RUC’s Business Administration Discipline Recognized as Top-Tier by the Ministry o Education

On Dec.28, 2017, the Ministry of Education announced the outcomes of its 4th round of national academic assessment. Renmin University of China has outperformed most universities in China with 9 disciplines recognized as one of the top-tier (highest level: A+). Among the 9 disciplines, 8 are in the field of humanities and social sciences, which outnumbers all but one university included in the assessment. The 9 top-tier disciplines are theoretical economics, applied economics, law, sociology, journalism, statistics, business administration, public administration, and Marxism studies. In addition, the university’s politics and philosophy disciplines are classified as level A, and library and information studies and archives management, Chinese history, and Chinese language and culture disciplines as level A-.
In 2012, the business administration discipline was ranked No.1 by the Ministry of Education in the 3rd round of national academic assessment. In 2017, it again was recognized as one of the top tier (level A+) in the 4th round of national academic assessment. The leading position is testament to its achievements over the years in faculty capacity building, education quality, academic research, community services, and social impact among other areas.
It has been over 60 years since Renmin University of China founded the business administration discipline. As a pioneer in business administration, the university was one of the first to run MBA and EMBA programs in China. Today, many graduates work for businesses, governments, universities and colleges nationwide. The faculty members are leaders in management education and research with significant contributions as evidenced by their highly impactful theories, widely used textbooks, as well as studies and proposals that governments and businesses rely on for decision-making.
The business administration discipline aspires to “contribute Chinese management wisdom and global leadership talents to the world” by both building on traditions and keeping up with the times. The faculty zoom in on major challenges faced by companies at different phases and frontier research on the national economy, hoping to build “a world-class business school as the expert in Chinese management” with localized management theories featuring both practicality and global perspectives. Efforts have been made to integrate research and education and improve education programs for advances in management theories and stronger impact on business practice, both key pillars of social progress.
The 4th round of national assessment started back in 2006 when 513 universities submitted self-evaluation reports on a total of 7,449 disciplines, of which 95 were previously designated as Tier 1 nationally (excluding military science and other 15 disciplines). Different from previous assessments, this time universities are ranked by levels, but scores are not released. Ratings are given based on accurate calculations of statistics collected. Universities that score among the top 70% are classified into 9 levels. 
For the business administration discipline, altogether 240 universities were included in the national assessment, including many universities authorized to run MSc programs and 63 of the 65 universities authorized to confer PhD degrees.
In May 2016, Business School, Renmin University of China, started its preparations for the 4th round of national assessment of the business administration discipline. It set up a special task force, and collected data from key stakeholders including faculty members, administrative officers, alumni, and other related departments and schools university-wide. On June 28, 2016, it submitted its self-evaluation report to the Ministry of Education.