1. Foundation and Constituent Units

On April 22, 2020, the Ministry of Education officially approved the application from Shandong Province, of the establishment of Haide College, Ocean University of China (OUC). Affiliated with OUC, the college is a Sino-foreign (OUC & the University of Adelaide) cooperative educational institution without legal entity. It offers undergraduate education with three undergraduate majors: Biotechnology, Food Science and Engineering, and Mathematics and Applied Mathematics. Haide College adopts a 4-year educational system and a basic training mode of  "4+0". Its enrollment is included in the national plan for ordinary higher education institutions, with an annual enrollment of 300 students and a total enrollment of 1,200 students.

2. Origin and Evolution

On September 25, 2019, OUC submitted a letter to the Shandong Provincial Department of Education regarding the application to establish the Haide College of Ocean University of China & the University of Adelaide. On October 29, 2019, OUC and the University of Adelaide (UoA) jointly formulated the Charter of Haide College, Ocean University of China & the University of Adelaide , clarifying the responsibilities and obligations of both sides in running the school. On March 20, 2020, both parties signed the Supplementary Articles of Association, which added the name of the institution, degree conferral, enrollment, teaching management, organizational structure of the Joint Management Committee, party organization, financial management, and tuition fees, laying the foundation for the successful application of Haide College.

According to the requirements of the Ministry of Education, the two universities jointly established the Joint Management Committee, with President of OUC serving as the secretary, Deputy Vice President of UoA as the deputy secretary, Vice President of OUC, Director of Academic Affairs Office, Director of International Office, Dean and Secretary of the Party Committee, and relevant personnel from UoA as members. The two universities also established a Joint Academic Guidance Committee as the quality supervision of the college, providing reference on the teaching and assessment of teachers, as well as the compliance with academic standards and degree requirements, and providing reform suggestions to the Committee.

OUC attaches great importance to the construction and development of Haide College. On May 15, 2020, the Standing Party Committee studied and approved the Construction Plan for Haide College of Ocean University of China, which is a top-level blueprint for the construction and development of the college. On June 25, 2020, OUC established the General Party Branch of Haide College (adjusted to the Party Committee of Haide College on December 16, 2021), and appointed Qin Shanghai as the Secretary of the General Party Branch of Haide College (adjusted to the Secretary of the Party Committee of Haide College on December 16, 2021). OUC also established the administrative leadership of Haide College and appointed Dong Junyu as the Dean. In order to further coordinate the establishment of an operating mechanism suitable for the Sino-foreign cooperative educational institution and ensure its construction and development, the Standing Party Committee decided to establish a leading group for the construction and development of Haide on January 8, 2022, with President Yu Zhigang as the group leader, the office located in the Academic Affairs Office, and the Director of the Academic Affairs Office as the director. OUC has included strengthening the building of Haide College in the 14th Five Year Plan, the Double First Class construction plan, and the report of the 11th Party Congress of OUC, creating an international talent training demonstration platform.

Committed to the educational principle of “Sino-Australian integrated and characteristic education” and motto of “Learn from Haide with wide vision and deep research”, the college provides students with world-class faculties and courses by combining the educational advantages of both countries and introducing high-quality educational resources. The continuous promotion of education and teaching reform has formed a philosophy centered on students' growth and development, with the construction of an international curriculum system as the core, and the goal of international development. It also cultivates talent with intercultural communication ability, interdisciplinary integration ability, logical thinking and innovative practice ability, as well as excellent leadership skills, and cultivates innovative talent with international competitiveness.

The faculty of the college consists of teachers from OUC and UoA, and self-employed teachers. OUC selects 1 to 2 teachers from each relevant major to Australia every year to participate in the professional development training at UoA and improve teaching and research levels.

The college innovates its talent cultivation model and jointly develops a training plan with UoA. On the basis of the "4+0" model, the two universities established the "2+2" and "3+2" models. OUC has established the International Cooperative Education Research Project to strengthen the reform of international education and teaching. Haide also strives to strengthen the reform of basic courses, with the results benefiting the teaching of professional courses at relevant colleges and the teaching of public basic courses throughout the university.

On May, 2021, supported by Haide College, the Sino-Australian Center for Smart Ocean Research was established, which mainly carries out scientific research cooperation with international top universities, such as James Cook University, the University of Tasmania, and the University of Adelaide, on marine, Antarctic and engineering applications.

The construction of Haide College has received strong support from Qingdao. In order to further improve the level of high education, promote the implementation of the innovation driven strategy, and accelerate the construction of an innovative city, the municipal government has accelerated the introduction of superior higher education resources, and provided financial support to the college for five consecutive years since 2021.

In 2023, the college was approved as an institution for the demonstration project of Sino-foreign cooperation in higher education of Shandong Province.

Since the establishment of the college, Qin Shanghai (2020.06-2023.11) and Ma Yuhong(2023.11-)successively holds the post of Secretary of the Party Committee, while Dong Junyu (2020.06-2022.10) and Wang Min (2022.10-) successively serve as the Dean.