Overview
The predecessor of the School of Public Administration at Hainan University can be traced back to the Marxist-Leninist Teaching and Research Office of the Department of Social Sciences at Hainan University in 1983 and the Land Resources Management major at the former South China University of Tropical Agriculture in 1993. The School currently offers three undergraduate programs: Public Administration, Public Relations, and Land Resources Management. It also has a primary discipline master’s degree program in Public Administration and a Master of Public Administration (MPA) program. Among them, the Public Administration program is designated as a national first-class discipline, the Land Resources Management program is designated as a provincial first-class discipline, and both the Public Relations and Land Resources Management programs are designated as provincial characteristic disciplines. The primary discipline master’s degree program in Public Administration offers six specializations, including Public Administration, Social Security, Land Resources Management, Emergency Management, Free Trade Port Governance, and Marine Governance.
The School is armed with a proficient faculty which is made up of 48 full-time teachers, including 18 professors and 17 associate professors. About 65% of the faculty members hold doctoral degrees, and approximately 40% have overseas backgrounds. The School has cultivated a large number of high-level teaching staff, including one National Baosteel Excellent Teacher, one High-level Young Talent of Scientific and Technological Innovation recognized by the Ministry of Natural Resources, two Outstanding Talents of Hainan Province, two Leading Talents, 22 Top-notch Talents, three second-tier talents of the “515 Talent Project”, and one talent of the “Thousand Talents” Program of Hainan Province.
The School has rich research output. With the vigorous promotion of collaborative innovation center reform across the university, the faculty actively engage in well-organized scientific research activities. They have established seven university-level research and innovation teams and undertaken over 100 vertical research projects, including two major projects funded by the NSSFC, 20 projects funded by the NSSFC, three projects funded by the NSFC, and two projects funded by the Ministry of Education in the field of Humanities and Social Sciences. The School has published 31 academic monographs and more than 300 academic papers in top domestic and international journals such as Social Sciences in China, Journal of Public Management, Governance, and Land Use Policy. Its research achievements have won the First Prize for Outstanding Achievements in Philosophy and Social Sciences awarded by the Ministry of Education, the First Prize for Scientific and Technological Progress in Hainan Province, and over ten provincial awards (including 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes) for outstanding achievements in social sciences.
The School demonstrates robust hardware and software capabilities. It has independently established a provincial key research base in philosophy and social sciences called the “Hainan Research Center for Public Governance” and established the Hainan University Institute for Livelihood Security and Personnel System Innovation in cooperation with the Chinese Academy of Labor and Social Security, Chinese Academy of Personnel Science, and Department of Human Resources and Social Security of Hainan Province. It also has a joint research center called the “Hainan University-UC Davis Research Center for Energy and Transportation Development” with the University of California, Davis. Additionally, the School operates two laboratories: the Laboratory of E-Government and Public Administration and the Laboratory of Land Resources Management.
The School has achieved remarkable results in talent cultivation. Seizing the opportunity of promoting new liberal arts disciplines at the national level and accelerating collaborative education reform within the university, the School aims to cultivate high-quality talents with comprehensive abilities in public administration. It annually produces 150-200 undergraduate students majoring in Public Administration, Public Relations, and Land Resources Management. It also sends around 30-40 students to renowned universities such as Peking University, Nanjing University, and Wuhan University for further studies. Moreover, it sends three doctoral students to prestigious universities such as Zhejiang University and South China Agricultural University. The School has also cultivated and provided a large number of high-quality MPA graduates for various functional departments in the province, including two National People’s Congress representatives. In addition, the School has been approved for one project under the Ministry of Education’s new liberal arts program and two projects under the Ministry of Education’s industry-university-research cooperation program. Its relevant teaching and talent cultivation efforts help it win the Excellent Research Achievement Award of Higher Education Institutions awarded by the Ministry of Education and the Second Prize of Hainan Province Teaching Achievement in Higher Education.
Adhering to the University’s motto “openness and inclusiveness” and the School’s motto “Integrity, Morality and Justice”, the School of Public Administration will focus on discipline development and talent cultivation, making greater contributions to the governance system and modernization of governance capabilities in Hainan Free Trade Port.
