Since becoming the first university to be recognized as a safe school by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2008, TKU has continued to promote health and safety at each of its campuses, and has gone into the community to lend a helping hand through its Community Service courses. Word of Tamkang’s achievements have spread far and wide. That is why, on the 18th of March, the Deputy Minister of the ROC Department of Health, Chen Tzay-Jinn, along with approximately 60 other health officials from around Taiwan, visited the TKU Tamsui Campus.

The shaping of the Tamsui Campus into a health and safety campus was a joint initiative between the government and TKU. During a conference held between the visiting health officials and TKU faculty and staff, Deputy Minister Chen stated that TKU’s cooperation with the government in promoting a healthy city is especially commendable and is a case worth sharing.

The Dean of the TKU Office of General Affairs, Dr. Jeng Hoang-Ell, talked of the unique nature of the local Tamsui area, a district in which over 50 percent of the residents are students. The special demography of the Tamsui district has prompted Tamkang University to sign a partnership agreement with the local government, in the hope of contributing to the surrounding community and adding to TKU’s status as a health and safety school.

The TKU Vice President for Administrative Affairs, Dr. Po-yuan Kao, shared with attendees TKU’s experiences in creating a health and safety campus. He expressed his hope that in future, universities across Taiwan may follow suit and become recognized for their health and safety campuses too.

An example of the safety measures adopted by TKU can be seen in the Fu Yuan Garden section of the Tamsui Campus, where the original slippery tiles that made up the path on the west side of the gardens were replaced with a layer of non-slip asphalt concrete. Such safety precautions were praised by the visitors. As TKU’s Dr. Jeng observed, the visit by the officials did not only allow for the mutual sharing of knowledge, but was in a sense an acknowledgement of TKU’s leading role in the promotion of campus safety throughout Taiwan.