News--Welcome to National Chiayi University

　　To enhance academic-industrial cooperation and students’ competitiveness in the job market, National Chiayi University signed the memorandum on cooperative work experience education and academic-industrial cooperation with Taiwan Sugar Corporation (TSC) at the 1st Conference of the Administration Building on the Lantan Campus, NCYU, on the afternoon of April 17. The Memorandum aimed to integrate resources of both NCYU and TSC to facilitate scientific and technological exchanges and training of human resources. The signing ceremony was carried out by NCYU President Chiou Yi-Yuan and TSC Chairman Hu Mao-Lin, attended by a list of TSC supervisors including Yang Jinrong, deputy general manager, Hu Sheng-Jin, secretariat director, Wang Zhong-Chai, manager of the Chiayi Office, Huang Wen-Yu, deputy manager of the Chiayi Office, and Xie Zhen-Sen, section chief of the Chiayi Office. Attendees from NCYU included Tsai Wei-Suei, vice president, Lin Han-Qian, dean of R&D, administrative supervisors and deans of different colleges.

　　During his address, NCYU President Chiou indicated that TSC, founded on the basis of agricultural development in Taiwan, boasts years-long and diversified experience of cooperative work experience education. Each TSC division, ranging from organic agriculture to recreation industry that combines livestock raising and asset activation, features similar qualities with the College of Agriculture, College of Life Sciences and College of Management, NCYU. There was even cooperation between the cultural and creative industry of TSC and the College of Humanities and Arts, NCYU. Without any official memorandum in the past, NCYU had been conducting cooperation projects with different divisions of TSC. By signing on the memorandum on cooperative work experience education and academic-industrial cooperation, they hoped to extend their cooperative efforts to facilitate collaboration between colleges and division. Also by enhancing scientific and technological exchanges and training of human resources on both sides, they hoped to close the education-employment gap, giving full play to the advantages of cooperative work experience education, academic-industrial cooperation and cross-industrial energy.

　　According to President Chiou, NCYU transformed from a college based on technical and vocational education and teacher education to an academically oriented comprehensive university. This time they formed a collaborative team grounded on a framework of academic-industrial collaboration and cooperative work experience education. Led by NCYU Vice President Tsai, the team will dedicate itself to closer cooperation between the colleges and divisions of TSC. Boasting the characteristics and advantages of NCYU, featuring technical and vocational education, teacher education as well as comprehensive academic training, the team hopes to boost development in agriculture, industry, commerce and culture in the Yunlin and Chiayi region and fulfill its social responsibility of promoting regional development, thus redefining NCYU to be “a comprehensive university quipped with practical abilities.”

　　TSC Chairman Hu mentioned that NCYU maintains long-term close relations of cooperation with TSC. Due to social changes, the sugar industry of TSC has dwindled and been forced to transform and diversify into such fields as the service sector, gas stations and hypermarkets. With the rise of such quality agriculture divisions as orchid industry in recent years, TSC has been collaborating with the Department of Horticultural Science, NCYU, in terms of results of research and development. Industrial development needs to be based on research and development and academic knowledge. According to the Memorandum, both the TSC and NCYU can deepen their collaboration under the premise of being mutually reciprocal, complementary, rewarding and fulfilling. He hoped to transform research results to practice by implementing more systematic and practical cooperative projects and consulting the professional R & D team and teachers from NCYU. While achieving mutual benefit and win-win situation for both, the Memorandum will help upgrade the industry of TSC and make NCYU more prosperous.

　　According to the university, the Memorandum signed this time, which stresses multifaceted cooperation, stipulates the providence of learning exchanges, visiting and apprenticeship, cross-training courses, student internship opportunities and employment opportunities in terms of cooperative work experience education. The academic-industrial collaboration includes striving for large-scale national projects, sharing of research resources such as books and costly instruments, and jointly organizing of academic research and international seminars, among others.