The Thoughts and Suggestions on the Construction and Development of College Student Associations in the New Era ()
1. Introduction
The college student associations are an important carrier to implement the fundamental task of cultivating morality and promoting quality education. They are mass student groups that carry out activities under the leadership of the Party committee and the guidance of the Youth League Committee of colleges and universities according to the needs of College Students’ growth and development, combined with their own interests and specialties (Party Group of the Ministry of Education of the Communist Party of China, 2020) . Chinese college student associations originated from the May 4th movement, developed in the early stage of reform and opening up, and flourished in the late 1990s. Over the past 40 years of reform and opening up, college student associations have played an increasingly important role in the implementation of the fundamental task of Building Morality and cultivating people in the second classroom (Wu, 2022) . In order to effectively strengthen the construction and management of college student associations, give full play to the educational function of student associations, and support the healthy and orderly development of college student associations, the Party Group of the Ministry of Education of the Communist Party of China and the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League jointly issued the “Management Rules for the Construction and Management of College Student Associations”, which pointed out the direction and provided basic guidance for the construction and management of college student associations in the new era. How to truly implement the “Management Rules for the Construction and Management of College Student Associations”, effectively guide the healthy and orderly development of college student associations, take multiple measures to give full play to the educational function of student associations and further improve the effectiveness of education is an important issue that we educators need to study and solve.
2. The Problems in the Construction and Development of College Student Associations in the New Era
The Party and Government have always attached great importance to the construction and development of college student associations. Since entering the new era, the construction and development of college student associations have achieved some obvious results, but there are still some problems and deficiencies in the implementation of the system, team building, security mechanism, and educational effectiveness.
2.1. The Implementation of the System is not enough
The system is the cornerstone of construction management, and the implementation of relevant systems directly affects the healthy and orderly development of college student associations. The “Management Rules for the Construction and Management of College Student Associations” has seven chapters and 33 articles, which have detailed provisions from the aspects of general provisions, registration, instructors, organization construction, activity management, and strengthening leadership, put forward specific requirements, and strengthened the top-level design. According to this regulation, colleges and universities have also issued their own management measures or implementation rules for the construction of student associations, and improved the corresponding system. However, from the perspective of the current system implementation and implementation, it is not in place. According to the relevant research and survey, “more than half of the students believe that their associations lack a sound management system or that although there is a system, it has not been well implemented” (Zhang, 2021) . In practice, there are also some college student associations that fail to hold regular general meetings or member representative meetings as required, and there are irregularities in the election and replacement of the person in charge of the association.
2.2. The Team Building is not Strong enough
The construction and development of college student associations cannot be separated from the construction of “two teams”, one is the backbone team of associations, the other is the team of guidance teachers. The backbone of the association is not only an important manager and participant of the association, but also the main force to promote the upward and sustainable development of the association. However, the construction of the backbone team of college student associations needs to be strengthened at present, and there are still randomness and subjectivity in the election, training and assessment. Community guidance teachers are not only the driving force for the healthy and orderly development of the community, but also an important starting point for the University Party Committee to consolidate the main responsibility and strengthen the management of the community. However, the lack of teacher resources, insufficient training and insufficient role play are still the practical problems to be solved in the construction of community guidance teachers.
2.3. The Guarantee Mechanism is not Perfect enough
The guarantee mechanism of college student associations includes funds, venues, equipment, conditions and other mechanisms, which is the basis for the construction and development of student associations and the development of student association activities. In relevant seminars, most college Communist Youth League cadres and student work cadres agreed that “the lack of funds and venues for community activities is a common problem in College Student Associations”. Relevant research in the survey of “what do you think are the deficiencies in the construction of college student associations?” also shows that the two highest proportions are “insufficient construction funds” and “insufficient construction sites”, accounting for 55.62% and 45.29% respectively (Zhang, 2021) . In the process of guiding student associations to carry out activities, we also deeply realize that the limited funds and venues for student associations' activities are the biggest obstacles restricting the development of associations. The lack of equipment (especially the lack of equipment and equipment required by cultural and sports associations to carry out activities) and inadequate condition guarantee are also factors that cannot be ignored to affect the healthy and orderly development of college student associations.
2.4. The Effectiveness of Education is not Prominent enough
The college student associations play an important role in the “second classroom” and ideological and political education in Colleges and Universities. In the new era, college student associations have made some gratifying achievements in educating people and played a certain role in educating people. But on the whole, its educational function has not been brought into full play. The questionnaire survey shows that only one fifth of the college students believe that the educational function of college student associations is well played. The 61.83% of the students believe that the current college student associations “have a certain educational effect, but it is still insufficient”. The 16.3% and 1.99% of the students respectively believe that the educational effect of college student associations is not good enough and needs to be improved “and” there is no educational effect (Tang, 2023) . It can be seen that the educational function of college student associations still has a long way to go, and the effectiveness of education still needs to be improved.
3. The Suggestions on the Construction and Development of College Student Associations in the New Era
The problem is the voice of the times and the direction of improvement. In view of the above problems existing in the implementation of the system, team construction, security mechanism and educational effectiveness of college student associations in the new era, it is suggested that colleges and universities should further strengthen the construction and development of college student associations in the new era by “strengthening the implementation of the system, standardizing the construction and management of College Student Associations”, “strengthening team construction, giving full play to the role of two teams of College Student Associations”, “improving the security mechanism, stimulating the development vitality of College Student Associations”, “highlighting the educational function and improving the educational effectiveness of College Student Associations”.
3.1. The Strengthen the Implementation of the System and Standardize the Construction and Management of College Student Associations
The life of the system lies in implementation, and the value of the system lies in implementation. Without the implementation of the system, the system is like the flower of the mirror and the moon, a mere formality; without the implementation of the system, the system will be in vain and flashy. The relevant systems of college student associations are the same, not only in the revision and improvement, but also in the implementation. In terms of the application for the establishment, registration, organization construction, activity management, and strengthening leadership of student associations, colleges and universities should refer to the requirements of the “Management Rules for the Construction and Management of College Student Associations” and the administrative measures or implementation rules for the construction of student associations in Colleges and Universities one by one to ensure that the relevant provisions are truly implemented and fruitful. By paying close attention to the implementation of the system, we should further standardize the construction and management of college student associations, constantly strengthen the self construction of associations, and strive to promote the healthy, orderly and sustainable development of college student associations.
3.2. The Strengthen Team Building and Give Full Play to the Role of Two Teams of College Student Associations
The key to the construction and development of college student associations in the new era is to strengthen the construction of “two teams” of the backbone of college student associations and guidance teachers, and give full play to their respective roles. The Articles 19 and 20 in Chapter 4 of the “Management Rules for the Construction and Management of College Student Associations” clearly put forward that “it is necessary to improve the selection mechanism for the backbone of student associations. The candidate for the head of student associations must have a clear political position, excellent academic performance and outstanding organizational ability. The comprehensive ranking of academic performance must be within the top 50% of the class. The head of student associations is selected by the Youth League Committee of the University under the guidance of the Student Affairs Department of the Party Committee through nomination and recommendation, public election, inspection and publicity, review and approval and other links. It is necessary to strengthen the evaluation and incentive of the backbone of student associations. It is necessary to formulate comprehensive, objective, scientific and effective evaluation methods for the backbone of student associations, establish a service and contribution oriented honor incentive mechanism, and guide the backbone of student associations to serve the development of associations wholeheartedly, help the growth of members, and in the practice of community work, they receive education, grow talents and make contributions”. At the same time, in the third chapter, detailed provisions are made on the main responsibilities, selection and employment requirements, evaluation, assessment and incentive of instructors, as well as the coordination and linkage long-term mechanism of joint management. In the process of strengthening team building, colleges and universities should always examine whether the above requirements have been implemented and make real improvements to ensure that the key role of “two teams” can be effectively played.
3.3. The Improve the Security Mechanism and Stimulate the Development Vitality of College Student Associations
The Article 29 in Chapter 6 of the “Management Rules for the Construction and Management of College Student Associations” clearly requires that “the Party Committee of the University should encourage the healthy and orderly development of student associations, provide sufficient guarantee in terms of funds, venues, equipment, conditions, systems and so on, and set up a special fund for student association activities according to the standard of no less than 20 yuan per student per year on average, to support the normal development of student association activities, and ensure that the special fund is used for a specific purpose”. In view of the current lack of funds, venues, equipment, conditions and other security issues that are common in college student associations, the colleges and universities should attach great importance to and plan as a whole. On the one hand, they should improve the security mechanism in strict accordance with relevant regulations to further stimulate the development vitality of college student associations. On the other hand, in the use of special funds, in addition to ensuring the use of special funds, we should also consider the equal treatment and impartiality of all associations in terms of support, so as to give full play to the effectiveness of fund guarantee.
3.4. The Highlight the Educational Function and Improve the Educational Effectiveness of College Student Associations
The college student associations are an important part of the “second classroom” in Colleges and Universities, which bear important educational functions. “The Opinions on the Implementation of the Communist Youth League ‘Second Classroom Report Card’ System in Colleges and Universities” jointly issued by the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League and the Ministry of Education pointed out that “we should deeply explore the value of second classroom education, systematically improve the effectiveness of second classroom education, gradually improve the talent training mode of deep integration and complementarity between the first classroom and the second classroom, and strive to cultivate qualified builders and reliable successors for the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics who are both red and expert, have both political integrity and talent, and develop in an all-round way” (The Central Committee of the Communist Youth League, 2018) . Therefore, the colleges and universities should first incorporate the college student associations into the “three complete education” and “great ideological and political pattern”, and clarify their important position in the college education system and ideological and political work. In addition, we should deeply explore the educational value of the second classroom represented by college student associations and social practice, and establish an effective connection and collaborative education mechanism with the first classroom. At the same time, we should strengthen the implementation of the system, strengthen the team construction, improve the security mechanism and other measures to effectively improve the educational effectiveness of college student associations.
4. Conclusion
The construction and development of college student associations in the new era still has a long way to go. All colleges and universities should establish a working mechanism for student associations under the unified leadership of the Party committee, with the Student Affairs Department of the Party Committee taking the lead and the Youth League Committee, Organization, Publicity, Security, Personnel, Educational Administration and other relevant functional departments jointly participating, and perform their respective duties in strict accordance with the division of responsibilities and promote them in a coordinated manner. We should focus on the implementation of the fundamental task of Building Morality and Cultivating People, promote quality education, and improve the effectiveness of education. We should unite and unite young students, adhere to the principle of unifying ideology, knowledge, art, and diversity, and actively guide the development of community activities with correct direction, health and progress, elegant style, and diverse forms, so as to enrich students’ after-school life, prosper campus advanced culture, and effectively promote the all-round development of the morality, intelligence, physique, art and labor of the young students.