Xianyang Normal University is a province-owned university of Shaanxi Province focusing on undergraduate teachers-training, which is located in the historically and culturally famous city — the City of Xianyang. Founded in May 1978, Xianyang Normal University originally was named Xianyang Special Training Department of Shaanxi Normal University and later formally renamed Xianyang Teachers’ College in December 1978. On May 11, 2001, Xianyang Teachers’ College was authorized by the Ministry of Education to merge with Xianyang Education Institute and upgraded into Xianyang Normal University.
Xianyang Normal University covers an area of 666,667 square meters of land. 12,000 students reside on the campus. Xianyang Normal University is comprised of 14 departments, an adult education institute, and 18 research institutes. There are currently 31 undergraduate majors, among which 16 majors are teacher-training ones and 15 majors are non-teacher-training ones, including such seven disciplines as literature, science, history, law, pedagogy, management science, and engineering. Currently there is one prominent major at provincial level, two prominent majors at collegiate level, three classic courses at provincial level and 23 courses at collegiate level, 86 courses of key construction at collegiate level. The university has altogether established 186 stable teaching practicum bases and fieldwork bases. “Xianyang Municipal Teacher-Training Centre” was set up in the university.
There are 1070 members on the faculty, among which 668 are teachers and the number of professors and associate professors is 200， taking up 31.55% of full-time teachers. There are four teachers who enjoy special allowances from the State Council, five teachers who have got the prestige of Excellent National Teacher, Shaanxi Province Advanced Worker, Famous Teacher in Shaanxi Province, and Excellent Teacher in Shaanxi Province, eight teachers who enjoy the reputation of “Three-Five” Talent in Xianyang City.
Currently there are four key disciplines in XYNU. In addition, the following disciplines are gaining favorable advantages, such as history of Qin and Han dynasties, culture in Sui and Tang dynasties, ancient Chinese system of imperial examinations, numerical value analysis, wavelet and image processing, differential calculus and manifold theory, the transmission and reflection of electric wave of dispersed medium, high-loaded charge particle physics, photochemistry analysis and electrochemistry analysis, functional materials, wet attrition materials, and the geographical research of Qinling spermatophyte genus, physiognomy, and environmental variations. For the past three years, teachers in XYNU have hosted or participated in four national level research projects, 15 provincial department level projects. 2,229 treatises have been published, among which 747 papers belong to core journals, 66 papers have been indexed by SCI, EI. 65 sets of monographs and textbooks have been published, among which 24 have been awarded Shaanxi Provincial Science and Technology Prize, Shaanxi Provincial Science and Technology Prize for Colleges and Universities, and second- and third-rate Excellent Achievement Prize for Humanities and Social Sciences Research, etc. Journal of Xianyang Normal University was initiated in 1986 and published inside and outside China. It has obtained the “Prize of Excellent Science and Technology” of Shaanxi Province and the “Prize of Excellent Editing and Publishing” and is also judged as an excellent journal in accordance with CAJ-CD Specifications.
XYNU actively goes in for extensive international exchange and has established cultural and academic relationships with government organizations, colleges and universities, and scientific research institutes from more than 10 countries at one time with another. For the past few years, educational delegations from such countries and regions as Canada, France, New Zealand, Australia, Japan and South Korea have come to the university for a visit. The university has even signed a letter of intent for cooperative teaching programs with Canada’s Medicine Hat College and France’s Le Mans University.
XYNU takes the comprehensive quality education very seriously and advocates the spirit of campus culture of “Being Tolerant and Magnanimous, Amicable and All-Embracing, Civilized and Truthful, Harmonious and Uniform, Strong-Willed in Hard Struggle, Self-Reliant and Independent” with “campus culture project” actively facilitated. The students’ comprehensive quality has been upgraded through distinctive campus culture, social practice and activities of youth volunteers so that the students’ comprehensive quality is to be upgraded by immersing education into them.
XYNU sticks to the university-running orientation of serving basic education and economic construction and constantly upgrades educational and teaching quality as well as university-running standard. Since the establishment of the university, more than 20,000 qualified teachers for basic education and administrators have been trained. And the majority of graduates have become the backbone of basic education. There emerge a lot of excellent teachers and advanced educators.
For the past few years, Xianyang Normal University has won consecutive titles such as "Advanced National Collective for Oral and Written Language Promotion", "Outstanding National Collective for Social Practice", “Gardenlike Institution” in Shaanxi Province, "The Best Institution” in Shaanxi Provincial Educational System, "Advanced Grassroots Party Committee" in Shaanxi Provincial Educational System, and "Municipal Civilized Work Unit" in the City of Xianyang.