Research On Establishing Corruption-Prevention Mechanisms In Public-Owned Universities In China

With the deepening of the reform of socialist market economy, corruption in China's public-owned higher learning institutions has become a serious issue that needs immediate exploration and further efforts in preventing and curbing it.These years, as the government has changed a lot in managing higher learning institutions, public-owned colleges and universities have gradually gained more management rights, as can be seen in their diversified investment channels, expanding of construction scale, the growth of construction projects, drastic growth in types and number of materials purchased, increasingly independent rights in deciding the use of funds for scientific research, more flexible ways to generate income by running various training courses, restructuring of a large number of state-owned assets in reforming and socializing their logistics. This has injected more vigor and vitality into the development of higher education in China. However, as colleges and universities have not established comparatively scientific and effective management systems in exercising their increased rights, this also leaves room for the occurrence of corruption, which now has displayed some new characteristics and caused some new problems. On the whole, job-related crimes and corruptions in colleges and universities have been growing quickly. They bear both the common characteristics of job-related crimes in the business field and specific features linked with work in colleges and universities like teaching, research and students'enrolling. As China's tertiary education is still under development, some inherent contradictions in this area will stay. As a result, in the drive to construct a clean and honest administration in colleges and universities, though there are stricter prevention measures and achievements, there are also problems and more corruptions.As higher learning institutions occupy an outstanding place in spreading socialist values, they naturally should make new contributions to the cultural construction at the time when social transformation takes place in China. Viewing from this perspective, corruptions in colleges and universities produce a serious hazard to and exert a wide-range and wicked effect on the society, as when they show up in colleges and universities, the adverse effect they have on the society tend to be stronger than those in other fields in poisoning public conscience and ruining the future of the society. Therefore, to actively explore new corruption-prevention mechanisms and step up the prevention of job-related crimes in public-owned higher learning institutions has been an important and urgent task in promoting a sound and swift development of higher education.Departing from the current corruption-prevention work in higher learning institutions and viewing in terms of governing systems, government administration, management of state-owned assets and education management, this paper tries to summarize the main manifestations of corruption and its hazards in colleges and universities in recent years, and to analyze the characteristics of and reasons for ever spreading and expanding corruption in higher education. Based on this analysis, drawing on the successful practice of developed countries in the construction of a clean and honest administration in colleges and universities and borrowing their useful concepts while taking China's reality into consideration, the paper proposes the goal, principles and methods of establishing corruption-prevention mechanisms in colleges and universities. Corruption-prevention mechanisms aim at handling the risk of corruption which the teaching staff and personnel in any field, department, or on any post of the administration in colleges and universities may face. Their focal point is to take effective measures the minute the problem occurs or when the problem is likely to occur, so as to prevent corruption and get rid of it when it is still in its cradle.In constructing corruption-prevention mechanisms in colleges and universities, three basic principles that shall be adhered to are: the key to the work is power-balancing, the foundation is restraints by governing systems, the emphasis is the combination of awards and punishment. Corruption-prevention mechanisms in colleges and universities consist of three parts: the first is the power-operation monitoring mechanism, in which government, society and higher learning institutions balance each other in power. It guarantees the existence of monitoring in all the areas and in the whole course of power exercising, thus making the whole course of monitoring an organic continuity. The second is an intensive and effective system-restrained mechanism governing the top management, the executive staff and the monitoring staff of colleges and universities. Only when scientific and proper systems are created will power be exercised in the way as people expect, thus considerably preventing the occurrence and spread of corruption. The third is the incentive and punishing mechanism which honors cleanness and honesty in administration while derogates corruption. When codes of conduct are clearly defined, to arouse the inherent enthusiasm of people can prevent corruption to a maximum extent. On the other hand, only serious punishment can raise the effectiveness of education, the power of restraints prescribed by systems and the power of monitoring.