Overview
The main campus of SNNU is located in the south suburbs of the historical city of Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi Province in central China. As part of a new policy to enhance the overall education of average Chinese citizens, especially in rural regions, starting in September 2007, Shaanxi Normal University was included among six normal universities (or "teacher's colleges") that are directly affiliated with the State Educational Ministry of China, to exempt students from all tuition fees if they are enrolled in an approved educational degree program. These students also do no pay for books and, in 2013, received 600RMB a month for living expenses.
The university, covering an area of more than 2,700 mu (180 hectares), is located in Xi’an, well known for its cultural history. SNNU has two campuses: the Yanta Campus and the Chang’an Campus. The two campuses play different roles in fostering students' educational experiences. Built in 2000, the Chang’an Campus fosters junior, senior and postgraduate students. The Yanta Campus, with a 60-year-history, teaches foundation subjects and common courses for freshmen and sophomores, as well as guiding teachers, continuing education students, trainees and international students. The Yanta Campus is located adjacent to the famous Big Wild Goose Pagoda (Da Yan Ta) tourist site; a fine environment for nurturing students' talents. The Chang’an Campus, located in the “Enterprise Garden of University Education” in Guodu County, enjoys a grand scale, advanced equipment and modern facilities. The Chinese Ministry of Education granted SNNU, among the universities in Xi'an City, the title of “Civilized Campus” for its beautiful environment, recognized by the popular phrase, “the charm is in SNNU.”
The university contains 20 colleges and two foundation teaching departments, 62 majors, ten mobile doctoral programs,six postdoctoral centers of first rank discipline, 69 doctoral programs, 24 masters centers of first rank discipline, 159 masters degree programs, and the organization authorized to issue diplomas for educational masters degrees and the masters of college teachers at work. Among the 12 such authorized organizations with the rights of issuing diplomas in China, SNU covers 11 authorized majors including philosophy，economics，law，pedagogy，literature，history，science，engineering，administration，agriculture，and medicine. It also has three national key disciplines, one national key discipline in education yielding two excellent doctoral dissertations among 100 national doctoral dissertations, two national bases of fundamental learning and personnel cultivation,one national key engineering laboratory, one State experimental teaching demonstration center, one research base on human sciences under the Chinese Ministry of Education， one sports sociology research base affiliated with the State Sports General Administration, three key laboratory & engineering research centers affiliated with the Ministry of Education, six key provincial laboratory and engineering research centers, three key provincial research bases on human sciences，five provincial experimental teaching demonstration centers, and 60 research centers of all lines. The university has a College of Continuing Education, a College of Internet Education, a College of Teaching Cadres Education, and a Vocational Education College of Higher Learning, among others. In addition, there are also decades of academic societies and organizations such as the Northwest Normal Teacher Training Center under the Ministry of Education, the Northwest Educational Administration Training Center under the Ministry of Education, the Basic Education Curriculum Research Center under the Ministry of Education, the Northwest Comprehensive Book Information Center, The Society of Tang Dynasty History, and the Society of Ancient Chinese Capitals, among others.
The university has a faculty of 2,850, among whom 1,421 hold higher professional qualifications including 292 full professors, 452 associate professors, and 194 doctoral supervisors, over 68% of whom have MA and Ph.D. degrees. There are five national experts and five provincial experts with outstanding contributions, respectively, one post of specially-hired professor and one lecturer under the Project of Changjiang Scholars Award, one national celebrated teacher, eleven provincial celebrated teachers, three candidates of the first and second hierarchs under the “National Project of Millions of Persons”, one candidate in the national “New Century Project of Millions of Persons”, twelve candidates in the “New Century Excellent Talents Supporting Project”, seven candidates in the "Awards and Subsidizing Project of Outstanding Young Teachers", ten candidates in the “Three-Five Personnel Cultivation Project of Shaanxi Province”, six State outstanding teachers, one candidate in the National Propaganda and Culture System, one national teaching group and four provincial teaching groups. In recent years, the university has actively adjusted its policy for personnel introduction, and as a result, almost one hundred well-known domestic scholars have been invited as part-time professors, among whom there are ten members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The current enrollment of the university is approximately 40,000 students, more than 25,000 of whom are enrolled in part-time and non-degree studies.
The university's main campus is located adjacent to the main campus of Xi'an International Studies University.
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