IAUP North East Asia Conference Quality Assurance and Enhancement of Higher Education National University of Kaohsiung, Kaohsiung, Taiwan / R.O.C. October, 1, 2009, Thursday Speaker: George Tai-Jen Chen Vice President for Academic Affairs University Chair Professor Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric Sciences

Some Key Issues on Higher Education in Taiwan (1) Rapid expansion of higher education (2) Insufficient government financial support (2) Insufficient government financial support (3) Too many restrictions on university administration (3) Too many restrictions on university administration (4) Deterioration on quality and quantity (4) Deterioration on quality and quantity Possible Solutions Possible Solutions University Strategies for Enhancing Education Qualityand Excellence pursuing University Strategies for Enhancing Education Quality and Excellence pursuing (1) Teaching evaluation (1) Teaching evaluation (2) Faculty re-evaluation (2) Faculty re-evaluation (3) Teaching and research units assessment (3) Teaching and research units assessment (4) Strategic planning (4) Strategic planning

Table 1 Number of comprehensive and professional universities in 1999–2009. (Ministry of Education) Comprehensive University College Subtotal Professional University College Subtotal Total Note: 67 comprehensive / professional universities in From 1996 to the year of 2006, the number of universities / colleges has been increased more than two times. (1) Rapid expansion of higher education Some Key Issues on Higher Education in Taiwan

Table 2 Number of students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate programs in comprehensive and professional universities / colleges in 1998–2008. (Ministry of Education) Note: Total number of university / college students was about 6000 in An increase of 193 times in number enrollment of university students in 57 years from the time ROC moved to Taiwan to 2006 and 2.6 times in recent 10 years from 1998 to Ph.DMasterBachelorTotal ,84543,025409,705463, ,25354,980470,030537, ,82270,039564,059647, ,96287,251677,171780, ,705103,425770,915893, ,658121,909837,602981, ,409135,992894,5281,054, ,531149,493938,6481,115, ,839163,585966,5911,160, ,707172,518987,9141,192, ,891180,8091,006,1021,219,802

Total Ph.D Master Bachelor Fig.1 Number of students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate programs in comprehensive and professional universities / colleges in 1998–2008. (Ministry of Education) The trend of continuous increase is obvious, particularly the Master students, increased more than four times during this period.

Fig.2 Changes in government appropriations from the Ministry of Education to public universities per student each year (in US $) in 1995–2004. A dramatic decrease appeared since 1996 when the “Final Report of Education Reform” was being announced. (2) Insufficient government financial support

Table 3 Government appropriation share of core revenue in % for higher education institutions in different countries. (Ministry of Education ； OECD) 1995(%)2000(%)2001(%)2002(%)2003(%) Australia Germany Sweden U.K U.S.Ammm Taiwan The government financial support in Taiwan was relatively low and continuously decreased. It caused the relatively low cost of higher education per student as compared to other countries.

Table 4 Yearly tuition and fee of higher education per student (US $) for different countries. (Ministry of Education) The higher education tuition and fee per student in Taiwan is only 1/4 to 1/3 of the developed countries. CountryYearPublicPrivate Average GDP Tuition and fee / Average GDP (%) PublicPrivate Taiwan (ROC) 20041,7553,21514, ,8313,35815, ,8293,33016, ,8123,30516, ,8663,48117, ,7893,29815, Japan20076,94511,03034, U.S.A20056,39926,95441, South Korea ,401- 7,040 2,137- 9,001 20,

Table 5 Tuition and fee share of core revenues in % for universities in different countries. (Ministry of Education ； OECD) Public Univ. (U.S.A) (2000–2001) Non-profit private Univ. (U.S.A) (2000–2001) Germany (1995–1996) Sweden (1995–1996) U.K. (1995–1996) Public Univ. Taiwan (ROC) (2006) Tuition and fee 18.1 %38.1 %0.0 % 24.0 %< 15 % Besides the countries in the European continent, the percentage is lower in Taiwan than in the other developed countries.

Lack of flexibility of the government personnel and accounting systems, and the similar systems applied to all public universities. Government regulations on accounting system also apply to all the university revenues such as private gifts and contracts, tuition and fee, and endowment income. Faculty salary scale is limited by government regulations and mainly based on seniority. Too many government regulating procedures for engineering construction in university. (3) Too many restrictions on university administration

(4) Deterioration on quality and quantity Table 6 Changes in number of new babies and birth rate in 1981–2009. (Ministry of Interior Affairs) The decrease of new babies and birth rate will cause serious problem for recruiting students at some universities. numberbirth rate (‰) change in birth rate (%) wrt , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Table 7 Changes in number of university graduates in 1997–2007. (Ministry of Education) The number of graduates from universities with different levels of degree continues to increase rapidly. Ph.DMasterBachelorTotal 19971,28214,14685,802101, ,30715,01687,421103, ,45516,757100,171118, ,46320,752117,430139, ,50125,900146,166173, ,75930,856176,044208, ,96435,981192,854230, ,16542,334210,763255, ,61445,736219,919268, ,85049,976228,645281, ,14054,387230,198287,725

Table 8 Changes in jobless rate (%) for different education levels in 1996–2008. (Office of Comptroller) At the same time, the number of jobless rate for the university graduates continues to increase. Average No school education Elementary school Junior high school Senior high school Junior College University

Rate Number Fig.3 Changes in number and rate (%) of jobless university graduates in (Office of Comptroller) A dramatic increase in jobless number and jobless rate occurred after 2000, is closely related to the quality of higher education. This reveals another issue namely the gap between the higher education and the social need.

Over-established universities  Merging, transformation, and others Dilution of resources  More budget in higher education Deterioration of higher education  Quality assurance / control and excellence pursuing strategies Possible Solutions

(1) Teaching evaluation (e.g. National Taiwan University)  Teaching evaluation system was established in Dec  Purpose  Usage of the evaluation results  Teaching quality improvement University Strategies for Enhancing Education Qualityand Excellence Pursuing University Strategies for Enhancing Education Quality and Excellence Pursuing

 Faculty re-evaluation system was established in Jan. 1998, revised in Oct and June 2002 ； major revision in Oct  All faculty members (teaching, research), except those show outstanding performance in teaching or research, need to receive a re-evaluation at every 5-year intervals until the time of retirement.  The employment will be terminated for the faculty member who fails to pass the re-evaluation at the second time.  Restrictions are applied to the faculty member who fails to pass the re- evaluation. (a) increase in salary (b) sabbatical leave (c) extended service (d) administration officer (e) member of all level Faculty Review Committee (f) part-time work outside campus (2) Faculty re-evaluation (e.g. NTU)

Non-pass number Non-pass rate Fig.4 Changes in number and rate of non-pass in faculty re-evaluation at National Taiwan University in 1999–2008. (Deportment of Personnel, NTU) The faculty re-evaluation system was first established in 1998 and then revised and improved three times afterwards.

Early retirements Extended services 1998 Re-evaluation system Fig.5 Changes in faculty number of early retirements and extended services at National Taiwan University in 1991–2008. (Deportment of Personnel, NTU) The faculty re-evaluation system is quite effective for establishing a better environment in excellence pursuing at the National Taiwan University.

 Teaching and research units assessment system was established in June 1997  Assessment procedures  Usage of the assessment results  Core value  Mission  Vision / Goal  Key strategies for pursuing excellence  Medium-range university development plan ( ) (3) Teaching and research units assessment (e.g. NTU) (4) Strategic planning (e.g. NTU)