The final round of Jiangxi University of Science and Technology’s 13th Counselor Professional Competence Competition took place on the afternoon of April 12 at the Hongqi campus. Xu Zhifeng, deputy secretary of the university’s Party committee, addressed the event, which was attended by all student counselors and school leaders overseeing student affairs.
Built around the principle of “honing skills, spurring learning and promoting professional development through competition,” the contest unfolded across preliminary, semi-final and final stages. All 102 counselors at the university sat a basic knowledge test and completed a student situation analysis. Qualifiers then competed in case study discussions and face-to-face counseling conversations across four sub-venues — Sanjiang East, Sanjiang West, Hongqi and Nanchang campuses — with 12 finalists eventually advancing.
The final concentrated on two core challenges: case study discussions and counseling conversations. In the case discussion segment, contestants adopted an “I ask, you answer” format, testing their ability to apply theory, analyze problems, manage emergencies and resolve crises. The counseling conversation segment featured a simulated talk, a personal summary and judges’ questions, designed to evaluate counselors’ ability to provide ideological guidance, connect empathetically and address students’ real-world challenges.
In his speech, Xu Zhifeng commended the participants’ performance and thanked the judges and staff. He laid out four expectations for the counseling team: raise their political awareness and remain committed to cultivating talent for the Party and the country; adopt a student-centered perspective and offer targeted, personalized support; strengthen a rule-of-law mindset and skillfully use university regulations and legal tools to solve practical problems; and establish long-term mechanisms that make regular training in case discussions and counseling conversations the norm. He encouraged all counselors to approach their work with greater professionalism and pragmatism, and to serve as both life mentors and trusted friends to their students.
The university invited Huang Hui, a national Counselor of the Year and Party secretary at Gannan Normal University, and Wu Lei, deputy director of JXUST’s Party and administrative affairs office, to provide expert commentary. They acknowledged the contestants’ overall strength and offered practical, detailed guidance aimed at sharpening counselling strategies and improving educational outcomes.
When the scores were tallied, six schools — including Civil and Surveying Engineering, Safety Engineering and Law — received the Outstanding Organization Award. Individual honors for best theoretical foundation, best case discussion, best counseling conversation and best student situation analysis were presented to several counselors. Yin Ailinzi, Lai Xiaohua and Chen Yan claimed first prize in the overall ability category, with seven others winning second and third prizes.
The competition not only assessed the comprehensive competence of JXUST’s counselors but also underscored the university’s student-centered ethos. It has strengthened efforts to build a politically sound, professionally skilled and ethically upright counseling team, injecting fresh momentum into the university’s core mission of fostering virtue and advancing student development.
