In order to promote the full improvement of Master of Public Administration (MPA) student training quality and enhance the positive adaptation of postgraduate education to social and economic needs, the first MPA Student Case Study Competition of Shanghai University of Finance Economics (SUFE) was launched at the No. 304 conference room in Fenghuang Building on the morning of March 12, 2017.

The jury of the competition was made up of experts including Yang Hongshan, deputy secretary-general of the National steering committee on MPA Education and a professor with the School of Public Administration at Renmin University of China, Zhu Chunkui, a member of the National steering committee on MPA Education and and a professor with the School of International Relations and Public Affairs at Fudan University, Professor Peng Bo, vice president of the School of International Relations and Public Affairs at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Professor Liu Zhiyang, vice president of the School of International Business Administration at SUFE, and Professor He Jinghua with the School of Public Economics and Administration at SUFE. Professor Liu Xiaobing, president of the School of Public Economics and Administration at SUFE, attended the competition and delivered a speech. The competition was also attended and watched by tutors including Professor Yu Wei, director of the MPA Center of SUFE, Professor Fu Wenlin, vice president of the School of Public Economics and Administration, Professor Li Hua, Professor Jiang Shuoliang, Associate Professor Zeng Jimao and Dr. Tang Guijuan.

A total of 27 students in 6 teams signed up for the competition. Through discussion among team members, each team selected a social hot issue as the topic of case study and invited a tutor for guidance based on the topic. The tutors were involved in the whole process from framework construction of the case to field investigation, data collection and final preparation of the case text and provided professional, comprehensive and detailed guidance for the students to write a case study.

The sequence for making a presentation was determined through the draw on the spot. A maximum of 3 members of each team were allowed to present their case study through PPT within 10 minutes. Then, they would answer the questions raised by the judges. Apart from asking questions, the judges also proposed many personal views and suggestions for modification. The students have benefited a lot from communication with the judges.

At last, the scores of each team given by judges were averaged to get the final score and the highest score went to the Sunrise at Sea team with the case study entitled "From Simple Rejection to a Win-Win Solution: The Difficulties in Public Administration Caused by a Fried Baked Scallion Pancake". To show encouragement and emphasize the room for improvement, the judges awarded the Sunrise at Sea team a second prize. The Great Horse team, the Smile like a Breeze team and the 16 Xing Guan team were awarded a third prize and the remaining teams a consolation prize.

In order to guide our university's MPA students to pay more attention to hot and key issues in public administration practices in our country, and improve their ability of scientifically and effectively solving practical problems through the use of public administration theory and public policy analysis methods, the MPA Center has actively and elaborately organized the first MPA Student Case Study Competition of SUFE by overcoming difficulties such as short-time preparations and lack of experience and the competition has achieved good results.The first MPA Student Case Study Competition has not only enabled MPA teachers to accumulate experience in case study teaching, but sparkled MPA students' strong interest in case study teaching as a new form of learning and provided a new path for the cultivation and improvement of MPA students' six essential competencies.In the context of the postgraduate student training mechanism reform, SUFE plans to hold the MPA student case study competition annually from this year based on industry needs to attract the participation of more MPA students. SUFE regards the competition as an important path to promote the innovation and practical ability of MPA students and boost the MPA student training quality.