| Since the birth of modern Chinese universities,how to achieve university autonomy and educational independence was a hot topic for the educational community.Cai Yuanpei,who once served as the Minister of Education,believed that the German council system could be designed to make professors administer universities,so the council system was highly respected by him.Under the leadership of Cai Yuanpei,in the early years of the Republic of China,the Ministry of Education incorporated the council system in the design of the university charter.It was required that the council should be composed of a number of people selected by the chiefs and professors.The council had the power to review matters such as subject setting and abolition,subject courses and internal rules of the university,consultations with the head of education and university presidents,student achievement and degree awarding.Professors could participated in the decision of university affairs,which was considered to be the origin of the administration by professor in the university in the history of modern education.Under the advocacy of Cai Yuanpei,from the early years of the Republic of China to the 1920s,the council system was successively placed in universities such as Peking University,Tsinghua University,and National Southeast University,and showed different characteristics due to the different internal and external environments of different universities.Unlike Peking University and Tsinghua University,National Southeast University relied on the local educational community and the power of the industry since its inception.This school-running feature has made the council appear another style of operation.In 1918,Guo Bingwen implemented the institutional reform of the Nanjing Normal University,the predecessor of National Southeast University,and stipulated that the university conference should be the decision-making institution.This idea of exerting the strength of professors,teamwork and business planning was continued after the establishment of the National Southeast University in 1921.The university conference of the Nanjing Normal University was preserved,but the name was changed to the council.At the same time,in order to adapt to university development and local social environment,Guo Bingwen,who once studied in Columbia University,introduced the board system of American universities in the university administrative structure.Most of the board members was local educational circles and practitioners.Guo Bingwen hoped to use the power of the school manager to support the development of the university.However,as the influence of local forces in Jiangsu on the university increased day by day,the professors in the school gradually lost their ch ance to speak.The council was gradually marginalized in the school power structure,and was once cancelled due to the expansion of the school board.This led to the dissatisfaction among the professors on campus.During the replacement of principal that broke out in 1925,the cancellation of the council became the focus of the debate between the supporters and the opponents.After the tide subsided,the school board was cancelled and the council was restored.However,as the Northern Expeditionary Force captured Nanjing,National Southeast University was forced to suspend and the council was cancelled at last.The system is affected by the environment.Compared with the ideal envisaged by Cai Yuanpei,the evaluation system of National Southeast University had its own characteristics,which was its unique adaptability to the current situation and social environment,and thus reflected a distinct local brand.The history of the storms caused by the emergence,development and revitalization of the Council in National Southeast University can reflect the functions played by the council and the predicaments it faced in a specific political environment and campus ecology.The discussion of the National Southeast University Council can also provide insights into the attempts and understanding of the administration by professor in the university.This paper intends to study the operation of the council of the National Southeast University,and will use the time as a clue to sort out the process of its rise and fall in the National Southeast University Council.The main body is divided into four parts.The first part will discuss the system design and operation mode of the predecessor of the council,the university conference of the Nanjing Normal University and its influence on National Southeast University.The second part will discuss the establishment and operation of the council in the early days of the establishment of the National Southeast University,and the process and reasons for its gradual marginalization in the power structure.The third part will explore the sudden cancellation of the council at the end of 1923,and the dissatisfaction of the professors with the school management and the call for professor governance university.The fourth part will discusses how the cancellation of the council in the replacement of principal trend was used by both sides of the school,and the process of resuming the council after the tide subsided and eventually being cancelled due to the suspension of the university.It is hoped that through the study of the council,it will provide reference for the study of university governance in modern China and the study of the history of Nanjing University. |
