Chapter 53 Chapter 51: "Bosses" of Colleges and Universities Become New Corrupt Groups

The popularity of the title "boss" is only a symptom, and what is sad is that it reflects the alienation of the teacher's profession and the utilitarian trend of the teacher-student relationship. "Doctoral Supervisor", "Visiting Professor", "Specially-appointed Professor"... At present, many university professors have very prominent titles, but in the eyes of students, the most important status of some professors is "boss". In Chinese colleges and universities, it is a very common phenomenon for graduate students to refer to their supervisors as "bosses"—these supervisors lead graduate students to do scientific research projects and pay a certain amount of remuneration.

Many people believe that some scientific research projects in colleges and universities have become a "gateway" for some people to make money.Due to the lack of necessary legal constraints and norms, the campus ecology and academic ecology in universities have changed. In June 2006, Xiaoyan, a graduate student at a university in Beijing, was about to graduate.Speaking of her three-year postgraduate study experience, Xiaoyan couldn't help feeling deeply moved: "I spent most of my time working for the 'boss', and my professional knowledge was in a mess..." "I have been working on projects that have nothing to do with my major for the 'boss', and I get paid 450 yuan a month!" Xiaoyan became angry when talking about her mentor, "Even if I work part-time in some companies outside, the money I earn is far less than This is a lot. But in order to complete the thesis and get the degree smoothly, I still have to follow the 'boss'."

In interviews, some graduate students revealed that their supervisors only need to declare their projects, check information, conduct surveys or experiments, and write manuscripts, all of which are left to graduate students to complete.Some postgraduate students said that they are willing to take the initiative to help their supervisors to do things under the premise of being able to exercise their abilities, and they don't care about the rewards, but they don't want their supervisors to use themselves as a tool to make money or gain fame and fortune in the name of "doing research".

"Academically, I rarely get the necessary care and guidance from the 'boss'." Xiao Zhang, a graduate student at a normal university in Beijing, said frankly, "The current 'boss' has several graduate students, and the 'boss' flies around all day long. Go, attend large and small domestic meetings, and sometimes go abroad, except for communicating with the 'boss' via email, there are very few opportunities for 'face-to-face teaching'..." Some graduate students interviewed by the reporter said that they have to publish a thesis in order to graduate, and they have to participate in the supervisor's project if they want to publish a thesis, and the topic of the graduation thesis is generally drawn from the project. "From another point of view, the 'boss' thinks highly of you when he asks you to work, so there is no room for bargaining?" Xiaofang, a graduate student at a university in Beijing, told reporters that before each project, the "boss" will set a completion time , when it is almost due, he will ask about the progress, if it is not completed, the "boss" will look ugly.

"Why do you call your mentor 'Boss'?" Hearing this question, Xiaofang asked the reporter back in surprise: "Can't I be called 'Boss'? He pays me, and I work for him!" "Usually I would like to take a leave of absence to visit my girlfriend in other places, but it is difficult to get the approval of the 'boss'." Zhang Cheng, a graduate student at a university in Beijing, complained to the reporter, "He wished I could spend all my time on the project." Some graduate students believe that the purpose of their tutors to make money for themselves is to make such "strict" requirements on them.Xiaoli, a graduate student at a Beijing university of science and technology, told the reporter: "As long as there are projects, the 'boss' can make money. My 'boss' is so powerful that he can get three or four projects a year."

It is understood that there are two main types of projects that graduate students refer to: first, projects supported by various research funds established by the government for a long time, such as natural science fund projects, social science fund projects, 863 plans, various ministries or governments at all levels Projects funded by established research grants.Second, a project commissioned by the government or an enterprise to research a certain project topic.Some schools call the former vertical projects and the latter horizontal projects. "There is not much money to be made in doing vertical projects, and the state controls every expenditure of these projects very strictly." According to people familiar with the matter, when doing vertical projects, mentors can generally draw a certain percentage of the project funds and control them freely. ; However, once a project is completed, there will often be very little left. "Of course, it's not difficult for a very small number of mentors to make money under the guise of projects, such as getting kickbacks when purchasing scientific research equipment."

"Many mentors hope to have both vertical and horizontal projects, so that they can gain both fame and fortune." A professor of a university of science and technology in Beijing said frankly, "Getting some high-level vertical projects such as the 863 plan and the 963 plan can improve your academic performance. The academic status in this field. As for doing horizontal projects, it is purely for making money.” So, how much does a Transversal Project Mentor earn?According to insiders, it mainly depends on the field. For example, for some 500,000 yuan projects, after deducting the management fees and other fees charged by the school, the tutor can earn at least 250,000 yuan.

"The mentors bring projects from outside and hand them over to the students. As for how much to remunerate the students, it is entirely up to conscience." A professor from a university in Beijing told reporters that a few mentors are not bad. At the end of the year, dividends will be given to graduate students, but there are also tutors who do not give money to graduate students. The reporter learned that the work of college tutors is mainly divided into three parts: conducting scientific research, guiding graduate students and teaching undergraduates.However, many graduate students complain that some tutors only devote themselves to working on projects to make money all day long. Not only do they not have the energy to guide graduate students, but they also let their graduate students take their undergraduate courses.

What caused senior intellectuals like mentors to get into the "money eye"? It is understood that in recent years, most of my country's education and scientific research funds have been distributed to teachers through project approval, and in the approval of project projects and funds, the applicant's position, interpersonal relationship, public relations skills and other non-academic factors will inevitably come into play.Then, colleges and universities also follow the same administrative-led logic to measure the scientific research ability of tutors based on whether they can get projects and the level of the projects they get.

“Many colleges and universities will rank the project funding of their supervisors every year. The latter will be criticized and warned, and those who have no scientific research projects will even be disqualified from their supervisors.” A doctoral supervisor at a university in Beijing lamented, “Currently, the standard for universities to measure scientific research It is too absolute, and the assessment is mostly in the form of quantification. This kind of rigid rule has to make the tutor devote most of his energy to soliciting projects and running funds other than scientific research."

"Some mentors make full use of their painstakingly managed network to apply for projects everywhere, often relying not on scientific research ability, but on public relations ability." A professor at a university in Beijing told reporters helplessly, "Under this mechanism, some mentors are not good enough, but Because they can attract project funding, they can still be mentors, and some mentors who do research in a down-to-earth manner face the danger of being eliminated because they don’t have too many social connections.” Obviously, the result of such a mechanism is that the winners in the competition, in order to maintain their superior status, must complete the subjects they have obtained as quickly as possible in order to enter the next round of competition.The most ready-made way to quickly complete the project is to let the students do it, so the tutor becomes the "boss" and the students become the "hired workers". It is understood that the word "boss" once appeared in colleges and universities in European and American countries, but the tutors hired students to do projects, paid students reasonable remuneration, and gave students proper guidance in it. Another important premise is " In no way will it affect the students' studies." In my country's colleges and universities, the use of the word "boss" reflects to a certain extent that graduate students' financial requirements for tutors occupy a very important position. The popularity of the title "boss" is only a symptom, and what is sad is that it reflects the alienation of the teacher's profession and the utilitarian trend of the teacher-student relationship. "University is a learning organization. In addition to an academic and business atmosphere, it must also have a humanistic and moral atmosphere." A professor at Peking University said worriedly, "The prevalence of 'bosses' in colleges and universities will not only lead to the proliferation of academic bubbles, The wind of impetuosity is growing, money interests are paramount, innovation consciousness is degraded, and it is easy to make the professor group become a new high-risk group of corruption.” Many people think that to really eliminate this phenomenon, you have to prescribe the right medicine.First, reform the mentor selection system.At present, our country's college tutors are selected and reviewed. This system not only deprives students of the right to choose, but also breeds academic corruption. For a long time, we have regarded "mentor" as too sacred, and regarded it as a symbol of honor and status.In reality, mentoring is nothing more than a teaching position.Therefore, the tutor selection system must be reformed, that is, no matter what level or age a teacher is, as long as he has made extraordinary achievements in a certain aspect, he can apply to recruit graduate students; if he cannot recruit graduate students, no matter how famous a professor is. Be a mentor.In this way, the power of the mentors will be restricted. Secondly, establish a reasonable mentor evaluation system and supervision and management system.On the one hand, the evaluation system of the supervisor's scientific research ability should avoid being too absolute and short-term.It is necessary to ensure the independence and voice of graduate students, so that they can objectively evaluate the guidance of their tutors while receiving guidance from their tutors, so as to establish a perfect and reasonable evaluation system for tutors.On the other hand, tutors who are driven by interests and cannot expect to "run away money" should introduce relevant measures to arrange the teaching time of tutors, establish a scientific management system, effectively supervise them, and ensure that they have sufficient guidance and research time to ensure sufficient effective guidance for graduate students. Third, strengthen the supervision and management of project funds.Now, for hundreds of thousands of yuan and millions of yuan of funds, the superior department only approves and allocates them without strong supervision, resulting in a large amount of scientific research funds being put into personal pockets. This is the "motive force" that many mentors are obsessed with doing projects , but the country does not have a specific laws and regulations to restrict and regulate.Therefore, relevant people suggest that, on the one hand, relevant departments should strictly audit and monitor vertical project funds, so as to prevent a large amount of scientific research funds from being put into personal pockets.On the other hand, for horizontal projects, colleges and universities should establish an effective management and supervision system.