Does your university as a body initiate and participate in cross-sectoral dialogue about the SDGs, e.g. conferences involving government/NGOs

 

The University has ample teaching and research capacity, which is conducive for teachers and students to establish a cooperative relationship (such as industry-academy cooperation and internship) with neighbouring enterprises in the Central Taiwan Science Park, Changhua Coastal Park. Moreover, based on industrial trends, the University also intends to develop courses and programs related to emerging fields such as smart machinery, green energy technology, and medical biotechnology to narrow the gap between education and application as well as cultivate talent with both social and professional knowledge.

 

 

At the local level, the University is cooperating with the Changhua County Government to establish a university-city University Social Responsibility (USR) cooperation platform that jointly introduces resources to cultivate talent best suited for the requirements of industrial development in the local community. Furthermore, the University cooperates with local government units, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), other industrial organisations, and NGOs. Regarding other practices, the university implements teacher-student meals, social responsibility practices, and actively aims to innovate the cultural and industrial capacity of the region and stimulate cross-sectorial dialogue to provide overall improvement measures and enhance the University’s influence on social and national policies.

Detailed measures are as follows:

 

1. Government-University Cooperation

The University is the only national university in the Changhua region. Our professional resources and talent are in high demand by local industries and can satisfy the needs of industrial parks under the jurisdiction of the local governments of Taichung City, Changhua County, and Nantou County. For example, the University cooperated with the Changhua County Government in developing the Green Energy County Policy in 2016. Furthermore, in December 2016, the University and Northland Power Development Co. Ltd, Taiwan co-developed a talent training cooperation model based on green energy industrial development and international project financing, and established a partnership of talent training for local green energy and finance enterprises. In addition, in August 2017, the University offered an on-campus space to the county government to conduct the Green Power Certification Course. To further create opportunities for industry-university cooperation, we will strive to have the Changhua Green Energy Service Company Preparation Office established at the university to develop a central talent cultivation base for the green energy industry. The Danish company Ørsted has also established a cooperative partnership with the University by establishing a research centre. To nurture financial talent in response to the ‘popularisation of financial knowledge’ initiated by the government and ‘deepening of the foundation of the finance industry on campus’ initiated by the Financial Supervisory Commission, the Department of Accounting at the University established a government-industry-university cooperative agreement with the Taiwan Financial Service Roundtable, Taiwan Stock Exchange Corporation, Taipei Exchange, Taiwan Futures Exchange, and Taiwan Depository and Clearing Corporation for the years 2015 to 2017. The cooperative agreement included the implementation of ‘Financial Lectures’ presented by elites from various government units and institutions. Such an agreement was the first of its kind to incorporate courses given by industrial and government practitioners into the general education of colleges and universities.

 

2. Enterprise-University Cooperation

To perpetuate effective strategic alliances, the University actively established close relationships with relevant associations, academic societies, and trade unions to promote the University and its academic programmes through the strategic placement of online information, thereby strengthening the University’s visibility. The cooperating organisations included the Industrial Development and Investment Promotion Committee of Changhua County, Changhua County Financial Leadership Association, Changhua Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, Changhua Outstanding and Innovative Elites Association, and the Changhua International Management and Business Association.

The Innovation Incubation Centre of the University actively promotes new ventures and assists traditional industries. In response to the corresponding national policy, the Centre has constructed a diversified platform for technology development in the fields of precision machinery, smart electric vehicles, and green energy industries with the aim of forming a refined and expanding network for the development of local advantageous industries. For example, the University is assisting manufacturers at the Dali Industrial Park and Fusing (with Bitou and Tianjhong) Industrial Parks with knowledge related to industrial transformation, talent training, and research and development.

 

3. Cross-School and International Cooperation

Since the beginning of 2011, the University has participated in the ‘Resource Integration and Sharing Project’ at the Central Taiwan Teaching/Learning Resource Centre, integrating the regional curriculum and constructing the i-Serve learning platform (https://reurl.cc/exZXR). Since 2015, the University has actively promoted and participated in the ‘Dream-Come-True Program’, sharing resources that could facilitate learning and improve teaching, and serves as a beneficial medium for curriculum integration and improvement for 13 colleges and universities in Central Taiwan.

 

(1) International Cooperation

The University and New Era University College of Malaysia jointly established the first overseas Master’s Degree Programme in 2008. In 2014, the University initiated a cooperation programme with the Southern University College of Malaysia. Thereafter, the two universities have developed nine joint Master’s Degree programmes.

Furthermore, the school actively encourages international cooperation with programmes such as the Learning Away from Home Programme and internships in cooperative organisations. In recent years, teachers at the University’s College of Management have repeatedly supported students to study in other countries and regions such as the United States, Japan, Singapore, Mainland China, and Hong Kong, so that the students can be better connected with the international academic community and industry trends. In addition, the Department of Guidance and Counselling and Graduate Institution of Rehabilitation Counselling has arranged for students to work as interns at the Department of Counselling and Psychological Services at the University of California, Berkeley and University of Wisconsin-Madison. The goal is to train students in practical abilities and develop their international experience. In the future, the University will continue to assist students in working as interns abroad. The University will also establish more Learning Away from Home Programme groups to provide students with short-term overseas learning experience. In addition, it is expected to gradually expand the cooperation areas of overseas internships and the Learning Away from Home Programme to more departments so that more students will have the opportunity to study in prestigious institutions abroad.

 

(2) Cooperation with Junior and Senior High Schools

 

A. The Affiliated Industrial Vocational High School of the National Changhua University of Education

     The predecessor of the Affiliated Industrial Vocational High School of the National Changhua University of Education was the Taiwan Changhua Advanced Industrial Vocational School. In 1984, to meet the internship and research demands of the predecessor University (National Institute of Education), the vocational school was renamed the Affiliated Industrial Vocational High School of the National Institute of Education. In 1989, the National Institute of Education was reorganised and renamed the National Changhua University of Education. The name of the vocational school was changed accordingly to the Affiliated Industrial Vocational High School of the National Changhua University of Education (hereinafter the Vocational School), which has been used until now. For nearly 30 years, based on the guidelines of mutual benefits, the University has offered a number of scholarships at the Vocational School. Specifically, the University waives the tuition and fees for the first year and provides free accommodation during the first year for Vocational School students. The University also provides NT$100,000 scholarships from the David Huang Award, which is aimed at students at the Vocational School who have achieved outstanding results in the University Entrance Examination, providing they place the University within their top-three selection of applying universities. Furthermore, the University grants a scholarship of NT$10,000 per academic year for Vocational School students who have achieved outstanding performance. In addition, when teachers of the Vocational School are admitted to the Master’s and Doctoral degree programmes, the tuition and fees and credits fees for the first year are waived. The purpose of the scholarships is to encourage outstanding students and teachers from the Vocational School to continue their studies at the University. Moreover, the University and Vocational School provide each other with teaching resources, subsidies for further education, and teaching equipment to maximise the advantages for each party and create win-win opportunities in terms of academic research, industry-university cooperation, and student exchanges.

 

B. The Baisha Summer School

Since 2011, the University has promoted the ‘Baisha Summer School Project’ to pre-service teachers adapting to their new role (from student to teacher). Specifically, the programme adopts a learning-by-doing method, whereby pre-service teachers are required to establish their own school administration and teaching teams to operate a summer school. The Baisha Summer School Project aims to achieve mutual benefits for both the University and cooperating secondary schools by introducing university teacher-education and research resources to secondary schools, utilising teachers’ professional community of secondary schools, encouraging on-spot action research and teaching experiments, and assisting the development of the cooperating junior and senior high schools into providers of teaching talent. Thus, interns, qualified teachers, teaching administrative staff, and professors are able to grow and develop in a professional, considerate, and interactive teaching and learning environment. Through cross-school cooperation, the implementation of industry-university cooperation projects can further strengthen the practical orientation of the teacher training programs and promote cooperation between industries and the University.

 

C. E-Learning

The University’s E-Learning Centre, which was awarded the ‘New Generation E-Learning Program’ by the MOE, is the only teaching resource centre with Internet-assisted reading programmes for senior high and vocational schools. The Centre developed and promoted an innovative teaching model that utilises cloud learning technology for senior high and vocational schools and colleges. The model helps local junior and senior high schools strengthen their foundation of e-learning resources and is highly recognised in the field of e-learning.

 

D. Promotion Activities Regarding Science Education Popularisation in Rural Areas

The University has long been committed to promoting activities related to the popularisation of science education in rural areas. With support from the ‘Dragon Cultivation Project’ of the MOST and funds provided by public interest groups, the University is able to provide sufficient educational resources and stimulation to junior and senior high school students from disadvantaged families in rural areas.