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WHAT MASS COLLABORATION MEANS TO TAMKANG’S INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION?

The Vice President for International Affairs, Tai Wan Ching, was asked to read and report on the book Wikinomics : How mass collaboration changes everything (2007) written by Don Tapscott and Anthony D.Williams, two seasoned business consultants from the US and UK respectively. Dr. Tai points out that the crux of the book is about a new paradigm shift in economy. This shift deals with sharing resources openly by using tools provided by the Internet, and with the help of this collective power to push the engine of the economy. The existence and operation of Wikipedia, the namesake of the book, is an embodiment of such a new economy, as it is the result of a typical mass collaboration and collective power that transcend borders, disciplines, and cultures. Anyone can contribute something to Wikipedia, and in the process of it, help change, shape, enrich, and expand it in a very open and democratic way. This kind of free alliance based on a common goal is the foundation of Wikinomics, according to the authors of the book. Dr. Tai sees this free alliance a perfect model for the way TKU can cooperate with universities in and out of Taiwan. Just like Wikipedia, TKU can create the biggest collaboration network through free alliance.

THE EVOLUTION OF UNIVERSITIES AS ORGANIZATIONS AND TKU

Dr. Kao Po-yuan, the Vice President for Administrative Affairs discussed the changing roles of the university in American society in the last five decades or so at the conference. According to the paper he was reading (“The Study of Colleges and Universities as Organizations” appearing in the Sociology of Higher Education, 2007), he draws parallels between these changes and those of TKU. Only through such a comparison and retrospection, can TKU outgrow itself to reach further highs, he contends.

THE COOL THINGS TO DO IN A HEATED WORLD

At the conference, the Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dr. Chen Kan-Nan spoke about the measures the university could take to be part of the solution rather than the problem to the pressing issue of climate change we are facing today. Inspired by the book, Degrees that Matter: Climate Change and the University (author and year), Dr. Chen believes that TKU must be more actively involved for certain changes such as implementing energy saving schemes, creating an ecological balanced campus, and instilling social responsibility in the students.

WILD CARDS--DR. CLEMENT CHANG’S NEW TRUMP CARDS

At the conference, Dr. Clement Chang spoke about a concept that has been heatedly debated in business as well as in future studies that is known as Wild Cards ever since it was developed by two German futurists, Angela and Karlheinz Steinmuller, in 2003. This concept was further elaborated in their book entitled “Wildcards: When the improbable happens (Wild Cards: Wenn das Unwahrsheinliche eintritt),” published in 2005. Before then, wild cards referred to the extra cards that are included in a packet of cards for tricks. They behave like the space in a scrabble game, or the jokers in card games as the unpredictable element to trump the opponents when necessary. Wild cards could also be given to people who are considered to possess unusual talents; hence, in tennis Grand Slams events, both Agassi and Sampras were given a wild card to enter a tournament even though their rankings at the time did not qualify them to participate.

TAMKANG’S LEGACY—CHANGE AND INNOVATION

Shyu Hsin Yih, the Director of the Learning and Teaching Center, was the moderator for this year’s TKU The Seminar in Instructional and Administrative Reforms. In her opening speech, she pointed out the importance of this conference in pushing changes in the campus in the past 17 year. This year, there is no exception, with themes addressing “Wikinomics,” “Global Warming,” and “Colleges and Universities as Organizations,” TKU places itself once again in the middle of change, embracing it rather than avoiding it.

ROADMAP TO THE HOUSE OF QUALITY

INNOVATION IS THE BEST WAY FORWARD