As the AI wave sparked by ChatGPT and large language models (LLMs) reshapes industries worldwide, universities face urgent questions: How should talent cultivation adapt? USST offers its answer with the groundbreaking Language Intelligence Micro-Degree Program—a cross-disciplinary collaboration between its College of Foreign Languages (CFL) and School of Optical-Electrical and Computer Engineering (SOECE).
On September 21, 2024, the inaugural ceremony for the program was held at USST’s Teaching Building 1. Present at the ceremony were Song Danping, Deputy Director of the Academic Affairs Office; Zhang Le, Vice Dean of the CFL; Gao Xiumin, Vice Dean of the SOECE; and faculty members and the inaugural cohort of 60 students of the program. Zhang Shiqian, the program’s academic leader moderated the ceremony.
Deputy Director Song congratulated the first cohort, emphasizing the USST’s support for high-level micro-degree programs. She urged the CFL and SOECE to leverage their strengths, integrate the leading technological advancements with industry trends, and refine a curriculum to focus on interdisciplinary skills and real-world situations. She also encouraged students to empower their professional growth through hands-on practice and research.
Vice Deans Zhang and Gao stressed the program’s timeliness amid China’s national push to integrate education, technology, and talent development. They outlined plans to enhance curriculum innovation, deepen industry partnerships, and foster interdisciplinary collaboration.
Speeches by Song Danping, Zhang Le and Gao Xiumin and Moderator Zhang Shiqian
The faculty team briefed the new enrollments with the forward-looking curriculum designed to equip them with AI-driven problem-solving skills and the ability to design intelligent language processing strategies. Courses will blend cutting-edge pedagogy with practical training, enabling graduates to propose AI strategies and solutions to solve specific problems in their future studies and work, and empower their professional development.
CurriculumIntroduction
Discussion among Students and Faculty Members
Rooted in USST’s nationally top-tier English program (China’s first QS Five-Star certified undergraduate major), the micro-degree aims to cultivate versatile engineers with expertise in both language sciences and AI technologies. Developed by a team of 10-odd faculty members from both schools under the guidance of the Academic Affairs Office, the program emphasizes interdisciplinary integration, industry-aligned practical training and academic rigor and global vision. The ceremony concluded with lively Q&A sessions, where students engaged faculty on course specifics and career prospects. The dialogue embodied the program’s strong start and its potential to redefine talent cultivation in the AI age.
