An employee from Southwest University for Nationalities in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan Province confirmed with the Global Times on Monday that the school has required some faculty members to hand in their private travel passports.
The employee surnamed Kang from the university's publicity department said that the school started to collect the private travel passports of instructors who are associate professors or associate researchers and above this year, explaining that the move is aimed solely at enhancing school management. So far, no teachers have been prevented from travelling abroad, Kang added.
A photo allegedly posted by a teacher from the university on his WeChat account has gone viral online recently. The photo was captioned "Goodbye, my private travel passport. It will be under unified management." The teacher's post also said other universities will implement the policy soon.
Since senior teachers are the backbone of teaching and research in universities, a lack of management over their personal overseas travel will impact schools' operations, Kang said.
Kang said that according to national regulations, all public sector employees who want to go overseas for private affairs should apply for approval from the school's human resource management authorities. The central government released a statement in 2003 requiring all civil servants to report outbound travel for private affairs and requiring departments at all levels to properly register such information.
A teacher at Chengdu-based Sichuan University said that his school had required senior faculty to turn in their private travel passports, while a teacher at Beijing's University of International Business and Economics said that its faculty members at department level and above - such as deans, vice-deans and Party chiefs - are also supposed to hand in their private travel passports. There are four types of Chinese passports, including two personal passports. One type is used for business travel and can only be issued to employees of State-owned enterprises or public institutions.
