Recently, while having dinner with college classmates, we happened to talk about the school's previous renaming, which instantly opened the floodgates. Since I personally have paid close attention to this matter, I later sorted out the entire process.

The Loss of a Nameplate

In the winter of 1994, the heads of Foshan University and Foshan Agricultural and Animal Husbandry College sat down together to discuss merging the two schools and upgrading to an undergraduate institution.

This was supposed to be good news. Foshan University had been officially established since 1986 and had nearly ten years of history as a junior college; Foshan Agricultural and Animal Husbandry College had over forty years of heritage. Merging the two and upgrading to an undergraduate level was of self-evident significance to Foshan, a city then at the starting point of economic takeoff.

On November 28, 1994, the Guangdong Provincial Government formally submitted to the State Education Commission the "Request for Instructions on the Upgrade of Foshan University" (Yue Fu Han [1994] No. 297), requesting that Foshan University be upgraded from a junior college to an undergraduate institution, and suggested retaining the name 'Foshan University'.

On December 31, one month later, the National Higher Education Institution Setup Evaluation Committee reviewed Foshan City's demonstration report and approved the merger and upgrade. However, the State Education Commission simultaneously made a decision that surprised everyone: the name 'Foshan University' could no longer be used; only the name 'Foshan ×× College' could be used.

The reason was not complicated. According to the new requirements for university establishment at the time, a junior college upgraded to an undergraduate institution could not directly retain the "University" title used during its junior college period. The gap between "College" and "University" would later take Foshan people a full thirty years to cross.

The name had to be changed. After soliciting opinions from all parties, the school initially proposed three alternative names to the municipal government: Foshan Science and Technology College; Foshan United College; Foshan International College.

The Foshan municipal government and the school preferred to retain "Foshan University", as the nameplate had already gained a good reputation in society. But in the face of policy, wishes had to yield. On January 19, 1995, the Provincial Higher Education Bureau convened a merger meeting and finally determined the new name as Foshan Science and Technology College.

In March 1995, the State Education Commission officially issued the document: "Foshan University and Foshan Agricultural and Animal Husbandry College shall be merged to establish Foshan Science and Technology College. This institution shall be at the undergraduate level, and the establishments of Foshan University and Foshan Agricultural and Animal Husbandry College shall be revoked."

The nameplate "Foshan University" was thus taken down. The only two remnants left were: the "Foshan University" sign at the school gate was never removed; and the English name Foshan University continued to be used for international exchanges. These two details were later regarded by countless "Foda" people as a kind of "spark".

From then on, "Foda" became a folk nickname, while the awkward name "Foshan Science and Technology College" became a lingering "heartache" over Foshan.

A Mismatched Alliance

Fast forward to 2005. Foshan Science and Technology College launched its first renaming effort, and everyone thought, how hard could it be to get back what was lost?

In 2006, the Guangdong Provincial Department of Science and Technology grandly announced an even more ambitious plan: to integrate Foshan Science and Technology College, Guangdong Vocational College of Science and Technology, and the Guangzhou base of the Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Sciences to form "Guangdong University of Science and Technology". This was listed as one of the province's "Top Ten Scientific and Technological Innovation Plans" for that year.

If this plan had materialized, Foshan would have had a top-tier science and engineering university with a "national" background as early as 2006.

But this "marriage of the rich and powerful" ultimately died in the womb. The reason was not complicated: who would take the lead?

Foshan Science and Technology College was a municipal university under the Foshan municipal government; the Guangdong branch of the Chinese Academy of Sciences was a national research institution under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, with completely different administrative affiliations. Who would control the personnel, finances, and assets after the merger? How would staffing be calculated? Who would be the president? No one wanted to play second fiddle, so they eventually went their separate ways.

This failure cost Foshan Science and Technology College a shortcut to rapid upgrading and destined it to move forward step by step on its own.

Strict Entry Barriers

At almost the same time, the Ministry of Education issued a document that later gave countless "Colleges" a headache: "Provisional Regulations on the Establishment of Regular Higher Education Institutions" (Jiao Fa [2006] No. 18). This document set the bar for upgrading from "College" to "University" to a visibly high level:

• Full-time enrolled students no less than 8,000, with master's degree students accounting for no less than 5%;
• At least 3 major disciplinary categories, at least 10 master's degree programs, and having produced more than 5 cohorts of master's graduates;
• Proportion of full-time teachers with doctoral degrees no less than 20%;
• Average annual research funding over the past 5 years no less than 30 million RMB;
• No less than 20 provincial or ministerial-level research awards, including at least 2 national-level awards.

This set of standards effectively drew a tall and rigid scoring line for all "Colleges" aspiring to rename. In 2006, Foshan Science and Technology College lagged in every aspect. Especially the requirement of "10 master's programs + 5 cohorts of graduates" was a total time trap.

Even if master's programs were approved immediately, it would take at least until after 2015 to accumulate 5 cohorts. Time was the biggest enemy.

The Long Accumulation of Degree Programs

Among the hard indicators for renaming, master's programs were an unavoidable hurdle.

Foshan Science and Technology College made relatively smooth progress on this path. In 2010, the college obtained the qualification of "New Master's Degree Authorization Project Construction Unit", equivalent to getting a "birth permit"; on July 19, 2013, the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council officially approved the college as a Master's Degree Authorizing Institution.

Before that, the school had jointly trained master's students with Sun Yat-sen University, South China University of Technology, and other universities for many years, but that was "borrowing a hen to lay eggs", not its own achievement. Counting from the official approval in 2013, the timeline to accumulate 5 cohorts of master's graduates was pushed to around 2021. This also explains why the renaming took so long.

Shift to Science and Engineering

2015 was another watershed. That year, Foshan Science and Technology College was selected as one of the first batch of Guangdong Province's high-level science and engineering universities. This was a provincial strategic arrangement: Foshan is a major manufacturing city and needed a science and engineering university that deeply served local industries.

Thus, the school launched a dramatic discipline restructuring that could be called "a warrior's amputation": science and engineering schools expanded from 5 to 12, humanities and social sciences schools shrank from 6 to 3, 15 majors with weak industry connections were suspended, and the proportion of science and engineering majors jumped from 29.8% to over 62.5%.

The school's 2018 yearbook clearly recorded: "Achieved the transformation from a comprehensive university to a science and engineering university."

This step was thorough and painful. A large number of humanities teachers faced job transfers, and many traditional majors were directly cut. But the effects were immediate: science and engineering ratios, research funding, university-industry cooperation, and other renaming hard indicators rose rapidly, and the school finally had the confidence to aim for the "University" title.

Two Blocked Paths to Renaming

With the boost from the science and engineering transformation, the school began to charge toward "provincial-level naming".

First attempt: Guangdong University of Science and Technology (2019)

In September 2019, the Guangdong Provincial Department of Education publicly announced its approval for Foshan Science and Technology College to be renamed "Guangdong University of Science and Technology". The provincial level had passed; only the Ministry of Education's approval was pending. The expert panel originally planned to visit the school for inspection in early 2020, but then the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, and the inspection was suspended. Subsequently, the Ministry of Education suspended all renaming approvals nationwide and prioritized the conversion of independent colleges.

Then came an even bigger blow—

In August 2020, the Ministry of Education issued the "Interim Measures for the Naming of Higher Education Institutions", which explicitly stipulated that institutions should not, in principle, be named after geographical names outside their host city. Foshan Science and Technology College was a Foshan municipal university, so applying for the "Guangdong" prefix was a cross-regional naming violation.

This meant the "Guangdong University of Science and Technology" plan was dead.

Second attempt: Guangdong University of Technology (2020-2021)

After "Guangdong University of Science and Technology" was blocked, the school once amended its charter to change its sponsor from the Foshan municipal government to the Guangdong provincial government, and re-submitted a proposal for "Guangdong University of Technology". At that time, some postgraduate admission adjustment information even directly stated "Foshan Science and Technology College (soon to be renamed Guangdong University of Technology)".

But the new Ministry of Education regulation still blocked this path: even for provincial universities, if they are not in the provincial capital, they still need to include their location in the name, such as "Guangdong University of Technology (Foshan)" or "Guangdong Foshan University of Technology", but such lengthy names with parentheses were ultimately unsatisfactory.

In the end, the school abandoned the "provincial name" route.

The Final Push for Renaming

After giving up the "Guangdong" prefix, the options before them became "Foshan University of Technology", "Foshan University of Science and Technology", or "Foshan University".

The school ultimately chose the latter. The reasoning was clear: "Foshan University" was the school's historical name, with extremely high local recognition and historical heritage, and it avoided labels like "Technology" or "Science" that could restrict the school's future direction. Moreover, the Foshan University English name that had been consistently used for international exchanges was like a seed buried for nearly thirty years, finally waiting for the day to sprout.

But choosing "Foshan University" raised a problem: "University" demands higher disciplinary comprehensiveness. After all, calling it "University" rather than "University of Technology" means it must support the word "comprehensive" in terms of disciplinary breadth.

So, after the major "amputation" of humanities in 2015, the school began a new round of "replenishing" humanities—

Thus, before applying for "Foshan University", the school had rebuilt several humanities and social sciences colleges, restoring the schools that had been cut in previous years. In the end, it pieced together a comprehensive university framework covering science, engineering, agriculture, medicine, economics, management, humanities, law, education, arts, and interdisciplinary studies, totaling 11 disciplinary categories.

In those years, when we returned to school for activities, we were often confused: one moment it was called "School of Political Science and Law", then "School of Economics, Management and Law", then "School of Law and Intellectual Property", and later separately established as "School of Law". Some majors within the college were suspended midway and then reopened, while others disappeared entirely. Some alumni, upon returning, had no idea which school they should look for.

The Dust Settles

In August 2023, the Guangdong Provincial Department of Education again announced its intention to apply to the Ministry of Education for renaming to "Foshan University".

On May 29, 2024, the Ministry of Education officially issued the approval.

From the revocation of the name "Foshan University" in 1995 to its re-approval in 2024, a full thirty years had passed. If counting from the first renaming effort in 2005, it had also been twenty years.

Over these thirty years, the school followed a tortuous M-shaped or U-shaped path:

• First, losing the "University" name (1995, forced to become a "College");
• Then, seeking external help (2006, failed merger with the CAS branch);
• Next, internal reform (2015, shift to science and engineering for survival);
• Then, upward sprint (2019-2021, "provincial name" twice blocked by policy);
• Finally, returning to the original identity (2024, "Foshan University" restored). But before returning, it had to complete the disciplinary puzzle again.

Afterword

Some say, it's just a name change, why make a fuss over thirty years?

But looking back at this history, you will find that every shift in renaming goals was a repeated game between policy direction, local interests, disciplinary logic, and practical conditions. The school was like a "Transformer" pushed around by various forces—cutting humanities for "science and engineering" one moment, rebuilding them for "comprehensiveness" the next; wanting to squeeze into the "provincial" ranks, then having to accept its "municipal" identity.

Every turn meant that the internal disciplinary structure, faculty staffing, and college setups had to be torn down and rebuilt.

In 1995, "Foshan University" became "Foshan Science and Technology College"—a nameplate taken away by policy, gone for thirty years. In 2024, "Foshan Science and Technology College" became "Foshan University". But this time, it was no longer the junior-college-founded school of the past, but a high-level university with doctoral programs, 11 disciplinary categories, and 6 disciplines in the top 1% of ESI global rankings.

From loss to return, a full thirty years. The nickname "Foda" had been called by Foshan people for thirty years, and finally could be hung at the entrance with dignity.

Fortunately, the nameplate did return. But for a local university, hanging the "University" nameplate is never the end. The truly long road lies after hanging it.