Exploration of Pathways for Constructing New Liberal Arts Program Clusters in Private Higher Education Institutions from the Perspective of a Digital Rule-of-Law Education Community

The digital rule-of-law education community represents a collaborative talent cultivation model involving multiple stakeholders, characterized by symbiotic relationships among participants, interconnectivity of resources, and aligned objectives; it thereby provides a theoretical framework for the development of new liberal arts program clusters in private universities. In this context, the digital rule-of-law education community serves as an external educational ecosystem, while the new liberal arts program cluster functions as an internal implementation vehicle; the two exhibit a deep synergistic relationship, and their coordinated development can enable the supply side of liberal arts education to proactively adapt to the practical demands of digital governance. By advancing the construction of such program clusters, private universities can address regional shortages of digital rule-of-law professionals, overcome the challenge of homogenization among liberal arts programs, and optimize the allocation of limited educational resources. However, several shortcomings persist in current efforts: a lack of top-level strategic planning for digital rule-of-law education; disciplinary barriers that hinder interdisciplinary integration; superficial collaboration among government agencies, enterprises, universities, and research institutions; ambiguous delineation of rights and responsibilities among community participants; and the absence of well-established long-term operational mechanisms. To enhance the quality of these program clusters through the establishment of such communities, it is essential to: refine top-level strategic planning by integrating digital rule-of-law literacy throughout the entire talent cultivation process; dismantle departmental and programmatic barriers by consolidating practical resources to redesign interdisciplinary curricula, thereby facilitating program iteration and upgrading; and establish a robust community governance framework that clarifies the roles and responsibilities of all parties, thereby building a sustainable collaborative talent cultivation system. Addressing the demand for positions in grassroots digital governance, data compliance, and online legal services, private universities should integrate both internal and external educational resources, bridge the gap between classroom instruction and practical application scenarios, and develop operational models for program clusters that align with the distinctive characteristics of private institutions. This approach will cultivate application-oriented new liberal arts professionals who possess humanistic literacy, legal reasoning capabilities, and practical digital competencies, thereby contributing to local digital social governance and the growth of regional digital economies.