In the recent TKU visit to America, the President of TKU, Dr. Flora Chia-I Chang, led a delegation of senior TKU faculty and staff to visit a total of four TKU partner universities in America. These partner universities included San Francisco State University (SFSU, which honored President Chang by naming her ‘Alumna of the Year’), California State University-Sacramento, Temple University, and the University of Maryland.

The trip provided TKU with a deeper insight into the renowned Service Learning programs offered by SFSU. SFSU currently offers 500 service learning courses, which are taken by about 40% of SFSU students. The courses correspond to students’ majors. So, for example, students enrolled in English majors may decide to teach English as part of their service learning curriculum. So successful is the program that SFSU has been recognized by President Obama as one of only three American universities to receive the ‘Award for Community Service’.

The trip also allowed TKU to bolster academic relations with its major partner universities in the US. One of these universities is the University of Maryland (UMD), which is a foremost institute of higher education in the US.

In the future, TKU hopes to enhance opportunities for research-based interaction with UMD, said President Chang. The TKU Vice President for International Affairs, Dr. Wan-chin Tai, who was a member of the visiting delegation, noted that the visits laid the foundation for even friendlier relations between TKU and its American partner universities in the future.