachers having industry experience, and more than 2,000 teacher training sessions were conducted each year.
◦ Establish a reserve teacher pool covering 98% of professional courses to ensure that teaching is not affected in case of emergencies.
(3) Formulate norms for internships and graduation theses
1. Full cycle management of internship
• Policy basis: The "Internship Management Measures" stipulates:
◦ The internship should be related to the major, a tripartite agreement should be signed, and the enterprise mentor and the college mentor should jointly assess.
◦ The internship lasts no less than 16 weeks, and the assessment includes the internship report (40%), practical operation (50%), and enterprise evaluation (10%).
• Violation handling: Those who change internship units without authorization will have their internship grades cancelled; Plagiarism in the internship report will be treated as academic misconduct.
2. Strict management of graduation theses
• Process norms:
◦ The topic must be reviewed by the college and pass the repetition rate test (≤20%) before the defense.
• Quality control:
◦ Establish a thesis spot-check system, with 5% of theses selected each year for review by other institutions, and those who fail to meet the requirements will be held accountable by their supervisors.
(4) Build a multi-dimensional student evaluation system
1. Comprehensive quality evaluation mechanism
• Evaluation dimensions:
◦ Academic performance: 60%, including course grades and credit completion rate.
◦ Practical ability: accounting for 20%, covering internships, subject competitions, and innovation and entrepreneurship projects.
◦ Moral performance: 20% including duration of volunteer service, dormitory civility score, disciplinary record.
• Incentives:
◦ National scholarships (8,000 yuan per person) and National inspirational scholarships (5,000 yuan per person) will be established, with a winning rate of 3%.
◦ Innovation and entrepreneurship achievements can be converted into academic credits, such as 2 to 4 credits for a granted patent.
2. Academic early warning and support
• Warning criteria:
◦ Students who fail three or more courses in a semester or have a GPA of less than 2.0 will receive a verbal warning; If a student receives verbal warnings for two consecutive semesters, these will be converted to a written warning and their parents will be notified.
• Assistance measures:
◦ Assign "1+1" mentors to assist students at least once a week; Open library VIP study rooms.
◦ Extension of study period is permitted up to 6 years (up to 8 years in exceptional cases such as starting a business).
3. Academic standards
(1) Admission criteria
1. Domestic admission rules
• Admission principles:
◦ The principle of "priority of professional preference" is implemented, with admission based on the college entrance examination scores from high to low. In Inner Mongolia, the principle of "1:1 professional clearance" is implemented.
For art and physical education majors, admission is based on a comprehensive score of "cultural score ×40%+ professional score ×60%".
• Score line examples:
◦ In 2024, the minimum score for liberal arts in Jiangxi is 481 and for science in Shaanxi is 386.
• Special requirements:
◦ Foreign language majors require a score of ≥100 in English, and Sino-foreign cooperative majors require an English interview.
2. International student recruitment
• Language requirements: Non-native English speakers are required to provide an IELTS score of 5.5 or equivalent. For Chinese language majors, HSK level 4 ≥180 is required.
• Application materials: passport, high school transcripts, two recommendation letters, personal statement, and portfolio for art students.
• Admission process: Material review → Interview (for some majors) → Issuance of admission letter → Processing of X1 visa.
(2) Student status management standards
1. Rules for registration and suspension of studies
• Registration requirements:
◦ New students are required to complete the registration within 2 weeks from the registration date. Those who fail to register or apply for an extension within the specified period will be disqualified.
◦ Registration is required at the beginning of each semester with proof of payment, and students with financial difficulties may apply for student loans before registration.
• Suspension policy:
◦ For sick leave, a certificate from a Grade II class A hospital is required, with a maximum leave of 2 years; Entrepreneurship leave of absence can be up to 4 years and the student status will be retained.
2. Transfer and major change
• Restrictions:
◦ Students in the graduating class who have not completed one semester of enrollment are not allowed to transfer; Art and physical education majors are not allowed to change majors across categories.
• Approval process:
◦ Major transfer must be reviewed by the college and approval by the Academic Affairs office, and inter-college transfer must be reported to the provincial education department.
(3) Teaching policies and regulations
1. Curriculum and textbook management
• Curriculum design:
◦ Each major is required to offer public basic courses (accounting for 30%), core professional courses (accounting for 50%), elective courses (accounting for 20%), and practical class hours ≥30%.
◦ Textbook selection shall be subject to review by the teaching and research section, with priority given to national-level planned textbooks or new editions of the last three years.
• Adjustments to the teaching plan:
◦ If the syllabus needs to be changed, it must be reviewed by the college Teaching committee and filed with the Academic Affairs Office.
2. Practice teaching norms
• Laboratory management:
◦ Laboratory classes are scheduled one week in advance, students are required to submit a preview report, and those who are absent for more than 1/3 of the class hours are not allowed to take the assessment.
• Internship safety:
For off-campus internships, personal accident insurance must be purchased. The enterprise needs to provide a safety training certificate. The leading teacher should conduct at least one inspection per week.
(4) Examination policies and regulations
1. Assessment form and discipline
• Test type:
◦ It is divided into closed-book (accounting for 70%), open-book (accounting for 20%), practical assessment (accounting for 10%), and public courses are tested uniformly.
• Disciplinary actions:
◦ Students who cheat will have their grades cancelled on the spot and be given a demerit record; Those who cheat twice in total will be expelled.
◦ Proxy tests, organizing cheating, etc. shall be referred to judicial authorities for handling.
2. Score management and review
• Composition of grades:
◦ Regular performance (attendance 20%+ homework 30%+ class performance 50%), final exam 50%-70%.
• Review process:
◦ Students who have objections to their grades may apply for a review within 2 weeks after the grades are announced, and the Academic Affairs Office will provide feedback on the results within 5 working days.
(5) Attendance standards
1. Attendance and classroom discipline
• Absence determination:
◦ Being late/leaving early twice = one absence. One absence will result in a deduction of 5 points from the regular grade. Those who are absent for more than one-third of the class hours will not be allowed to take the final exam.
• Leave approval:
◦ Leave of absence ≤2 days, approved by the counselor; 3-7 days, approved by the college leadership; ≥8 days, filed with the Student Affairs Office.
◦ Sick leave requires a hospital diagnosis certificate and making up leave after the fact is invalid.
2. Attendance is linked to merit awards
• Scholarship requirements: No more than 3 absences during the semester and no more than 5 days of personal leave are required to be eligible for scholarship selection.
• Graduation eligibility: More than 20 class hours of cumulative absence will result in disqualification from graduation, and an extension of study will be required.
(6) Degree conferral
1. Awarding conditions
• Academic Requirements:
◦ Complete the required credits as stipulated in the program, have a grade point average of 2.0 or above, and pass the thesis defense.
◦ No record of cheating in exams or academic misconduct, and pass the ideological and political assessment.
• Exceptions:
◦ Students who take a leave of absence due to entrepreneurship can apply for a degree extension of 2 years, but they need to make up for the practical credits.
2. Circumstances of non-granting and revocation
• Explicitly prohibited:
Degrees will not be awarded to those who have accumulated at least 16 failing credits, received disciplinary probation, or had a thesis plagiarism rate of at least 50%.
◦ If a degree recipient is found to have engaged in academic misconduct, the degree will be revoked upon the approval of the university's degree committee.
3. Awarding process
• Review levels:
◦ Initial review by the college degree sub-committee (including blind review of the thesis) → Final review by the university degree committee (with the consent of more than two-thirds of the committee members) → Awarding the degree after a 5-day public announcement without objection.
3. Teacher team building and teaching reform
Teacher ethics and conduct building: The college regards teacher ethics building as the top priority of teacher team building and establishes a "three-in-one" teacher ethics education system: conduct special training on teacher ethics before employment, implement a teacher ethics commitment system after employment, and regularly organize the selection of "Teacher ethics role models" and the promotion of their outstanding deeds. In the past three years, a total of 58 activities on teacher ethics have been carried out. The rate of students evaluating teachers as excellent and good has remained above 89%. Two provincial teaching masters and five outstanding teachers of South China have emerged, and a good teacher ethics atmosphere has been formed.
The teaching ability improvement program has implemented the "Blue and Green Project" for the training of young teachers. Each new teacher is paired with a senior mentor, fostering “guidance, support, and hands-on training” through a mentorship system. The "Spark Teaching Award" was established to encourage teachers to engage in teaching reform. In the past three years, 16 provincial teaching achievement awards have been won and 116 college-level teaching reform projects have been initiated, among which three projects, including "Research on the Three-dimensional Development of 'Course-based Ideological and Political Education' in Applied Undergraduate Colleges", have been approved as provincial key projects. We have developed 30 university-level online open courses, among which three courses, including Frontiers of Civil and Commercial Law, have been selected as provincial first-class courses, promoting the deep integration of information technology and education and teaching.
(3) Optimization of teaching conditions and resource integration
Laboratory and Practical teaching platform: The college has established a three-level practical teaching system of "basic experiments - professional training - innovative practice", with a total laboratory area of 82,000 square meters, of which 60% are engineering laboratories, equipped with advanced facilities such as industrial robots, 3D printing, and new energy vehicles. The college has established 166 off-campus internship bases with enterprises, including 5 provincial-level practical teaching bases for college students, and implemented "four-stage progressive" practical teaching: In the first year, cognitive practice is carried out; in the second year, professional training is conducted; in the third year, comprehensive practice is organized; and in the fourth year, graduation practice is carried out, ensuring that the proportion of practical teaching credits reaches 25%-30%, and that more than 65% of graduates' graduation theses (designs) are derived from actual projects of enterprises.
Information-based teaching environment development: The campus network has achieved 5G coverage across the entire campus with an exit bandwidth of 70G, 120 smart classrooms and 15 virtual simulation laboratories have been built, and teaching platforms such as Chaoxing Learning Pass and Rain Classroom have been introduced to make blended online and offline teaching a regular practice. In the past three years, teachers have carried out 45 teaching reform projects using information technology, students' online learning activity has increased by 30%, and a new teaching model of "Internet + education" has been formed.
(4) Innovation in professional and curriculum development
Dynamic professional adjustment mechanism: In response to the demands of industrial upgrading, the college has established a "demand-oriented, dynamic adjustment" professional optimization mechanism. In the past three years, one major that does not meet the demands the industry has been cancelled, and seven new emerging majors such as intelligent manufacturing engineering, digital media technology, data science and big data technology have been added, forming nine major professional clusters, including:
The intelligent manufacturing cluster (including mechanical design, manufacturing and automation, robotics engineering, etc.)
Digital economy cluster (including finance, e-commerce, Internet finance, etc.)
Smart Legal Affairs cluster (including law, intellectual property, social work, etc.)
The curriculum reform, guided by outcome-based Education (OBE) philosophy, has reconstructed the curriculum system, formulated talent cultivation plans for 22 majors, and clarified graduation requirements and curriculum matrix. The proportion of practical courses has reached 30%. The general education course module "Frontiers of Industries in the Greater Bay Area" has been launched, and industry experts have been invited to give lectures. More than 100 "Industry Mentors in the Classroom" activities are held each year. A total of 33 first-class courses at the college level have been established. Among them, courses such as Python Programming and Cross-border E-commerce Operations have been introduced into the enterprise case library to align the course content with professional standards.
(5) Quality assurance and academic atmosphere building
Teaching quality monitoring system: Establishment of "three integrations and four guarantees" Quality monitoring system:
"Three integrations": The integration of talent cultivation programs, teaching processes, and quality standards for graduation and exit.
"Four guarantees": organizational guarantee (teaching supervision committees at both the university and college levels), institutional guarantee (32 teaching management systems), monitoring guarantee (teaching supervision, student evaluation of teaching, peer evaluation of three-dimensional evaluation), feedback guarantee (annual release of teaching quality reports).
In the past three years, a total of 7,109 class hours of teaching supervision classes have been conducted, 14 teaching accidents have been handled, three teaching quality reports have been released, and the student satisfaction rate with teaching has reached 88.6%. A quality culture of "full participation, full monitoring, and continuous improvement" has been formed.
The Academic atmosphere development and student development implement the "four-class Linkage" education mechanism:
Classroom teaching strengthens the professional foundation, promotes full coverage of ideological and political education in courses, and builds 50 model courses;
Classroom activities expand academic horizons by holding the "Greater Bay Area Distinguished Scholars Forum", inviting academicians and industry leaders to give lectures on an average of 30 sessions each year;
Practical classes enhance innovation capabilities by setting up an innovation and entrepreneurship college and building a 2,000-square-meter incubation base. In the past three years, students have won two national bronze awards and 28 provincial gold and silver awards in the "Internet Plus" competition, with over 14,000 participating projects.
Life Classroom cultivates comprehensive qualities. The "Civilized Cultivation Plan" and "Volunteer Service Credit System" have been carried out. Students have an average of 30 hours of volunteer service per year, totaling 950,000 hours in the past three years, and the University has been awarded the title of "Advanced Unit of Volunteer Service in Guangdong Province".
III. Development Challenges and Paths for Improvement
(1) Analysis of existing problems
Governance system establishment: The vitality of secondary colleges needs to be stimulated, the professional level of some management cadres needs to be improved, and the division of powers and responsibilities at the university and college levels needs to be further optimized.
Contradictions in the faculty structure: There is a shortage of high-level talents (such as 8.59% with doctoral degrees) and "dual-qualified" teachers (20.13%), the student-teacher ratio in newly established majors is relatively high (28.64:1 in the Computer College), and the practical teaching ability of young teachers needs to be strengthened.
Shortcomings in teaching conditions: The mechanism for sharing laboratory resources is not perfect, there are "data silos" in the information system, the functions of the smart teaching platform need to be deepened, and the per-student possession of library resources still needs to be increased.
(II) Improvement Measures and Future Plans
The governance capacity improvement project will implement the "Strong College and University" plan, grant more autonomy to secondary colleges, establish a professional training system for management cadres, and send 50 cadres each year to study at renowned universities and enterprises; Improve the assessment mechanism at both the university and college levels to boost the vitality of running colleges at the grassroots level, with the goal of establishing five distinctive benchmark colleges by 2025.
The faculty quality improvement plan will launch the "Dinghu Scholar" recruitment program, introducing more than 50 doctoral students each year, with the goal of reaching 15 per cent by 2025. We will implement the "Dual-qualified Teacher Doubling Program", build teacher practice bases with 100 enterprises, and cultivate 100 "dual-qualified" teachers each year, with the aim of reaching 30% by 2025. A research start-up fund for young and middle-aged teachers will be established to support teachers in conducting applied research, with the aim of building 10 provincial-level teaching teams.
The Teaching Conditions optimization initiative will invest 50 million yuan to build "Smart Campus 2.0", integrating teaching, research and management systems to achieve data intercommunication and sharing; Five new provincial-level experimental teaching demonstration centers will be established to promote the sharing of laboratories across colleges and majors. We will implement the "Book Resource Doubling Plan", with 1.5 million paper books in the collection by 2025, 10 professional databases, and more than 50 books per student.
4. Conclusion
As an explorer of applied higher education in the Greater Bay Area, Guangzhou College of Applied Science and Technology is taking the integration of the three zones as its driving force and the integration of industry and education as its characteristic, and is making continuous efforts in the development construction of disciplines and specialties, the training of the teaching staff, and the innovation of the talent cultivation model. Facing the development opportunities of higher education in the new era, the college will closely align with the demands of regional industries, deepen its internal building, and strive to build itself into a high-level applied college, providing more high-quality applied talents who can "go down, be useful and stay" for the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and writing a new chapter in applied higher education.
