Nominees for the People of Distinction | YANG Lu: To Fully Devote to Facilitating Students' Growth

YANG Lu, ZIBS Director of the Department of Academic Affairs. Since joining iZJU in May 2018, she has been a pioneer in ZIBS program development. She has played a key role in establishing seven of the ZIBS’s academic programs, contributing to every stage of their creation—from designing development plans and constructing course systems to recruiting faculty, overseeing both domestic and international admissions, and approving graduation requirements. Her efforts have been instrumental in laying a solid foundation for student cultivation at ZIBS. She designed ZIBS’s comprehensive teaching system, building it from scratch to support undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral programs for both domestic and international students. Drawing on the school’s wide range of degree programs, she has developed an education system that bridges disciplines such as management, economics, and media while promoting an ecosystem-based approach to education that emphasizes “Academia + Corporate sector.” In addition to her work as a program designer, she also actively participates in the students’ moral education. She is instrumental in implementing the “student-centered” educational philosophy. Through initiatives such as campus-industry partnerships emphasizing party-building, establishing practice bases, forming teams of professors, designing orientation and graduation programs, and providing support for students in need, she has contributed to the development of internationally oriented talent for the school and campus.

7 programs, 7 times the dedication

When she joined the growing ZIBS in early 2019, Yang took on a role full of challenges and uncertainty. While continuing to handle recruitment and operations for the China Studies (MCS) program, she took on the tough task of setting up and managing several other degree programs. Starting with her first program—International Master of Business Administration (iMBA)—in 2019, she has played a key role in expanding the school’s programs to the seven that it now offers: a doctoral program, five master’s programs, and an undergraduate program. Yang’s work covers every aspect of program development, including creating and approving education plans, designing courses, running domestic and international admissions, and managing important processes like thesis reviews and degree applications. Every program has to be carefully designed, planned, and tested from scratch. Seven programs required seven times the dedication and passion, helping to build a strong foundation for the school’s education.

Yang’s participation in each ZIBSer's journey began with a series of “firsts”: the first iMBA "Spring in Zhejiang" meet, the first orientation and course selection for the International Master of Finance (iMF) program, the first Data Science and Engineering (iMDS) Summer Camp for Outstanding Students, and the first program meeting for the Global Communication and Management (GCM) undergraduate degree program. She has been there in the early stages of every one of the school's programs and has witnessed every new ZIBSer's hopeful arrival. She has supported them all on their enriching academic journeys and celebrated their accomplishments as they have graduated and embarked on new chapters in their lives.

Three Interdisciplinary Directions Intersect: A Three-Dimensional System in Action

Working closely with collaborating units, including economics, management, media, and data centers, Yang has managed ZIBS’s programs in a way that closely matches the development of the school with the characteristics of its students. She ensures that ZIBS's numerous programs is implemented smoothly and in compliance with program degree construction standards by integrating industry ecosystems and international resources.

She has worked with these partner units to create a complete thesis management system and to streamline program requirements, a system that now guarantees a high thesis approval rate and graduation on time. In line with the characteristics of the degree programs, Yang actively connects with industry resources. In September 2023, she led the launch of the “Talent Joint Training Program” with Ant Group’s compliance department. To support this initiative, she conducted corporate classroom sessions, signed agreements to establish student practice bases, and completed the first batch of student placements, which received praise from students. The compliance case studies developed during this collaboration were even selected as outstanding graduate teaching cases by Zhejiang Province. Yang was a key participant in training for the Data Science and Engineering (iMDS) and Drama and Film (iMFA) programs, focusing on the integration of courses, encouraging students to take courses across different programs, and exploring new directions for specialized program development in line with the unique features of the school and its programs.

A heart full of passion for nurturing students

Yang is an active practitioner of the educational philosophy of "student-centered," which emphasizes proactively supporting students and monitoring their progress. ZIBS has a diverse range of majors and students with significant differences in backgrounds and learning needs; there are also considerable differences in teaching management between full-time and part-time students. In response, she led the teaching team to deeply understand student demands by organizing student forums and conducting targeted student conversations, actively exploring innovative solutions without a one-size-fits-all approach, and striving to enhance the "warmth" of the school's teaching management. While she found out that part-time students’ class schedules were greatly affected by work and other factors, she took the initiative to adjust the teaching plan, optimize teaching arrangements and course selection options, helping students to strengthen their confidence in learning, and ultimately gaining students' understanding and support.

As a member of the CPC, she focused on promoting Party leadership in education, advancing the collaboration between the Party organization, teaching management, and student affairs, and implementing one-on-one communication with students. Yang organized annual events to emphasize teachers’ ethics and conduct, such as the "COMPASS" Teacher Development Program, in which she and other teachers shared their experiences of integrating moral education into courses. She also actively promoted collaboration with business partners, working with companies like Tiantong Collective, Industrial Bank Jiaxing Branch, and Hongxiang Group to arrange student internships and industry mentorships.