From Aug 31 to Sept 2, the President of TKU, Dr. Flora Chia-I Chang, and the Taiwanese Minister of Education, Wu Ching-ji, along with 11 Taiwanese university presidents and representatives took part in the 2011 Taiwan-Florida Higher Education Conference held in Florida, America. President Chang attended the event in her capacity as the Chairperson of the Foundation for International Cooperation in the Higher Education of Taiwan (FICHET).

FICHET is a Taiwanese based organization headed by President Chang and Executive Director Chen Hwei-mei. Executive Director Chen noted that as the titular head of the organization, President Chang has for many years served as a platform for exchange and interaction between local and overseas universities, and has helped the 118 affiliated universities form closer ties with universities abroad.

The theme of this year’s Higher Education Conference was “Green Campus as Living Laboratory”. One of the discussants in the conference forum was the TKU Dean of General Affairs, Dr. Jeng Hoang Ell, who shared TKU’s experience in creating a green campus. Other discussants included representatives from VHB Inc and those from three of America’s leading green campus universities as listed in Princeton University’s “2011 Green Guide”.

On the afternoon of Sep 2, President Chang visited the Florida Institute of Technology, one of the four top-tier universities in Florida. President Chang praised FIT on its contributions to space engineering and mentioned the possibility of future academic collaboration.