On April 14, the School of Art of Jiangsu Open University and the School of Lifelong Education of Nanjing University held a meeting to discuss collaboration on social education projects. The two sides had in-depth discussions on topics such as the application of the credit banking system, the construction of vocational training programs, and the development of “micro-specialty” courses, and reached a preliminary consensus on cooperation.
Deputy Dean Xia Xuemin and teachers Zhao Yuqin and Qian Yuxuan from the School of Art, along with teachers Chen Fangyi, Gao Jie, and Zhao Na from Nanjing University’s School of Lifelong Education, participated in the meeting.
This collaboration is an important practice in response to the national policy of deepening industry-education integration and serving lifelong learning. Through the credit banking system, learners can flexibly accumulate and convert their learning outcomes. The interdisciplinary design of “micro-specialties” will break the boundaries of traditional education, offering socially needed talents more competitive combinations of knowledge and skills.
With the goal of “flexible empowerment and precise talent development,” the meeting focused on how to build a new vocational training system that meets social needs by leveraging Jiangsu Open University’s credit banking system and Nanjing University’s high-quality educational resources.
The two institutions plan to jointly develop “micro-specialties” and “micro-courses” featuring small credit units, high focus, refined curriculum, interdisciplinarity, and flexibility. These are designed to provide learners with modular, short-cycle, and highly adaptable lifelong learning solutions, supporting career advancement and cross-disciplinary development.
Four initial directions for “micro-specialty” development have been identified, covering emerging careers and demand for integrated skills. The cooperation plan clearly takes market demand as its guide and aims to establish a collaborative mechanism involving joint course development, shared faculty, and mutual credit recognition. It also plans to use digital platforms to share course resources and customize personalized learning paths.
Next, both colleges will work together on admission planning, course development, and the building of a quality evaluation system.
This collaboration marks a key step forward for both universities in serving universal lifelong learning and empowering career development. In the future, the two parties will further deepen cooperation and explore innovative pathways linking vocational education with academic education, injecting new momentum into the building of a learning society.
