Professional Transformation of “First-Class” University Presidents: Their Concerns, Reasons and Patterns
TONG Feng1, 2, SHENG Chuang-xin2
1. College of Marxism, Jinan University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510632; 2. Human Resources Development and Management Office of Jinan University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510632
Abstract:Modern universities are known as the “power station” for the development of human society, and university presidents are the engines for the development of universities. There is a limit to the tenure of university presidents but no limit to the development of higher education. The president of a university has a dual identity as a scholar in theory and a profession in practice. Generally speaking, the publication of university presidents during their tenures gives us a glimpse of their management ideas and professional transformation. We make statistical analysis of the number of the papers of the “first-class” university presidents on higher education in CNKI, journals where those papers were published, download times, citation rate and high-frequency words during their tenures. The findings show that they shift from their previous research interests to higher education. Focusing on the high-frequency terms such as double first-class(DFC) program, moral-based practice in education, teaching reform, innovation-oriented country, and construction of undergraduate programs, the presidents of first-class universities usually choose “running the school by experts” mode based on personal charisma. The government, society, universities, and the presidents have jointly promoted the professional transformation of the “first-class” university presidents, from which came their “professional ethics”. This provides an important reference for promoting “double first class” programs and exploring modern university management system.