UNCP hosts university delegation from Taiwan

Delegates from Taiwan's Chung Yuan Christian University (CYCU), including President Stephen S. K. Hsiung, visited The University of North Carolina at Pembroke recently to meet with top administrators.

On the table for discussion were student, faculty and program exchanges. CYCU has an enrollment of 14,000 and is located south of Taipei, Taiwan's capital.

"We are trying very hard to bring in international students," President Hsuing said. "We signed exchange agreements with your university during your Chancellor's visit last year."

Language, business, biotechnology and cultural studies are areas of mutual interest, officials said. With the Chinese delegation was Dr. John Wei-Shan Hu, Dean of CYCU's School of Business.

"We want to help you build up your MBA program by sending our students to study at UNCP," Dr. Hu said. "If students are interested in international business, we would like to host them on our campus."

President. Hsiung said there is interest in developing joint research projects that would allow for the exchange of different cultural points of view. CYCU and UNCP officials are interested in traditional student exchange programs as well as intensive exchange programs in business, language and culture.

"We would like students from both universities to live together in an intensive English camp," President Hsiung said. "We know that you have an English as a Second Language (ESL) program."

Chancellor Allen C. Meadors, who hosted the delegation, said CYCU and UNCP have many common interests that present interesting educational opportunities for UNCP students and faculty.

"It is one of our goals to give every UNCP student and faculty member comprehensive international exposure and an opportunity to see first hand the significance of our global economy," Chancellor Meadors said. "If we are to work and live together in this world, we must understand and appreciate our differences and our similarities. "We look forward to working with President Hsiung and Chung Yuan Christian University to further enhance this goal."

Other programs are biotechnology and native cultures, said Dr. Alex Chen, UNCP's Associate Vice Chancellor for International Programs

"CYCU has a biotechnology program that is 30 years old, and we will be meeting with (UNCP chemistry) Professor Len Holmes and the North Carolina Biotechnology Center to see if they can work with a program that we are starting up at UNCP," Dr. Chen said.

Also with the Taiwanese delegation was Prof. Diing-Wuu Wu, from CYCU's design program. Dr. Diing-Wu is a member of one of two major indigenous cultures on Taiwan.

"We would like to focus on an exchange with the members of the Lumbee Tribe," Dr. Chen said. "Our visitors will meet with representatives of our American Indian Studies and Native American Resource Center. We hope this kind of cultural exchange would enhance our American Indian Studies program and enrich the educational experiences of our American Indian students."

A private university, CYCU retains ties to Christian organizations, which founded the University in 1955. Today, it is a modern university that has been cited three times by Taiwan's Ministry of Education as the top private comprehensive university in the nation.

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