Guangdong Baiyun University

Guangdong Baiyun University is a full-time general undergraduate institution of higher learning run by non-governmental sectors and under the jurisdiction of Guangdong Province. It enrolls students from 13 provinces (autonomous regions) including Guangdong, Hunan, Hubei, Guangxi, Sichuan, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Fujian, Hainan, Jiangsu, Guizhou, Anhui, and Xinjiang. The university traces its origins to Guangzhou Baiyun Applied Technology School founded by Mr. Xie Ketao in 1989. In 1999, it was approved by the Ministry of Education to establish Baiyun Vocational and Technical College. In 2001, it was renamed Guangdong Baiyun Vocational and Technical College. In 2005, it was upgraded to an undergraduate institution and renamed Guangdong Baiyun University. In 2009, it passed the evaluation for authorization to confer bachelor's degrees. In 2011, it passed the Ministry of Education's undergraduate teaching work qualification assessment. In 2018, it underwent the Ministry of Education's undergraduate teaching work audit evaluation. The university currently has two campuses, both located in Baiyun District, Guangzhou. The West Campus is situated in Jianggao Town; the North Campus is a newly built campus located in the Second University City of Guangzhou (also known as Zhongluotan Higher Education Park). Both campuses are equipped with standard plastic track and field stadiums, as well as gymnasiums, tennis courts, and basketball courts. All student dormitories are equipped with water heaters, air conditioning, and broadband internet. A total of 341 laboratories (training rooms) and student innovation project studios have been established. The library has a collection of over 1.5 million books and rich digital resources. A gigabit campus network has been built, and the campus has achieved informatized management. Currently, there are more than 24,000 full-time students and over 1,500 faculty and staff members, including more than 1,200 full-time teachers. Based on applied undergraduate education, the university steadily expands international education and vigorously promotes continuing education, forming a multi-level and multi-form talent cultivation system. It has 16 secondary colleges and 52 undergraduate majors. A discipline system has been established with engineering and management as the main focus, and coordinated development of multiple disciplines including engineering, science, economics, management, literature, law, art, and education. There are 3 provincial-level key cultivation disciplines (Design Art, Mechanical Manufacturing and Automation, Business Administration), 2 provincial first-class majors (Mechanical Design Manufacturing and Automation, Product Design), and 1 provincial first-class course (Product Design Procedures and Methods). There is 1 Guangdong Provincial Demonstration Industry College (Shuguang Big Data College) and 1 IEET engineering education certification major (Mechanical Design Manufacturing and Automation). There are 13 provincial (school)-level scientific research platforms, including the Guangdong Provincial Thin-Wall Light-Steel Prefabricated Building Engineering Technology Development Center and the Guangdong Provincial Fresh Vegetable Preservation Packaging Equipment Engineering Research Center as provincial-level scientific research platform projects; the Pearl River Delta Urban-Rural Coordinated Development and Social Governance Research Center has been awarded the provincial decision-making consultation base by the Guangdong Provincial Social Science Federation, and the Applied Technology University Research Center has been awarded the private education research base by the Guangdong Provincial Institute of Education. In addition, there are 4 provincial experimental teaching demonstration centers and 1 provincial applied talent collaborative education platform. The university practices the educational philosophy of "demand-oriented, student-centered, competency-based, and service-oriented" and the school motto of "Cultivate virtue and encourage learning, seek truth and act earnestly." It promotes the Baiyun spirit of "daring to be first and pursuing excellence," guided by the internationalization strategy and supported by the informatization strategy, and deeply promotes the reform of the school-enterprise collaborative education talent cultivation model. It aims to cultivate high-quality vocational and applied talents with international vision, innovative awareness, craftsmanship spirit, and practical ability for the economic and social development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and strives to build the university into a well-known high-level applied technology university with distinctive characteristics of applied disciplines and vocational education. The university implements an internationalization-led education strategy and actively carries out international exchanges and cooperation. It has established 60 international cooperation education projects, including student exchange programs, credit recognition, dual degrees, and combined bachelor's-master's programs, with 28 universities in 10 countries, including Purdue University Northwest in the United States, Richmond University in London, Germany's FHM (Fachhochschule des Mittelstands), King's College in Australia, Okayama University in Japan, and Wonkwang University in South Korea. For 12 consecutive years, the university has topped the "Top Ten Competitive Private Universities in Guangdong" evaluated by the Guangdong Provincial Academy of Social Sciences. In 2013, it became one of the first national "Strategic Research Institutions for Applied Technology University Reform" in China and became a founding and governing unit of the China Applied Technology University Alliance. In 2014, it became a vice-chairman unit of the National Newly Built Undergraduate University Alliance. In 2015, it became one of the first demonstration schools for governing schools according to law in Guangdong. In 2016, it was listed among the first batch of "Guangdong Provincial Ordinary Undergraduate Transformation Pilot Universities." In 2017, it became a project university of the Ministry of Education's Data China "Hundred Schools Project." In 2018, its school-enterprise collaborative education "3+1" talent cultivation model won the first prize of Guangdong Provincial Teaching Achievement. In 2019, Chairman Xie Ketao was honored as "Outstanding Contributor to Guangdong Private Education over Forty Years"; Guangdong Baiyun University was awarded "Outstanding Organization for Guangdong Private Education over Forty Years." In 2020, the university was rated as a Guangdong Provincial Demonstration School for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education of College Students; in the Alumni Association's ranking of Best Universities among Chinese city clusters, Guangdong Baiyun University ranked first in the list of Best Universities (Private) in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. The university attaches great importance to the guidance of Party building, fully implements the Party's educational policies, and fulfills the fundamental task of fostering virtue through education. In 2016, the university won the honorary title of "Outstanding Grassroots Party Organization" in Guangdong Province. In 2018, it was approved as a Guangdong Provincial Party Building Demonstration University for "Double Innovation." In 2020, it was selected as a pilot unit for the construction of the "Three-wide Education" institutional mechanism in Guangdong universities; it was also rated as a provincial demonstration site for Party building in "Two New" organizations. In the past three years, the student Party branch of the School of Foreign Languages and the faculty Party branch of the School of Marxism have been successively selected as "National Model Party Branches"; the studio of Fang Jiansong, faculty member of the School of Art Design, was selected as a "Double Leader" teacher Party branch secretary studio in the country. Comrade Zhang Dejiang, former member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, former Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, and then Secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee, praised the university as "a banner of private education in Guangdong"; Comrade Wang Yang, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and then Secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee, praised the university as "the vanguard of private higher education in Guangdong."