Research On The Sustainable Development Of Sino-foreign Cooperative Universities In China

Since the beginning of the 21 st century,a range of cross-border universities with independent campuses that were established through FDI or joint venture,awarding the degrees or certificates of overseas higher education institutions,emerged in many countries in the world.As main bodies of cross-border operation,the institutions are faced with many obstacles and risks due to their cross-regional,cross-cultural,cross-institutional status,and thus the sustainability of their development has been questioned.In China,cross-border universities exist in the form of Sino-foreign Cooperative Universities.As a special form of cross-border education in higher education,the development of Sino-foreign Cooperative Universities in China is still in exploratory stage.Will the Sino-foreign Cooperative Universities only exist in a short period of time? What are the factors that affect the sustainable development of Sino-foreign Cooperative Universities? What is the path of sustainable development of Sino-foreign Cooperative Universities? These are the fundamental issues to be solved and clarified in this dissertation.Guided by the theory of cross-border cooperation with Chinese characteristics,this study is targeting to find out the elements which decide the sustainable development of Sino-foreign Cooperative Universities as well as the fundamental paths to achieve the sustainable development of Sino-foreign Cooperative Universities in China by exploring the issues from both horizontal(international and domestic),vertical(historical development)perspectives and internal-external factors analysis in operation by using the theoretical tools of higher education,management,economics and other disciplines for reference,and by applying the theory of glocalization of higher education,the theory of university stakeholders,the theory of reference-transcendence of higher education with methods of literature research,investigation,comparative research as well as other research methods and strategies.This study is composed of eight parts: in introduction,the author puts forward the research questions,clarifies the core concepts and theoretical basis,summarizes the relevant literature,expounds the significance of the study,and introduces the research methods.In Chapter one,the author analyzes the reasons for the development of cross-border universities under the influence of globalization,the forms of realization as well as the crises and challenges of the cross-border institutions.Chapter two,through historical investigation and international comparison,the author analyzes the unique policy context of the emergence and development of Sino-foreign Cooperative Universities.In Chapter three,the author analyses the nature and characteristics of Sino-foreign Cooperative Universities,as well as the conditions and problems of their sustainable development.In Chapter IV,the author summarizes the successful experience and problems of sustainable development of Sino-foreign Cooperative Universities through case studies and comparative analysis of two Sino-foreign Cooperative Universities,i.e.Nottingham University in Ningbo and Xi'an Jiao tong-Liverpool University in Suzhou.In the fifth chapter,OLI paradigm theory and I-R analysis framework are used as analyzing tools to comprehensively analyze the impact factors of sustainable development of Sino-foreign Cooperative Universities.In Chapter Six,the author explores the cooperative mechanism of Sino-foreign Cooperative Universities and the ways to achieve sustainable development,and puts forward policy recommendations for the sustainable development of Sino-foreign Cooperative Universities in China.In the concluding part,the future development trend of China's cross-border education and Sino-foreign Cooperative Universities is prospected.As conclusions,this study clarifies that Sino-foreign Cooperative Universities have two genes of both Chinese and foreign universities.Six characteristics of Sino-foreign Cooperative Universities are summarized.Eight factors affecting the sustainable development of Sino-foreign Cooperative Universities are extracted and analyzed.Accordingly,the sustainable development of Sino-foreign Cooperative Universities is proposed.Principles are raised to which Sino-foreign Cooperative Universities need to be adhered,and policy recommendations for the sustainable development of Sino-foreign Cooperative Universities are put forward at last.This study holds the stand points that since the Sino-foreign Cooperative Universities are under national sovereignty and exist in the form of Sino-foreign cooperative Institutions,they are new types of universities that are independent in ownership from their parent universities and thus are not branch campuses of foreign universities in China.In the form of “marriage” between Chinese universities and foreign universities,China has introduced the resources of high-quality educational institutions of foreign universities as a whole and grants them with autonomy in the form of “independent legal person”.On the one hand,it guarantees the China's sovereignty of Sino-foreign Cooperative Universities;on the other hand,it improves the local embeddedness of the cross-border higher education institutions.The strong support from the state and local governments has become a powerful supporting force for their sustainable development.This study proposes that in order to realize the sustainable development of Sino-foreign Cooperative Universities,the universities should actively seek the common interests of both sides in cooperation and seek the common goals between the Sino-foreign Cooperative Universities and the country,as well as meet the demand of the society.As feasibility path of sustainable development of Sino-foreign Cooperative Universities,this study proposes that,firstly,Sino-foreign Cooperative Universities should make clear of their position,strengthen their characteristics,take the initiative to serve the national strategy,shoulder the responsibility and serve for the mission of demonstration,serve local development and cultivate talents with international vision.Secondly,Sino-foreign Cooperative Universities should enhance their own ability and level in school-running,build brand advantages,make good use of the superior resources of both sides,build quality programs and courses,and actively use the international platforms to improve the level and strength of their scientific research.Sino-foreign Cooperative Universities should optimize the structure of the teaching staff and build a stable international team,improve the ability of co-governance and achieve win-win development for all sides.Thirdly,the government should improve its policies and raise stable funds for the Sino-foreign Cooperative Universities,and enhance the support from the government to stimulate the vitality of Sino-foreign Cooperative Universities.The state should improve the legal system and consolidate the policy foundation for the development of Sino-foreign Cooperative Universities.The education department should strengthen the supervision of Chinese-foreign Cooperative Universities and build a localized framework in supervision.Finally,the leadership of ideology should be strengthened to guarantee the right direction of Sino-foreign Cooperative Universities' development.To be specific,the leadership of the Party should be strengthened,and the bottom line of ideology should be guarded,the model of Sino-foreign cooperation in running schools should be set.