Building a Four-Dimensional Integrated Supervisory Team for Graduate Education: A Case Study of Business Administration at a Regional Chinese University

Xueling Nie

doi:10.6918/IJOSSER.202609_9(9).0030

Authors

Xueling Nie School of Business Administration, University of Science and Technology Liaoning, Anshan 114051, China

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.6918/IJOSSER.202609_9(9).0030

Keywords:

Graduate supervision; supervisory team; business administration; four-dimensional integration.

Abstract

Graduate supervision directly affects completion, research quality, professional identity, and wellbeing. Yet many Chinese universities still ask one supervisor to cover coursework, thesis direction, methods, careers, and emotional support. This arrangement is especially hard to sustain in business administration. Academic students need methods and theory building; professional students need practical problem-solving, industry links, and career support; both need ethics and values education. One supervisor rarely covers all four areas, and regional universities feel the constraint most sharply. Here we report a reform at the School of Business Administration, University of Science and Technology Liaoning. The model organizes academic, industry, ideological-political, and administrative supervisors into a team, assigns lead responsibility by stage, and pairs a content matrix with differentiated assessment. A one-semester pilot examines feasibility and friction.

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