The 2007 Innovation of TKU Administration was held on Dec/7 at the Chueh Sheng International Conference Hall. The theme of this year’s meeting addressed the three key factors of transforming TKU successfully, which are 1). The establishment of quality, 2).wild cards effect, and 3) mass collaboration of global resources.

The 7-hour meeting was divided into the morning and afternoon session. The morning session was presided by Dr. Clement Chang, the Founder, and opened by Dr. Flora Chang, the President. After her opening speech, three vice presidents gave reports on the three books they had been assigned to read respectively. The afternoon session consisted of smaller group discussions moderated by the Deans of TKU 8 colleges to respond to the talks given in the morning.

The three books reported by the vice presidents were firstly the “Wikinomics”, followed by “Degrees That Matter” and “Sociology of Higher Education.” Dr. Tai Wan-chin, the Vice President for International Affairs, explained his understanding of the first book from a mass collaboration perspective deriving from Wikinomics theories. Drawing inspiration from the book, he explored the possibility of unifying resources from inside and outside of the university (such as those of TKU sister universities) to help TKU transform. Dr. Chen Kan-nan, the Vice President for Academic Affairs, after having read the second book, added that TKU cannot remain complacent about the impact of global climate changes on higher education and provided some resolutions TKU can adapt to respond to these changes. Finally, Dr. Kao Po-yuan, the Vice President for Administrative Affairs spoke about his reading of the third book which deals with the transition higher education institutes have been undergoing. Such transition is made possible by interlacing several working models and if TKU wants to transform successfully at the stage of its Fourth Wave, it has to recognize this. The challenge lies in front of TKU is how to adopt and harmonize these several models and never stops evolving without losing its core identity.

Shyu Hsin-yih, the Director of Center for Teaching and Learning, commented that the purpose of this meeting was to consolidate the missions of the four campuses under TKU which are improvements on academic reputation, teaching excellence, whole person education and life long learning. Through such discussions, it was hoped that various units of the university could engage in concerted efforts to produce and create positive changes. This spirit, he believes, will be TKU’s trump card for successful transformations. ( ~Ying-hsueh Hu )