College of Innovation and Entrepreneurship
In July of 2014, The School of Entrepreneurship was the first of its kind to be established by Shanxi Agricultural University. Shanxi Agricultural University was later was enlisted by the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China as one of the model universities in the international entrepreneurship education reform in 2016. During the acquisition of Shanxi Agricultural University and Shanxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences in 2019, the school was renamed 'School of Innovation and Entrepreneurship' and became one of the 22 independent teaching institutions in the university.
Functions of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship School include taking the lead in the innovation and entrepreneurship education of the university; being responsible for the cultivation, construction, management and screening of its demonstration bases inside and outside the university; taking charge of compulsory teaching on ‘Innovation& Entrepreneurship Foundation’ for the university; being responsible for the construction and management of Shanxi Agricultural University College Students' Entrepreneurship Park and College Students' Internet plus Agriculture Innovation and Entrepreneurship Zone in Shanxi province; Carrying out recruitment, selection, incubation and guidance of college college students' teams of innovation and entrepreneurship stationed in the two parks; managing the training of cross-disciplinary and practical talents with innovative and entrepreneurial spirits.
The school consists of four functional departments: the Party and Government Office, the Educational Administration Office, the Park Management Office and the Youth League Committee. Its faculty contains 12 incumbent staff members (10 masters, 2 Ph.D. students) across the board, including two associate professors, two associate researchers and two lecturers. Among them, it boasts one supervisor on innovation and entrepreneurship designated by the Ministry of Education, one member of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education Subcommittee of the Teaching Steering Committee of Colleges and Universities in Shanxi Province, and 137 supervisors specializing in innovation and entrepreneurship inside and outside the school.
The school organized the ‘Entrepreneurial Pioneer Class’ in 2014. In 2021, the 'Innovation and Entrepreneurship Experimental Class for Rural Revitalization' and the 'Innovation and Entrepreneurship Pioneer Class for Strengthening Seed Industry in Shanxi Province' were launched. In 2022, the College will build a 'free experimental class for all agricultural students—Full-time Undergraduates in Rural Revitalization' to cultivate compound management talents for the national rural revitalization strategy.
The three step model of innovation and entrepreneurship education formed by the Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship has won the first award for teaching achievements in Shanxi Province in 2021. In the same year, the New Agricultural Research and Reform Practice Project of the Ministry of Education was approved.
So far, the college has supported about 5000 students in more than 500 teams to carry out innovation and entrepreneurship practices and successfully helped the establishment of 120 students' enterprises and cooperatives. Because of this, a large number of role models of national innovation and entrepreneurship have emerged, such as Huang Chao, 'National Employment and Entrepreneurship Advanced Individual', Jiang Libin, 'Chinese College Students' Annual Character', Ma Hongjun, Liu Haojie, ‘the Star of Chinese College Students' Self-improvement'. The college has also trained nearly thousands of young students who return home to start their own businesses, boosting local residents' entrepreneurship and employment.
The College has been awarded the 'Innovation and Entrepreneurship Demonstration Base' by the Provincial Development and Reform Commission, the 'Maker Space' by the Provincial Department of Science and Technology, the 'Science Popularization Education Base' by the Provincial Science and Technology Association, the 'Innovative and Entrepreneurial Advanced Unit' by the Provincial Education Department, and the 'Business Incubation Model Bases' by the Provincial Bureau of Medium and Small-sized Enterprises.
|