Relying on big data to fund needy students’ universities to give students ＂secretly＂ money.
Students said that the extra 720 yuan in the meal card was an invisible grant from the school.
Recently, the news that "xidian university secretly gave money to students" attracted attention. Yesterday, Beijing Youth Daily reporter learned from the school student financial aid management center that this invisible aid actually started from last semester, and accurately helped students with difficulties through big data analysis. In this semester, the school staff will also decide the recipients of the new semester funding according to the relevant data in the first half of the year. The reporter of Beiqing Daily found that many universities in China are currently carrying out invisible funding projects and achieving precise funding through continuous optimization.
"Dear classmates, hello! I am Xidian Student Financial Assistance Management Center ‘ Kosuke ’ . By analyzing the consumption data of one-card restaurant and combining your comprehensive performance in school, the school will give you an invisible subsidy 720 yuan in the near future, all of which will be distributed to your one-card restaurant to subsidize your living needs. Please pay attention to it. If you have any questions, please call the Student Financial Assistance Management Center. If you have difficulty finding a little help, I wish you success in your studies! "
Recently, the news that some students in xidian university found extra 720 yuan money in their meal cards attracted attention. According to media reports, this 720 yuan money is an "invisible" grant given by the school to poor students. According to the school website, the funding center implements the spirit of "Implementation Outline of Quality Improvement Project of Ideological and Political Work in Colleges and Universities", and relies on big data analysis technology to carry out "invisible funding" throughout the school, which not only allows students to obtain corresponding financial support, but also fully protects their privacy and self-esteem.
Xidian university’s practice has also won praises from many netizens. Some netizens said that this practice is more accurate than students’ application and protects students’ self-esteem. It has also been said that this practice of directly hitting the meal card can also be implemented, which is very warm-hearted and sincerely helps students.
Analyze and compare credit card consumption data
Yesterday, the reporter of Beiqing Daily contacted the xidian university Student Financial Assistance Management Center by telephone, and Lu Lin footballer, the director, said that this measure was actually implemented from last semester.
According to the introduction of the center, in the first half of this year, the funding center, in conjunction with various departments in the school, analyzed 187,300 pieces of data of undergraduate and preparatory students spending one card in restaurants in 2018. The analysis includes the number and frequency of students spending their credit cards in restaurants, the average consumption level, the situation of students whose consumption per meal is far below the average level, and the consumption of students with financial difficulties. Taking into account the influence factors such as the number of times students eat in restaurants and the consumption differences of ethnic minority students, 203 students from poor families with consumption far below the average level of the whole school were given a meal subsidy for the spring semester of 2019, and 720 yuan was directly put into the student card at one time.
Lu Lin footballer told the reporter of Beiqing Daily that in the second half of this semester, the school will continue to give invisible financial aid to poor students in need. At present, the staff are still making statistics for the first half of the year, and according to the specific data, they decide to give financial aid to students who need it.
Dynamic evaluation to achieve accurate funding
The reporter of Beiqing Daily found that on July 31, 2017, the National Student Financial Assistance Management Center of the Ministry of Education issued a notice to introduce the innovation of identifying poor students and providing invisible financial assistance by big data in colleges and universities, hoping that colleges and universities "learn from the experience of China University of Science and Technology in providing invisible financial assistance through big data analysis". It is reported that the invisible funding model originated from the "Life Funding Plan" project of the University of Science and Technology of China. The reporter of Beiqing Daily learned from Minister Feng Li of the Faculty of Science and Technology of the Chinese University of Science and Technology that the project was prepared in 2003 and officially put into operation in 2004. At first, it was based on the statistical analysis of campus card consumption data and communication with college counselors to learn the truth, and special funding was given to undergraduates with financial difficulties every month.
According to reports, the University of Science and Technology of China has been optimizing the evaluation method of this grant. From 2015, it will no longer adopt a single standard, but the staff of the Ministry of Education and Industry will take the lead and use big data technology research algorithms for dynamic evaluation. In the past 15 years, the total expenditure of this special funded project has exceeded 6 million yuan, and the number of funded students has reached nearly 50,000. Since 2004, many universities in China have studied and shared the experience of "invisible funding" projects with the Chinese University of Science and Technology through telephone calls, visits and meetings, such as Xi ‘an Jiaotong University and Hefei University of Technology.
Regarding the rooting and development of invisible funding projects in colleges and universities, Feng Li said, "Each school should make adjustments according to its own actual situation. Invisible funding is an effective supplement to the student funding structure of HKUST according to its actual situation. China University of Science and Technology is mainly based on three considerations, one is accurate funding, the other is timely funding, and the third is humanized funding. " The dynamic evaluation of big data algorithm is to achieve accurate and timely funding, but the most important thing in funding activities is to better realize education. In this regard, schools should help students better from the perspective of their own characteristics and student training.
A number of universities have launched precise funding.
In 2017, the Ministry of Education pointed out in its Notice on Further Strengthening and Standardizing the Identification of Students with Financial Difficulties in Colleges and Universities that student financial assistance should "adopt an invisible way to avoid separating students with financial difficulties from students without financial difficulties in a big way". According to Zou Chang, the head of the "Invisible Financial Aid" project of the Student Financial Aid Management Center of Hunan University, "From 2017, the Ministry of Education advocated ‘ Funding education ’ With ‘ Precision funding ’ Since the concept, most universities in China are basically preparing invisible funded projects. On the one hand, invisible funding must achieve accurate distribution of funds, and on the other hand, it must safeguard the dignity and privacy of students. "
According to reports, in the invisible funding project, Hunan University mainly determines the object of invisible funding through the screening of canteen consumption data (meal amount, frequency and fluctuation range), the comparison of database information of students with financial difficulties and the verification of college counselors, and regularly distributes the funding amount. At the level of big data screening, in 2018 alone, the Student Financial Assistance Management Center processed more than 8 million pieces of data information. In addition, Hunan University is also actively exploring new funding methods — — The "ability and quality improvement plan for students with financial difficulties in families", in which the school bears all the expenses of activities, promotes the extension of the student financial assistance system from "guaranteed assistance" to "developmental assistance" through free training of courses such as photography, swimming and guitar.
In addition, Zhengzhou University launched the "Warm Heart Meal Card" project in 2012. In recent two years, due to the increasing popularity of Alipay and WeChat payment in school canteens, the selection and review criteria are being updated to achieve accurate funding. The teacher of the financial aid center of Zhengzhou University said, "The school is currently discussing with the staff responsible for big data analysis, how to screen out truly poor students more accurately and effectively, and achieve accurate funding." (Text/Reporter Guo Linlin, reporter Xu Zhangchao)