A team from Nottingham University Business School China (NUBS China) has won a 2020 Ningbo Higher Education Outstanding Teaching Achievement Award (in Chinese: 宁波市高等教育教学突出成果奖), the only award in the new round of applications. The project Industrial Mentorship as an Innovative University Student Employability Development Approach – Exploration and Best Practices (大学生就业能力的创新培养模式-产业导师教育的探索与实践) is led by Dr Xuan Feng, Assistant Professor in Human Resource Management and Organisational Behaviour, with support from Professor Martin Lockett, Dean and Professor in Strategic Management, Dr Joon Hyung Park, Associate Professor in Organisational Behaviour and Joy Chen, Assistant in the Faculty Office. The award covers the Nottingham Advantage Award (NAA) Module "Global Mentorship Programme". It recognised the project as an innovative university framework for the development of student employability. The project is student-centred and is supported by industry mentors, academic tutors, and strong research that is based on teaching practise with a strong “industry-education-research” link.  The NUBS China project enhances personal and professional development in students and helps to achieve the goal of fostering young talent in UNNC.

It is an important task in higher education to cultivate students’ employability. In the past four years, the Global Mentorship Programme has helped more than 300 students establish connections with experienced international industry mentors. The alumni have also grown into mentors who can provide advice and support to current students to help them complete the project. The dual-mentoring framework enables students to broaden their horizons, obtain more academic and career development experience and resources from industry and alumni mentors, thus it optimises students' personal development.

The Outstanding Teaching Achievement Award reward recognises “outstanding results in improving the teaching level and quality of education” that have the potential for wider application in Chinese higher education. The Outstanding Teaching Achievement Awards reward significant breakthroughs in developing teaching/education theories and practices. An Outstanding Teaching Achievement Award is a high-level recognition of teaching practices that greatly contribute to the improvement of higher education teaching and learning, educational reform and talent development.