The Ministry of Education Visits

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Every few years, the Ministry of Education sends a team of experts from Beijing to our college for an evaluation. They evaluate universities all over the country and this year it's our turn. The evaluation will determine if we're fulfilling our obligations as an instituion and are deserving of the accreditation of university. Right now we offer both 3 year and 4 year degrees (essentially, Associate's Degrees and University Degrees), but we're looking to phase out our three year program. We need good marks from the evaluation to do that.

They're here for four days and the team looks at everything. They observe classes, interview students and faculty, read stacks of paperwork (some frivilous, some not), and strike fear into the heart of the administration for months beforehand. Our school has been getting ready for this since last year, and in the past few months things have gone into overdrive.

In the past month I've gotten emails about questions I might be asked, I've had meetings about dress code (we're a little lax) and how we should be on our best behavior. I've had policy changes multiple times within a week. I feel like eggshells have been sprinkled all over the campus. And, because the guests will be living in the apartments on the first floor of my building, I've had construction crews banging, drilling, sledgehammering, yelling, and creating a mess for the past month.

On Sunday I decided to walk around the campus and across the street and take photos. I figure this is the best our campus is ever going to look so I might as well document it. Besides, I never did post that many photos of where I live, just photos of parts of the campus. Enjoy.

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Photos

The maze by my apt
Students like to hang out here. Esp on Sunday nights. Esp around 9 and 10pm.

These courts are never empty
Basketball and tennis courts--the old ones

Idyllic shot
The sky is never that blue here.

Where the workers live.
"Workers" is a word in Chinese. This refers to the cooks, drivers, gardeners, etc.

Teaching Building 4
Where I spend most of my time

3 dorms
The tallest, #19, is on the left

Bikes
Students can use these bikes for free.