The Dean of Academic Affairs, Huan-chao Keh, reported on “teaching quality management system” in the meeting of academic affairs last Friday (May 11). Under President’s directive, this TQM system will be tested in the 96th academic year and will officially start working from the 97th academic year, with the objective to enhance the school’s teaching quality and students’ career core-competence.

According to the school’s survey on the career tendency of the 94th academic year’s graduates, the percentage of the satisfaction with courses reached a historical low (84.1%). In response to this result, President Chang required all departments, colleges and administrative divisions to evaluate and establish the teaching quality management system; Dean of Academic Affairs was immediately asked to start planning the system. According to Dean Keh, the whole plan includes collecting teachers’ and students’ opinions and reforming teaching courses according to the revised College Laws.

Dean Keh summarized the disadvantages of the current designing and management of courses: courses are not planned according to students opinions and needs; the career core-competences such as sense of responsibility, relief of pressure, communicational skills, analysis of leadership, and so on, are not integrated into curriculum and extra-curricular activities; various administrative units’ resources are not efficiently coordinated; evaluation reports and projects required by Ministry of Education are not effectively done. “Evaluation reports cannot be done without making standard index number,” he explained. “Some national universities make the score of 520 (above) in traditional TOFEL the requirement of graduation. That could be a rather strict requirement to TKU’s students; however, a definite basic index is necessary.”

As Dean Keh emphasized, “Students are the largest group of customers!” The new management system will function according to the needs of our country and society, new career trends, and alumni and parents’ expectations, and the percentage of students’ satisfaction, teaching quality and administrative efficiency will be the executive objectives, with the attempt to acquire National Quality Award and other related educational certifications. He adopted PDCA cycling theory to organize the whole system. He said, “The execution relies on the horizontal and vertical contacts and integration among individual academic and administrative units.”

Hsin-yih Shyu, Director of Center for Learning and Teaching, suggested that in order to design courses according to students’ needs, general courses should be adjusted based on the professional competences of departments and colleges. Dean of Academic Affairs recognized the suggestion and added, “Departments and colleges should reform courses without changing their credits.”

An-ding Chiang, Dean of Student Affairs, said that there will be a report on the standard competence-induces adopted by MOE and enterprises in the meeting of school affairs on June 1st. ( ~Han-yu Huang )