On the afternoon of October 30, the Sixteenth Session of the Extensive Discussion on Graduate Education Reform and Development & the Seminar of theSchool of Juris Master (“theschool”) washeld at the Xueyuan Road campus.

The seminar began with a reportgivenby Dean Xu Shenjian on the basicconditionof theschool’s graduate education afterthe new management team took office in the second half of 2018. He pointed out that the schoolthoroughly implemented the spirit oftheimportant speeches byGeneralSecretary Xi Jinping andaseries of decisions andarrangementsmade bythe Central Committee of the CPC on strengthening the cultivation oflegaltalents.By centering onthe training goal of “combiningmoral educationwithlaw training”,the schoolpromoted solidlythe work ofconstructing a“double first-class”school, and hadmaderemarkable achievementsthrough continuousinnovationand explorationinvariousaspects of discipline development and construction suchas cultivation of innovationtalents, construction of high-qualityfaculty, scientific research and service for social development, inheritanceandinnovation ofexcellent culture,as well asinternational cooperation and exchange.Aiming to becomeadomesticallyfirst-class andinternationally renowned specialized law school, the school adheresto high-quality and high-level education, andtakesthe cultivation of application-oriented,interdisciplinaryand foreign-relatedjurismasters as an importantobjectiveof law education. Byfullytapping intoand integratinghigh-quality resources inside and outside thecampus, and effectively promotingtheall-roundimplementation of teaching reform measures,the school hasformedacourse constructionsystem and teaching&training mode withthedistinctiveCUPLcharacteristics, taken the lead in the juris master education and the cultivation of juris master talents in an all-round way. The school has developed the replicable, promotable juris master cultivation mode of CUPL, and will endeavor to gain A+ in the next round of juris master education level assessment.

In his address, Li Shuguang, Dean of the Graduate School, first highlighted the purpose and importance of this seminar, and combed through the overall situation of the Extensive Discussion on Graduate Education Reform and Development. He pointed out that theFirst National Conference on Graduate Education held on July 29, 2020 wouldbe a turning point in the reform and development of graduate education in China.Mr. Li conveyedthe spirit of relevant documents, and explainedten special actionsforoptimizingdisciplinearrangementsandtalent fostering. Besides, based on the actual condition of the School of Juris Master, he particularly emphasized the contents regarding the selection and cultivation of professional mastersin the documents. He hoped that the school would grasp the opportunity and rise to the challenge to speed up its high-quality development.

Liu Zhihui, Vice Dean in charge of teaching, failed to attend the seminar because ofteachingarrangement, but she prepared a report and entrusted Vice Dean Liang Min to give the report. Ms. Liang first reportedthe study and discussion ofthe spirit of the important documents on the reform ofgraduate education in theSchool of Juris Master.Then, she reported the opinions and suggestions summarized after the school’s study and discussion at four levels to the leaders at the seminar. Firstly, at the national level, Chinashould strengthen the implementation of professional degree education, scientificallyestablishthe evaluation indexesof graduate training quality, optimize the examination selection methodsforjuris masterdegree,providefund guaranteein an innovative way, and improve thediversifiedinvestment mechanism of graduate education. Secondly, at the university level, CUPL should put the education of juris doctor on the agenda, further differentiate thetraining objectives ofprofessionalmastersand academic masters, andoptimizethe evaluation system of professional degree teachers. Thirdly, at the school level, the school should realizethe combination of theoryand practice in jurisprudence with the “order-oriented” talent training mode, further optimize the arrangement of specialized courses, make more reasonable time arrangements for juris master students to select their supervisors, and optimize the thesis supervision and evaluation system for juris master students. Fourthly, at the supervisor level, the school shouldstrengthen thecapacity buildingofsupervisorsforcultivating talents, andincreasethe communication and practice of graduate student supervisors in the circle.

At the time of free speech, Han Wensheng,Secretaryofthe Party Committee of the school, mentioned the “discrimination”against part-time graduate students in the job market and the problemsarisingfrom teaching at two places, and expressed the school’s aspiration for making contributions to the fostering of foreign-related legal talents and juris doctors. Dean Xu Shenjiansuggested thatthe schoolshould paycloseattention to the improvement oftheteacherperformanceevaluation system, strengthen the construction of teaching materials, andattach importance to teaching practice andmulti-evaluation ofjurismaster thesis, etc. Mr. Wang Zhenfeng, Deputy Dean of the Graduate School, proposed to launch the construction of the cultivation platform integrating production and education in the“1+4”documents, and improve the teaching practice base management mechanism to form a talent cultivation alliance. Subsequently, the representatives from the teaching and research departments of the school shared their opinions and suggestions from respective perspectives. The leaders of the school and the Graduate School responded to the words of the teachers respectively, and offered the solutions for some suggestions on the spot.

The seminar ended with concluding remarks given by President Ma Huaide. According to him, the school should focus on seven aspects in the future reform. Firstly, the school should study thedistributed documentsearnestly, fully understand the spirit of the documents, andgrasp the opportunity.Secondly, the school should carefully analyze the shortcomings of the juris master education based on thedistributeddocuments as well as the social feedback and third-party comments. Thirdly, in the light of thequality improvement plan ofsupervisors, the school should enhancethe management, assessment and reward system of off-campussupervisors, and make full use of high-quality social resourcestofacilitatethe cultivation ofjurismaster students. Fourthly, the school should properly update and expand thecurriculum, arrangecurricula in a more reasonable and scientific way, and incorporate the emerging interdisciplines in thecurriculumsystem in a timely manner. Fifthly, the school should attach importance to the featured courses of juris master. Sixthly, the school should build anationaldemonstration practice base for the integration of production and education. Seventhly, the school should achieve the fine and high-qualitymanagementand explore the new mode for scientificmanagementof students, supervisors, courses and theses, so as to achieve the efficient communication mechanism among the departments.

The seminar came to a successful conclusion. The school willfully studytheachievementsof the seminar,follow the guidanceof a series of important documents,andimplement relevant instructions in President Ma’s speech at theseminar. Byseizingthe opportunity, deepeningthe reform,andmakinggreat effortsin daily work,the school will certainlylive up tothe expectations ofCUPL. Looking forward, the school will follow thefuture development direction and reform path ofjuris master education, continue toimprove itselfand constantly explore and innovate the training mode of juris masters, so as to become a pioneer in the reform of juris master education and makeitscontribution to the reform of juris master education in China and the deeper reform of theCUPL’s graduate education.