A delegation of administrators and professors from Taiwan visited the College on April 5 to establish exchange programs between the College and National Taichung University (NTU).
Szu-Wei Yang, NTU president, and Meei-Ling Liaw, NTU chair of English, along with the music chair and other professors from NTU, took a tour of the College. Yiqiang Wu, Teaching English as a Second Language program coordinator at the College, and William J. Behre, dean of the School of Education, hosted the delegation.
The initial stage for the program would be a master's degree program for the Taiwanese students and an opportunity for undergraduate College students to study Chinese in China and Taiwan.
The master's degree program requires 30 credits. Students may choose to earn credits at the College or divide them between the College and NTU. The program will occupy two summer sessions, and spring and fall semesters.
An estimated 20 students would be the first to participate in the overseas exchange. "Many education majors are already showing great interest in this program," Wu said.
"There is a huge difference in culture between the eastern and the western world," Wu said. "Our school's mission is for an international, global experience for the students."
The exchange program has been a work in progress for over a year. Wu and Liaw communicated regularly to refine the program. "(The College) has a very similar history with our institution and that was very appealing," Liaw said.
"Twenty-two years ago, our school used to be a college, and about two years ago, in 2005, we became a comprehensive university; there has been a lot of diverse development." Yang said.
Yang invited College President R. Barbara Gitenstein and Behre to visit the NTU campus.
