Principal, I want to be your assistant

Mu Xiaoqun, a Tianjin University graduate who is currently studying in the United States, still remembers that when she was studying at Tianjin University, she first attended the principal's office meeting as an "assistant to the principal" and was accidentally late.

He remembered it clearly. Before he arrived, the principals, vice principals, deans, and division directors present were waiting for him. After he entered the venue and took his seat, Principal Li Jiajun, who presided over the meeting, said: Now that everyone is here, we can have a meeting.

Including Mu Xiaoqun, several student assistants to the president present felt a sense of respect - in 2012, Tianjin University for the first time openly selected 10 people from all students to serve as assistants to the president, and some students I thought this was just a gesture, a "democracy show."

Mu Xiaoqun, who was successful in the competition, didn’t know much about “assistant principal” at that time. According to his recollection, at that time, he signed up with the enthusiasm to contribute to the development of the school and curiosity about the school's administrative affairs.

A year later, Mu Xiaoqun graduated and left school. Looking back on this experience, he believes that it is "definitely one of the most precious treasures in life."

The principal hopes that they will make bold suggestions, including questioning and criticism

Tianda University recruits "student assistant principals" with the original intention of smoothing the school's democratic management channels and building smooth information between the school and students The feedback system encourages students to give full play to their sense of ownership. After the recruitment notice was issued, 160 students submitted their registration forms and 55 entered the written examination. Due to the large number of people, the written test was divided into two sessions. In the end, 10 people passed the interview in Chinese and English and stood out, covering different groups such as undergraduates, graduate students, and international students. The lowest grade was a third-year undergraduate.

Lei Ming, director of the Propaganda Department of the Tianjin University Party Committee, was then director of the Student Affairs Department and was responsible for this recruitment. She told reporters that their earliest idea was to "be an assistant to the principal for a day" and invite students to experience the work of a principal for a day. Principal Li Jiajun pointed out that "being the principal's assistant for a day" is not deep enough. Instead, a group of student assistant principals were recruited for a one-year term.

In this regard, Li Jiajun said in an interview with reporters that the original idea was more to give students an opportunity to understand the management of the school and let them "know how the principal works." But he felt that this could be a very good channel to contact students. "Their contact surface is different from our contact surface - they are among the students, and there is always a gap between us and the students." Li Jiajun said.

The principal hopes that his student assistants will not be "student officers", but can conduct some research among students during their tenure and bring their opinions to the school's decision-making level. Especially before the school launches some important decisions involving the interests of students, it is important to understand the thoughts of students. "For example, when it comes to adjustments to scholarships and schooling arrangements, let them directly participate in the principal's office meeting, listen to what the principals discuss, and at the same time express their opinions as formal members of the meeting - this opinion is also recorded."

Li Jiajun believes that student assistant principals should be able to boldly make suggestions for the school, including making inquiries and criticisms.

In May 2012, before the first batch of student assistant principals took office, Li Jiajun met with them. At that time, it was the first time for many students to see the principal up close. When the students were setting up the venue, Principal Li came in to greet everyone, handed each student a business card, and asked everyone to contact him at any time.

Zhou Nan, a student at Jingyi College, remembers that when they first met, Principal Li told them to be real assistants, not nominal assistants, and promised that everyone would call him and send him text messages. Will definitely reply.

Both the "ninth floor" and the "dining hall" are needed

The depth of participation in school affairs during his one-year term exceeded Zhou Nan's expectations. They will participate as formal members in receiving dignitaries who visit the school, and will also express their opinions at high-level decision-making meetings in the school. At the principal's office meeting, student assistant principals will be solicited for their opinions whenever student issues are involved.

The scholarships for master’s students at the school were previously divided into four levels, but have been adjusted this year. Before the new plan was introduced, the student assistant principals conducted separate investigations and put forward many suggestions. Zhou Nan interviewed many classmates at that time and gathered the most representative opinions. He believes that the reformed plan is more in line with students' expectations and has expanded coverage.

In response to frequent thefts in student dormitories, Tianda University plans to install access control cards to allow students to swipe their cards in and out in order to enhance security. In this way, security is improved, but convenience is greatly affected. Before installing the access card, several assistant principals went to solicit opinions from students, learned about the practices of more than a dozen colleges and universities, and made suggestions to the school. Subsequently, the school held a school-wide hearing, asking the person in charge of the dormitory department and representatives of the construction company to introduce the situation. Later, the access control system was successfully installed.

Mu Xiaoqun, who participated in the whole process, said that this hearing was a "great progress" and showed that the school attaches great importance to the opinions and suggestions of students.

Not just student affairs, but student assistant principals provide wisdom on many matters across the school. Tianda University once publicly selected a vice president. In the selection, several assistant presidents had the same voting rights as other mid-level cadres.

Even the "Tianjin University Charter" that is being drafted, the student assistants to the president also have the right to "preview" it. The school held a special meeting, and Xiao Songshan, director of the Party Office and School Office, reported the drafting of the charter to the student assistants to the principal. The students received the draft before the meeting.

Participating in the formulation process of the university’s charter made Zhou Nan “unable to ignore” his “master role on this campus.” He said that the formulation of the university charter is like the formulation of the constitution to a certain extent. It requires both macro thinking and detailed definition, which is a challenge for everyone. On the basis of repeatedly studying the draft, he consulted a lot of information and put forward revision suggestions from both macro and micro perspectives.

Zhou Nan said that as an assistant to the student principal, he began to learn to look at problems from the top of the "ninth floor (i.e., Tianjin University Administration Building)" and understand the development strategy and policy feasibility of this huge century-old university. operability, and we must not forget the voices of ordinary students in the "canteen" who start from their own needs. It is necessary to have both the "ninth floor" and the "dining hall", which is the essence of the student assistant principal. From this unique perspective, based on a greater understanding of school decision-making and a deeper understanding of students' demands, it is easier to discover the school's problems.

Today, one of Zhou Nan's ideals is to become a National People's Congress representative who "pleases for the people" and can change society "even a little bit." He said that student assistant principals emerge from the widest range of students who are enthusiastic about the democratic management process of schools. They have the enthusiasm for in-depth research and understanding of the ground, and they also have the sentiment of "asking for the people" to make suggestions. This role is in line with the "National People's Congress" represents "similar".

Zhou Nan also believes that students’ doubts about schools are often caused by lack of opportunity to understand the whole story and information asymmetry, and their views on a certain issue tend to be extreme. Student assistant principals have more comprehensive and "advanced" school information, have greater influence among students, and have a "student-to-student" rather than "teacher-to-student" attitude, allowing them to communicate and resolve doubts with their classmates. more advantage.

Lan Taiji, another assistant principal, also feels the same way. He attended a principal's office meeting to discuss dormitory security facilities, and the focus of the discussion was on the level and cost of security facilities. He thought this was a very good thing and would be welcomed. But later it was discovered that it was troublesome to swipe cards in and out, and the students were quite resistant.

Lan Taiji said that this is precisely the special feature of student affairs. When the information is not equal or the positions of the two parties are obviously different, problems are likely to arise. Young people often have an impulsive and easily contagious mentality, and if they are not careful in their work, things may backfire.

In his summary of his tenure, Lan Taiji lamented: “It is not easy to be the principal.

"He said, just like ordinary people who can't stand some bad phenomena in society will criticize leaders, students who are dissatisfied with certain things in the school will inevitably blame the principal. The principal has taken a lot of "blame".

He reminded himself to be more respectful, because he used to criticize or even deny things that he didn't really understand, thinking that some things in school were simple but always unsatisfactory. But after experiencing it himself, he found out. If one’s own cognition is based on a weak understanding, there are many things that are inappropriate. “As young students, I think what we often ignore is the critical spirit based on a full understanding of specific reality. A spirit of transformation based on a sense of responsibility. "

Lan Taiji also reminded the school that before making decisions on student affairs, research should be as thorough as possible to truly understand the students' ideas. "We must not only pay attention to top-level design, but also respect the initiative spirit of teachers and students. ". We must not let students feel that they have already made a decision when they know it. Otherwise, they will inevitably have a lot of rebellious emotions and cause "good intentions to do bad things."

"Who is the most famous, me or Obama? ? "

No matter how these student assistant principals position themselves, they are already "popular" among students. Ren Yuan, a graduate student in the Department of Management and Economics, said that his classmates all know that he is an assistant to the principal. Open social networking sites, He often receives reminders from classmates asking him to pay attention to certain issues in the school. Of course, some people also come to them to report the situation in person.

“Whenever I open my Weibo, I find that there are classmates ‘@’ us students. When I work as an assistant to the principal, I feel both the gratification of being recognized and the pressure of solving problems for my classmates and living up to their trust. " said Tagawa, a student at the School of Environment.

Walter, an international student from Haiti, exaggeratedly described: "Sometimes I think who is the most famous between me and Obama? "Because whether he is in class, eating in the cafeteria or going shopping in the supermarket, he may meet friends or strangers and ask: "Are you the black man on TV? "Are you the assistant principal?" ”

This international student visited the vendors and customers of the roadside stalls on campus to understand their opinions on the school; he also investigated the situation of the campus hospital and believed that “basic medical tools are still lacking” there. . He found that this kind of investigation was not easy. Sometimes, he had to show the other party photos taken with Principal Li and other principal assistants in order to gain the other party's trust. Relatively speaking, he did this with the international students at the School of International Education. The investigation is much easier.

Walter said that his "Chinese heart" is getting bigger and bigger, and he also hopes to continue to have the opportunity to "work for the development of Tianjin University." Student assistant principals can listen to the stories of their own generation, which can help them enter their roles more quickly

Before the end of their term, several students such as Zhou Nan did a lot of work on the topic of democratic management of the school. I did less research, visited many classmates, looked up the practices of European and American universities and other domestic universities, and communicated with President Li Jiajun.

For both them and the principal, this topic is far from over. Question.

Li Jiajun issued commemorative certificates to the 10 assistants. Regarding their performance this year, he commented that these 10 assistants were selected from the best, and they were not only outstanding in academics, but also in social activities. They are also very motivated to participate and have played a very good role during their duties. “We want to stick to this system and continuously improve it, and it has indeed become an important channel for listening to students’ voices. "

After the 2013 freshmen enrolled, Li Jiajun held a symposium with the freshmen. At the meeting, a classmate heard about the assistant principal and immediately raised his hand to speak: "Principal, I want to be the assistant to the principal. your assistant. ”