Introduction
Xi’an Shiyou University (XSYU) stands out as the only one characterized by its disciplines in petroleum and petro-chemistry in the northwestern part of China. Today, it operates with the joint support of both the local provincial government and the three major oil companies in China ( CNPC, SINOPEC, and CNOOC ). It is also one of the universities selected by the provincial government for its “12th Five-Year Plan” project of high-level university development.
The school was founded in 1951 as Northwest Oil Industry Secondary School. To meet the demands for more talents as a result of the rapid development of China’s oil industry, in 1958, Xian Petroleum College was founded with the approval of the State Council. In 1969 (the Great Cultural Revolution), the school was transformed into a factory. In1980, the school was resumed .In 2000, it was transformed from a school attached to CNPC to a regular provincial one co-funded by central and local government. In 2003, the school was upgraded from college to university, renamed as Xi’an Shiyou University (XSYU) .In 2009, Shannxi provincial government and the three major oil companies in China signed an agreement on their joint efforts for the development of the school. In 2011, the school was included as one of the universities selected by the provincial government for its “12th Five-Year Plan” project of high-level university development.
The City Campus of the university is located in the High & New-tech Development Zone of Xi’an, and the New Campus is in Xian Fengjing Industrial Zone , Hu county, Xian. The school covers a total of 2207.15 mu, with a total real property worth 1670,000,000 RMB, and a total of instrument and facilities worth 281,000,000RMB. The university enrolls students from 31 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions in China. Currently, there are 2300 regular postgraduates and 17,800 undergraduates. Besides, we have about 300 international students and more than 15,000 students in Continuation Education.
Xi’an Shiyou University consists of 13 colleges, 4 departments and one authorized discipline for co-cultivation of doctor candidates. Besides, we have 14 authorized subject areas of first-level discipline for Master degree and 58 authorized areas of Second-level discipline for Master degree, with 3 different categories and 13 fields for master degree conferring, including the 11 fields in Master of Engineering. The school was recently authorized to admit the qualified under-graduates on campus directly into its graduate school. So far, there are 7 key disciplines at provincial and ministerial level, 1 provincial feature discipline in philosophy and social sciences, 1 State Engineering Lab and 19 provincial key labs and institutes of engineering technology. Of the 55 undergraduate majors, there are10 provincial Feature Majors, 5 provincial Brand Majors, and two majors were entitled by the State’s Education Commission with Development of Excellent Engineers. Besides, there are 17 provincial Excellent Courses, 5 provincial Demonstration Centers of Experimental Instruction and 4 provincial Experimental Areas for Creative Talents’ Development-Mode.
There are 1,600 staff members, with1000 full-time teachers. Of them, there are over 500 professors and associate professors, about 300 tutors for Ph.D. or master degree candidates, and 660 of the staff have won their Ph.D. or master degrees. There are 7 provincial Teaching Teams, 2 experts of National Outstanding Contribution Prize Winner, another 40 experts either with a title of Provincial Outstanding Contribution Prize Winner or enjoying special government allowance. There are 10 provincial and ministerial Trans-century Academic Leaders, 8 provincial Distinguished Teachers, 4 national and provincial Excellent Teachers. One of the teachers was admitted into the National Talent Project of the New Millennium, 5 teachers were admitted into the provincial One Hundred Talent Project, and one was appointed as the provincial San Qin Scholar, and another 3 have won the title of Shannxi Provincial Retain Specialist. The school has also hired 10 academicians from both home and abroad as Distinguished Visiting Professors.