TKU plans to recruit 56 faculty members to 36 departments for the 2004 academic year. According to statistical information, provided by the University Personnel Office, there have been 529 qualified academics mostly Ph.D. holders, who made an application. The ‘hottest’ department which attracted the most applicants for 2 positions (namely, 2 out of 67 applicants) was the Division of General Education and Core Curriculum (DGECC), followed by the Institute of Life Sciences and the Department of Mathematics in the College of Sciences (2 out 35 and 1 out 31 respectively).

The DGECC is seeking a Ph.D. with a specialty in music, arts or philosophy, and of the 67 applicants, over 40 of them are professional musicians. The Director of the Section, Hsie Chao-chung explains that such a high quality of applicants is due to TKU’s reputed Carrie Chang Music Hall where countless well-known artists have performed there. It is equipped with first-rate facilities and holds major music events regularly.

In the Mathematics Department, only one applicant out of 31 will be chosen according to his/her specialty, which can be either in Statistics or Mathematics. Chyan Chuan-jen, the Chair of the Department, is confident that his department has a lot to offer, as Tamkang is strong on research and it is near the Research Center of Mathematics in Taipei. The candidate should have at least one or two years work experience after his/her Ph.D. and has published academic papers.

All in all, the three departments in the College of Sciences have received 94 applications from Ph.Ds, and various departments in the College of Engineering have 81, College of Management 80 and the Core Curriculum Design 67. All applicants will need to undergo three levels of approval in each department and colleges and the initial results will be announced on May 14, 19 and 21. After that, there will a final assessment at university level, approved by the president.