Chen Te-hua, the head of the Department of Higher Education of MOE led an evaluative council of 19 members that include the president of Tainan National University of the Arts (TNUA), Huang Pi-Twan to visit TKU’s Lanyang campus last Friday, March 11th. Council members looked at the environmental management, land development and faculties planning; they will meet to consolidate their observation as well evaluation once adequate information has been gathered.

As Dr. Flora Chang, the university president, has always emphasized that Lanyang campus is built on the wish of giving something back to Lanyang county where her family originally comes from. She and her father, TKU founder, Dr. Clement Chang, would like to see some prosperity to be brought to the local community through the establishment of the campus. It can not only educate the local youths, but also create job opportunities. Chen Te-hua endorses such an ideal and praises TKU for its vision. His trip to Lanyang enabled him to witness the realization of this vision.

Upon his and his fellow members’ arrival, Lin Jyh-horng, the Campus director, and Tseng Chen-yuan, the director of Chiao-hsi Office, were there to receive them in a briefing, during which Lin introduced the planning of each new faculty and update the visitors on current progress. He explained carefully the fundamental concept of residential college, the management of the campus as well as the design of the curriculum. As for Tseng, he spoke about the design of the land use, transportation and that of the amenities such as water and electricity.

The council members were particularly impressed by the landscape planning and architectural designs on campus. They also made some valuable recommendations on this regard; for example, Chang Chang-yi, a geology professor from NTU, reminded TKU to maintain an integrated ‘horizon’ for Lanyang’s mountains since the campus is built on a mountain slop. When too much construction takes place in such a landscape, it can destroy the natural beauty of a mountain. Furthermore, the preservation of soil is of particular importance in case of rain. As there is a fairly long rainy season in Lanyang, the campus needs to expand its tree planting scheme as well as area, he suggested.

Cheng assured him and others that TKU has implemented proper measures successfully in the past three years, during which five typhoons and two earthquakes have taken place. The campus remains intact. That, he said, speaks louder than words of TKU’s dedication to doing things right. (Ying-hsueh Hu)