2009 SATU Steering Committee Meeting and E-Classroom Workshop Held in NCKU.

TAINAN, Taiwan -- The Annual Steering Committee Meeting of the Presidents' Forum of Southeast and South Asia and Taiwan Universities (SATU) was held in National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), Tainan, Taiwan on November 12th ~ 13th, 2009. Additionally, there was together with a Workshop on E-Classroom International Mobility Program with hopes of creating the best possible learning environment for SATU and implementation strategies.

There are 17 representatives from 7 countries, as well as 14 universities including Institute Teknologi Bandung, University of Indonesia, Universiti Sains Malaysia, University Malaysia Sabah, University of the Philippines, Ateneo de Manila University, Nanyang Technological University, Prince of Songkla University, Mahidol University, Vietnam National University- Hanoi, Vietnam National University- HCMC, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, National Taiwan University and National Tsing Hua University.

SATU Presidents' Forum provided a venue for academics to share their valuable experiences to improve higher education and international cooperation in the region. Hence, the Secretariat of SATU Presidents' Forum has been established at NCKU to coordinate and to promote the related activities.

NCKU President, Academician Michael M.C. Lai, as well as the Chairman of SATU Presidents' Forum, attended together with Dr. Da-Hsuan Feng, the Senior Executive Vice President (SEVP), as well as the Secretary General, and Prof. H. Jenny Su, the Vice President for International Affairs, as well as the secretary of SATU Presidents' Forum sincerely welcomed all the representatives from Southeast Asia.

"SATU was established six years ago by Dr. Chiang Kao, the former President of NCKU. The meeting has been held in Tainan for two times and Taipei. Also we had the youth forum in Thailand two years ago. So the six years we can see SATU organization goes a long way, and has been sustainable and well-established supported along with all members. Two years ago, we expand to India. There are five universities from India become the members in 2007. So I think the organization is very strong this year, and promoted the collaboration during the past six years. SATU provides us with a platform to share our valuable experiences, ideas, and expertise not only to enhance higher education, but to promote international cooperation and collaboration as well," said President Lai.

"Also this year university autonomy become a very hot issue that we need to discuss, and also in this region could make universities more efficient. Living in the midst of the 21st century, when humanity is being constantly challenged and tragedies are being witnessed, misfortunes are daily experiences; but so are the hopes and aspirations as long as we work hard and work together. Universities must challenge to face the 21st century. So universities must have some competitiveness. Universities could collaborate with industry and share all the resources with other universities of SATU. This will create more multinational collaboration not only between different universities but also between industries and universities," said President Lai.

President Lai pointed out that an accomplished student of the 21st century possesses a profound understanding of personal and social responsibility. There is certainly no clear solution to the everyday calamities of the 21st century, but the ability to adapt to constant change is a crucial step towards advancement. The 2007 SATU Youth Forum aimed to empower and encourage students to think outside of the box, encourage them to speak out and be heard, and most importantly to realize their important roles and duty as the future leaders to address and ameliorate the calamities faced by our world today.

Dr. Feng took an example of Purdue-NCKU (Formosa) Project in the U.S. Aid Period, and commented that NCKU had the great achievement today with mostly ministration from Purdue University. All the members of SATU could share the resources and research development experience with each other upgrade the international vision of students but also be efficient in each university.

The resolution of 2009 SATU Steering Committee Meeting are including natural environment as the main discussion area of the 2010 SATU Presidents' forum, the encouragement of memorandum of understanding (MOU) signing between all the members to interactive more efficiently, and the integration and connection within all members to expand the scale of SATU since many members joined more than one international organization. Moreover, there are many members positively as volunteers to hold 2010 SATU Presidents' forum.

About SATU Presidents' Forum

As the Southeast and South Asian region is facing critical challenges in economic, societal, and politic structures, there is a need to gather experts and educators to exchange ideas and face shared challenges. The excellence of universities is an important key to enhance a nation's competitiveness. Therefore, the former President, Prof. Chiang Kao of NCKU together with Presidents of prestigious universities of Southeast Asian countries initiated the "Presidents' Forum of Southeast Asia and Taiwan Universities" (abbreviated as SATU Presidents' Forum) to provide a venue for academics to share their valuable experiences to improve higher education and international cooperation in the region. Hence, the Secretariat of SATU Presidents' Forum (which includes divisions of Secretariat, Academic Exchange, Student Affairs, and Industry-Academia Collaboration) has been established at NCKU to coordinate and to promote the related activities. There are 130 universities including 82 universities from Taiwan, 48 universities from 9 countries. The main mission of SATU Presidents' Forum is to discuss contemporary issues the South and Southeast Asia region are facing, centered in the Forum's theme "Global Humanity Challenge and Pressing Responsibilities of 21st Century Universities."

SATU Presidents' Forum will be held biennially to achieve the following objectives: 1. To strengthen the academic cooperation between Taiwan and Southeast Asian countries. 2. To foster internationalization through academic and cultural exchange and collaboration. 3. To promote the quality of education, research, and community services. 4. To establish exchange programs for university students, faculty and administrative staffs. 5. To enhance partnership between industry and academia. 6. To facilitate sustainable development in economic, social and environmental aspects.

About the Workshop on E-Classroom International Mobility Program

Prof. Su commented that we need to become more proactive in the global effort and bestow upon our future leaders, the tools to become successful sustainable development practitioners. We believe the region of Southeast Asia will continue to increase its level of importance on the world. From matters ranging from environment, to climate change, to politics, and to cultural issues, we will be involved in a spectrum of issues that will affect the world today and tomorrow. This is the time to grab hold of the opportunities we have to embrace our region with cooperative projects and research that will in turn involve and shape the world.

NCKU's mission of educating our students through trans-disciplinary training, practical experiences, and with a humanistic approach, are echoed in the fundamental goals of the proposed program, Master's in Sustainable Development Practice. Even with the numerous programs they offer, NCKU is still in need of an international cross-disciplinary program such as this. They have exceptionally strong programs in the areas of health sciences, natural sciences, engineering, social sciences, and management, but not one program that encompasses them all.

"In recent years, NCKU has made tremendous strides in our efforts to internationalize our university. Amongst the diverse international partnerships throughout the world, NCKU also played key roles in regional organizations which pioneer for improvements and advancements for a globalized education. Since we have the foundation to create an international master's program, we must harness this opportunity to educate our students in becoming responsible world citizens. We need to become more proactive in the global effort and bestow upon our future leaders, the tools to become successful sustainable development practitioners. That is why we will establish the E-Classroom International Mobility Program," said Prof. Su.

"The new Master's in Development Practice Program will be a university-level program, originating from the Office of International Affairs. The Global Classroom promoted effectively in Columbia University in the City of New York when I visited together with my colleagues in February. We understood that NCKU has exceptionally strong programs in the areas of health sciences, natural sciences, engineering, social sciences, and management, but not one program that encompasses them all before this one. We decided to establish 'E-Classroom International Mobility Program' in NCKU. It is similar like the Global Classroom. Prof. Yasuhiro Fukushima of Department of Environment Engineering directed this program. We hope to be well-developed before 2010, and start in fall of 2010," said Prof. Su.

Prof. Su commented that since East Asia, specifically Southeast Asia, has quickly become a major influence in the world today, we believe the responsibility to train a new generation of leader's lies within higher education, particularly in the areas of sustainability, climate, and environmental sciences. As we are in the process of developing this new curriculum, we continue to reach out to partner universities in creating global e-classrooms and regional workshops focusing on environmental issues. Our leadership in the regional organizations of University Mobility in Asia and the Pacific (UMAP) and the Presidents' Forum of Southeast and South Asia and Taiwan Universities (SATU Presidents' Forum) has also been effectively used to discuss with other universities the current issues we are facing.

About National Cheng Kung University (NCKU):

NCKU is located in the ancient city of Tainan, the historical and ancient cultural capital city of Taiwan, which boasts more than 50 national relics sanctioned by the government and is approximately 250 kilometers south of Taipei. It is connected to all major cities in Taiwan by the recently initiated state-of-the-art Taiwan High Speed Rail. Further, this historical heritage is the pride of Tainan City and represents a rich cultural resource to NCKU. The technological sectors in the Southern Taiwan Science Park offer students at NCKU with a stage to apply what they have learned into practice.

With three quarters of a century of distinguished history, with well over 130,000 powerful alumni now dotting the globe, many have achieved supreme successes in arts, business, education, science, technology and healthcare and are ready and willing to assist the 22,000 academic selective students and 1200 academic faculty members. Currently, both have an international flavor, with enormous regional support, and there is a permeating culture of proactive intellectual growth on the world's stage NCKU in Tainan, Taiwan, has evolved from its engineering genesis into a powerful and comprehensive research international university in the Asia Pacific.

Since NCKU's establishment in 1931, it has developed into a research intensive and comprehensive university with integrated academic fields in nine colleges: Liberal Arts, Sciences, Engineering, Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, Planning & Design, Management, Social Sciences, Medicine, and Bioscience & Biotechnology. NCKU currently offers 40 undergraduate programs (excluding the Program of Bachelor's Degree), 78 master's degree programs, 54 doctoral programs and 20 master's degree programs for working professionals.

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