Shangqiu Normal University is located in Shangqiu, Henan province which is famous for the historical and cultural city at country level , the origin of merchants, commodities and business and the capital of Shang Dynasty, which can be traced back to ‘the Middle School of Gui-de Prefecture’ and the Academy of Yingtian Prefecture of Song Dynasty in 1905. There are 21 academies and 77 undergraduate majors at present, covering 10 disciplines, including 6 provincial key disciplines, 2 national characteristic specialties, 7 provincial characteristic specialties, 9 professional comprehensive reform pilots at province level, 1 reform pilot discipline on the talents training pattern of provincial higher education about undergraduate program, 7 provincial demonstration centers of experiment education, and 7 provincial teaching teams. There are 1589 teaching and administrative staffs, including over 400 professors and associate professors, nearly 300 people who have doctor degrees and over 700 people who have master degrees. This university has two campus which are Liangyuan campus and Suiyang campus, covering an area of over 2000 mu (about 133.33 hectares) and a floorage of 627,000 square meters. Furthermore, there are 1,830,000 books in library and over 270,000 general full-time undergraduates in this university.
In recent year, Shangqiu Normal University has hung on to the crucial opportunities of upgrades and transitions on national industry, comprehensive reform on higher education, regional development strategy. On the basis of running school experiences, the third Communist Party of Congress has confirmed the development ideas of ‘A Strip of Main Line’(which embraces comprehensively deepening reform, accelerates transformation and development, and builds high-level applied university in a strip of line), ‘Five Grand Strategies’(which makes great efforts to advance high-quality universities, talents for strengthening schools, innovation-driven, the development of the cluster, and opening up and cooperation on Five Grand Strategies), and ‘Three promotions’(which promotes comprehensively the quality of talents cultivation, and the innovational level of applied technology and community service on Three Promotion).
After a prolonged exploration and practice on local school, this university has explicated the school-running orientation of high-level application-oriented university step by step, as well as the objective of talents cultivation on employment, business, studying and development, which has accumulated plentiful experiences on application-oriented undergraduate university of traditional normal university. The central status of talents cultivation in this university is getting increasingly outstanding, the applied school-running characteristics is getting more distinctive. The capability for serving local economy and social development is enhancing continuously, as well as the connotative developing trend of various undertakings is demonstrating its high-quality. Shangqiu Normal University has been approved as‘the demonstrative undergraduate university of application-oriented technology type in Henan province’, ‘the planning project on integration of industry and education for application-oriented undergraduate university of the13th Five-Year Plan of China’, the program of ‘the 100 Schools Project’ of data China by the Education Ministry, ‘the project and construction unit for master degree in Henan province’, ‘the development community of teachers and education in tandem in Eastern district of Henan province’, etc.
In a long-term practical process for running schools, Shangqiu Normal University has condensed the motto of ‘Adapt fate, perfect virtue, be resourceful in disposition, be upright in action.’, the campus style of ‘Seeking truth by study, being earnest in action.’, the teaching style of ‘erudition, dedication, objectivity, devotion’, as well as the studying style of ‘ambition, diligence, innovation, practice’, which has formed the campus spirit of ‘unity and hardworking, pragmatism and dedication, strive for the best’. Furthermore, this university was awarded more than 30 honorary titles above provincial level, including ‘the Model of Civilization Unit in Henan Province’, ‘Five good qualities’ and ‘Party committee’ of provincial universities, ‘the Provincial model university for demonstrating colleges by law’, etc. Having reached a new historical starting point, this university will firmly grasp the historic opportunity on reform and development of higher education in new age, insisting ‘originality-centered’, promoting ‘four-return’, sustaining continuously the four service capacities in emancipating minds, building consensus, deepening reform and accelerating development, as well as aiming to build a characteristic high-level application-oriented university which is local, international, open and practical in the near future.
