One fourth of the 1,200 engineers employed by the China Steel Corp., one of the biggest state enterprises in the Republic of China, are graduates of the National Cheng Kung University. And most of the senior engineers at the Retired Servicemen's Engineering Agency, the nation's largest civil engineering company, are its alumni. Many important government research projects are entrusted to the university, with contracts this year alone being worth US$2.5 million. Numerous private enterprises cooperate with the university in research projects.
From its humble beginnings 55 years ago, the National Cheng Kung University has grown to the point where it makes a major contribution to industrial progress in the Republic of China.
Located in the southern Taiwan city of Tainan, the university has 28 departments and 14 graduate schools, and student enrolment for day and evening classes amounts to more than 10,000.
Of the university's four colleges, the one for engineering is by far the most important, accounting for half of the departments and 4,000 of the students. The other colleges are for liberal arts, science and management sciences.
The university was founded in 1927 during the Japanese occupation of Taiwan, as the Tainan Higher Technical School. When Taiwan was returned to the Republic of China in 1945, the school was reorganized as the Provincial Tainan Technical Institute. The next year it became the Taiwan Provincial College of Engineering, and was given its present name in 1971.
Located in the northeastern part of Tainan, right behind the railroad station, the university is comprised of four campuses, namely, Kwang-fu, Cheng-kung, Sheng-li, and Chien-kuo, covering a total area of 140 acres.
In 1946, the University initially had only one campus, Cheng-kung. Sheng-li Campus was added in 1950, Kwang-fu Campus in 1966, and Chien-kuo Campus in 1971.
From an engineering college with only six departments, the National Cheng Kung University has become a prestigious institution of learning. Resulting from Taiwan's increasing industrial progress and the government's emphasis on higher learning in the sciences, the university has attracted more and more students and generous funding to acquire the latest equipment.
Dr. Hsia Han-min, the seventh president of the University, is of a humble background. After graduating from middle school, he entered the Taichung Technical School with the intention of graduating quickly so he could find work to augment his family's income. But his thirst for knowledge inspired him to apply for the Navy Officers' School. After graduating, he was admitted to the Mechanical engineering master's program at the National Cheng Kung University, and later obtained a Ph D. degree from the University of Oklahoma.
The National Cheng Kung University emphasizes practical learning and its research projects usually have direct applications for government enterprises and private industry. The high number of factories in southern Taiwan creates numerous opportunities for cooperation with private industry.
The university demands high standards, and as a result, sometimes only half the students pass all the final examinations. But they are given a second chance, and in the end, only about 5 percent are failures. Sometimes, students will work day and night, even "camping out" in the laboratories, to make sure they pass.
Since students come from all over Taiwan, many of them live in the university dormitories or rent rooms near the campus. Through studying and working together, the bonds of friendship are strong, and there is a tradition of older students helping freshmen.
There are dozens of small restaurants and shops scattered around the campus. Some 7,000 of the students have bicycles which they need to travel around the spacious grounds.
The first class on Monday mornings is a weekly assembly of the entire student body. "The sea of bicycles at that time is even more impressive than the one at the end of the work day at the Kaohsiung Industrial Zone," said campus security officer, Chao Hai-chung.
Because of the large proportion of students who come from distant parts of Taiwan, the university has a club known as the Wanderers' Club, which sends out cards each year to remind students to remember mothers' day. Founded in 1961 by Cheng Tao-hsueh, a refugee student from the mainland, the Wanderers' Club this year printed 400,000 such reminders and distributed them among students, graduates, soldiers and workers.
There are 900 overseas Chinese attending the university this year, and since for many of them Mandarin is not their native tongue, there are special language training programs.
Overall, female students are outnumbered seven to one, but in the Colleges of Science and Engineering they are outnumbered 20 to one. Though a minority, female students are well looked after, having first options to dormitories. More importantly, everyone at the university recognizes that the female students are by no means inferior scholars.
The College of Engineering is the largest and best equipped in Taiwan, and the department of electrical engineering has many Ph.Ds on its faculty. Department head Prof. Chang Chun-yen was the first person to obtain a Ph.D. in engineering from a local university. "I have no objections to overseas study," he said, "but local MAs and Ph.D.s are by no means less qualified than their foreign trained counterparts Prof. Chang is proud that all the teaching staff in his department are former students.
Undergraduates are given many independent research projects and are encouraged to sit for higher degrees. To obtain a Ph.D. degree, the student must have at least three research reports published in international academic journals.
The faculty members of the department of civil engineering are all graduates of the university who have obtained higher degrees overseas. More than 3,000 graduates of this department work with local and foreign engineering companies and academic institutions. Another measure of the department's success is the generous donations it receives from alumni, which ensure that funding for equipment and other purposes is ample. The department of aeronautical engineering will establish the nation's first graduate school of space and aeronautical engineering this September.
The upgrading of industry in Taiwan is constantly placing higher demands on both technicians and managers. For this reason, the college of business was reorganized into the College of Management Science in 1980. Department head Chou Chun-ti, a Ph.D. in transportation and communications management science from Michigan University, taught in the U.S. for 13 years before returning recently to contribute to national construction in the Republic of China.
Situated on the southern side of the Cheng-kung Lake on the Kwang-fu Campus, the College of Liberal Arts presently consists of 3 departments - Chinese Literature, Foreign Languages and Literature, and History, each of which has an affiliated night division. The primary educational objective of the college is to cultivate literary scholars and creative writers.
In addition to modern research and teaching facilities and a library in each department, the College of Liberal Arts has a Historical Cultural Museum and a Language Laboratory Center.
The National Cheng Kung University is currently preparing to establish a medical school in cooperation with the Cheng Kung Memorial Hospital in Taipei. This year a four-year medical course will be organized and a teaching hospital will soon be built.
[Picture Caption]
1. The spacious campus at the National Cheng Kung University has many tree-lined paths connecting its elegant red-brick buildings. 2. At the library's main gate a steady stream of bicyclists can always be seen. 3. A view of the Colleges of Liberal Arts and Management Science from the top of a 10-story student dormitory. 4. The peaceful environ of the Cheng Kung Lake is a favorite tourist attraction in Tainan.
1. Classrooms in the College of Liberal Arts. 2. The Civil Engineering Building is one of the best-known structures on campus. 3. The teachers' dormitory. 4. Outside the Chemical Engineering Department, parking space is hard to find. 5. Posters made by student clubs advertise upcoming activities. 6. An elegant corner of the College of Liberal Arts building. 7. Cheng Kung University students are skilled cyclists. Many can hold an umbrella to shield themselves against the sun or rain while riding.
1. Students often study under shady trees on campus. 2.4. The new Student Activity Center is well equipped with conference rooms and a modern cafeteria. 3. This new structure will house classrooms for the planned medical school. 5-7. Students often spend more time in the well-equipped laboratories than in their dormitories.
1. The Kuang-fu campus has a world standard athletes track. The 10-story men's dormitory is in the background. 2. The school's rugby team is quite accomplished. 3. Students often socialize in the many restaurants near the campus. 4. Small shops such as this cater to student needs. 5. Chatting under an old Banyan tree. 6. These majestic columns make the Liberal Arts building a favorite meeting place.
Tainan is Taiwan's ancient capital, and there are many historical relics to be seen on campus. 1. Inside the Historical Cultural Museum. 2. Old cannons outside the museum. 3. Part of the old city wall runs through the campus. 3. President of the National Cheng Kung University, Dr. Hsia Han-min.
2. At the library's main gate a steady stream of bicyclists can always be seen.
3. A view of the Colleges of Liberal Arts and Management Science from the top of a 10-story student dormitory.
4. The peaceful environ of the Cheng Kung Lake is a favorite tourist attraction in Tainan.
1. Classrooms in the College of Liberal Arts.
5. Posters made by student clubs advertise upcoming activities.
6. An elegant corner of the College of Liberal Arts building.
7. Cheng Kung University students are skilled cyclists. Many can hold an umbrella to shield themselves against the sun or rain while riding.
2. The Civil Engineering Building is one of the best-known structures on campus.
3. The teachers' dormitory.
4. Outside the Chemical Engineering Department, parking space is hard to find.
1. Students often study under shady trees on campus.
2.4. The new Student Activity Center is well equipped with conference rooms and a modern cafeteria.
3. This new structure will house classrooms for the planned medical schoo.
2.4. The new Student Activity Center is well equipped with conference rooms and a modern cafeteria.
5-7. Students often spend more time in the well-equipped laboratories than in their dormitories.
5-7. Students often spend more time in the well-equipped laboratories than in their dormitories.
5-7. Students often spend more time in the well-equipped laboratories than in their dormitories.
1. The Kuang-fu campus has a world standard athletes track. The 10-story men's dormitory is in the background.
2. The school's rugby team is quite accomplished.
3. Students often socialize in the many restaurants near the campus.
4. Small shops such as this cater to student needs.
5. Chatting under an old Banyan tree.
6. These majestic columns make the Liberal Arts building a favorite meeting place.
Tainan is Taiwan's ancient capital, and there are many historical relics to be seen on campus. 1. Inside the Historical Cultural Museum.
2. Old cannons outside the museum.
3. Part of the old city wall runs through the campus.
President of the National Cheng Kung University, Dr. Hsia Han-min.
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