Shanghai Open University
| Shanghai Open University | |
|---|---|
| Established | 1960 |
| Type | Public |
| President | Jiang Hong |
| Students | >100,000 [1] |
| Location |
Shanghai,  China |
| Affiliations | Asian Association of Open Universities |
| Website | www.sou.edu.cn |
Shanghai Open University (Chinese: 上海开放大学), formerly known as Shanghai Television University (Chinese: 上海电视大学), is an open university conducting distance education based on telecommunication, broadcasting & television, and computer and other technology based subject courses.
On July 25, 2012, the university officially changed its name to Shanghai Open University, and now offers Associate and Bachelor degrees. Bachelor degrees offered now include Public Safety Management, Mechanical Electrical Engineering, and Software Engineering. Admissions is open, though conferring of degrees is based on met requirements.[2]
History
While reports that during its early years the university functioned "simply [to] keep[] unemployed workers busy," and its diplomas were only "equal in status to those of a two-year college." By the mid-1960s the university had enrolled over 50,000 students but graduated only 12,000.[3] Epstein regards this dysfunction as a typical example of policies in Chinese urban areas in the 1960s which "attempted to placate immediate political demands" but "proved to be counterproductive to long-term educational aims."[4]
According to the Xinhua General Overseas News Service, from 1991 to 1993 the university added eight economic courses to its curriculum including industrial and commercial business management, auditing, and finance.[5]
References
- ↑
- ↑ Wenhui and Xinmin Media Group. 上海电大更名上海开放大学 首批设3个本科专业. 文新传媒, 25 July 2012,
- ↑ White, Lynn. Careers in Shanghai. University of California Press, 1978. pp. 31-33, cited in Irving Epstein, "Educational Television in the People's Republic of China: Some Preliminary Observations," Comparative Education Review, Vol. 26, No. 2. June 1982, pp. 286-291.
- ↑ Epstein, Irving. "Educational Television in the People's Republic of China: Some Preliminary Observations," Comparative Education Review, Vol. 26, No. 2. June 1982, pp. 286-291.
- ↑ "Television University Booming." Xinhua General Overseas News Service. February 9, 1993.