wfn.org | Presbyterian College in Taiwan Upgraded to University

[Taiwan Church News <pctpress@ms1.hinet.net>]

Status
Taiwan Church News 2644, November 3, 2002
Reported by Li Hsin-ren.  Translated and rewritten by David
Alexander

Taiwan's central government Ministry of Education announced at
the beginning of October that Chang Jung College of Management,
an agency of the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan (PCT), had
officially reached the threshold for being designated a
University and approved its re-designation.
University president Hsiao Long-seng said, "Chang Jung University
has succeeded. We give credit to the faculty and student body,
and special thanks to the Board of Directors.  This promotion is
the product of their efforts allied with support we have received
from Chang Hwa Christian Hospital and the General Assembly of the
PCT."
   Dr. Hsiao pointed out that the Ministry of Education's
upgrading of the college to university status did not come
easily.  It took into account the size of the library collection,
the faculty/student ratio, the professorial rank of the teaching
staff and the quality of the faculty's own educational
background.  "For a college that has only been in existence for 9
years to attain passing quality in all these fields was certainly
not a simple thing," he added.
   Hsiao has only been the college's president for three years.
The upgrade has been his main goal since he arrived.
   "Support from the General Assembly and the hospital were
instrumental in this accomplishment.  When the Ministry of
Education made its announcement, it said that the General
Assembly's long term financial backing and advisory role made the
difference."
   The upgrade improves the school's ability to attract
students.  For the time being, that will be its greatest
difference.
   The school's campus covers 60 hectares in the countryside near
Tainan City.  Only one private university, Tunghai in Taichung,
has a larger campus.  Chang Jung now has over 400 teachers and
9,000 students in all of its programs.	Altogether there are 17
departments organized into 3 colleges.	A medical school and
graduate school of medical sciences are to be added next year.
Chang Hwa Christian Hospital is key to the development of these
new programs.
   As a Christian university, the college has had a chaplaincy
program from its earliest days.  A department of religious
studies is in formation, already offering elective courses and
expanding into a formal department, with the possible addition of
graduate level courses, in the coming years.  Discussions on
cooperation with Tainan Theological College and Seminary (another
PCT school) are in progress.
   In August Dr. Hsiao visited Austria where he held discussions
on cooperative programs with Johannes Kepler University. It is
hoped that these discussions will lead to formal establishment of
sister school ties, scheduled to be formalized in February.

For more information:  www.cju.edu.tw