On the afternoon of September 7, Jiangxi University of Science and Technology (JXUST) held a ceremony at the Zhiyuan Conference Center on its Sanjiang Campus to celebrate the 42nd Teachers’ Day and honor outstanding groups, individuals, and long-serving, dedicated teachers. The Nanchang Campus and the Advanced Copper Industry College (Yingtan) joined by video link. University leaders, Party Standing Committee members, heads of academic divisions and schools, and faculty representatives attended. Executive Vice President Xu Zhifeng and Vice President Dong Bingyan presided over different sessions.
Party Secretary Liu Zuwen addressed the gathering. On behalf of the university, he extended holiday greetings to all faculty and staff and congratulated the honored groups and individuals, as well as all those who had contributed to the university’s development. Liu said the past year had brought new progress in Party-building, governance reform, first-class discipline development, talent cultivation, service to national strategy, faculty strength, incentive mechanisms, and people’s livelihoods. The university, he said, had achieved breakthroughs and quality improvements across the board.
Noting that 2026 is a key year for the launch of the university’s 15th Five-Year Plan and a critical year in its push for national “Double First-Class” status and its goal of becoming a world-class university in rare earths and critical minerals, Liu offered four hopes to faculty and staff.
First, they should keep the country’s overarching priorities in mind and join the integrated development of education, science and technology, and talent. They should move from the narrower logic of institutional development to the larger logic of serving a strong education, science and technology, and talent nation; be active at the micro level, take the lead at the middle level, serve as an efficiency hub at the macro level, and act as an enabling engine in opening up.
Second, they should remain committed to cultivating talent for the Party and the country and to fostering virtue through education. The university should implement the new-era project of moral education, promote all-round education across moral, intellectual, physical, aesthetic, and labor fields, and help students develop red roots, non-ferrous perseverance, and outstanding curiosity—a new generation with a firm foundation, resilience, broad vision, and the ability to shoulder great responsibilities. It should focus on its strengths and cultivate top innovative talent in rare earths and critical minerals.
Third, they should practice the educator’s spirit and strive to be “four-haves” good teachers of the new era—with ideals, moral character, solid learning, and compassion. Liu urged faculty to uphold academic integrity, hold the line on research ethics, resist academic misconduct, respect rules, exercise caution, and combine self-cultivation with teaching.
Fourth, they should dare to take responsibility and make new contributions to the university’s “Double First-Class” effort. Faculty should work on the front lines of teaching and research, join the “12345 Strengthening Foundations and Expanding Innovation” plan, and find their place in the integrated reform of education, science and technology, and talent, writing a strong answer for high-quality development through solid results.
Zhang Haiyan, head of Jiangxi’s third batch of counselor master studios, spoke as a representative of management and education. Drawing on 11 years as a counselor, she shared three lessons: read the larger trends and guide students to integrate personal growth into national development through ideological and political education; stay true to the original aspiration and treat every student matter as important, improving emergency response so that education is both principled and warm; and shoulder the mission, sharpen professional skills, and contribute to the university’s goal of becoming a world-class university in rare earths and critical minerals.
Lu Zhiren, a frontline service representative and university outstanding Communist Party member, spoke about his work as a campus cafeteria manager. With the stove as his post, ingredients as his foundation, and safety as his responsibility, he said, he protects food safety through countless small, persistent efforts and supports education through warm service. Campus cafeteria management, he said, is a job of conscience and an important part of all-staff education. There are no shortcuts to cafeteria safety; food safety is both the bottom line and the lifeline. In the university’s push to become a world-class university in rare earths and critical minerals, he pledged to stand firm at his frontline post with greater enthusiasm, stricter standards, and more thoughtful service.
Dong Bingyan read the decision to commend groups and individuals who received honors in the 2025–2026 academic year. The ceremony honored outstanding groups and individuals at various levels for their contributions to the university and education. Awards were presented to recipients of teaching achievement awards, science and technology achievement awards, higher-level commendations, and university-level honors, as well as teachers who have taught for 30 years, winners of the first President’s Award, and recipients of Category B National Natural Science Foundation of China projects.
Liu Zuwen presented flowers to Academician Ge Shirong on behalf of JXUST members at home and abroad, honoring his tireless work over the past year in advancing the university. The ceremony also held a retirement ceremony for 2025–2026 retiring faculty representatives and awarded them retirement certificates.
