University Administrators Gather at NTU to Discuss Talent Sustainability

As a prelude to its 90th Anniversary Celebration this year, NTU organized the 13th University Administrators Workshop (UAW) from March 7–8 at the Administration Building on the NTU Main Campus. This workshop drew more than 100 university international affairs administrators from 23 universities in 12 countries. In 2017, NTU’s Office of International Affairs (OIA) succeeded in making NTU the next host of the workshop. One year later, the OIA successfully gathered senior university administrators across the world to discuss how to foster sustainable talent systems to support the development of universities’ international activities and strategies.

Initiated by Kyoto University, the UAW has been organized annually for 13 years to provide a platform for international affairs administrators from top universities in Asia to conduct in-depth and extensive discussions on higher-education international strategies and policies. This year, the participating universities included Kyoto University, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Chulalongkorn University, Prince of Songkla University, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, University of Hong Kong, University of California, Davis, University of Sydney, University of Bordeaux, Korea University, National University of Malaysia, Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education, and National Taiwan Normal University.

NTU’s Vice President for International Affairs, Prof. Luisa Shu-Ying Chang (張淑英), welcomed the attendees with opening remarks on the first day. A series of engaging and thought-provoking activities took place afterwards, including parallel discussions, a poster session, and cross-cutting reflections and dialogues between groups.

The main theme for this year was “Fostering Sustainable Talent Systems for University Administrators Responsible for International/Global Activities and Strategies.” The theme was divided into three sub-themes: (1) employment and promotion systems, (2) knowledge management, and (3) on-job competency. The participants were broken into sub-theme groups, exchanging their views and experiences surrounding these topics and finally presenting group reports on the second day before the closing of the workshop. During discussion, a variety of related topics were also brought up and considered, including how to retain international affairs personnel, increase administrative efficiency through big data, and improve the personnel’s cross-cultural communication and teamwork skills.

Specifically, the 13th UAW featured a poster session, where participants of each participating university were invited to design and present a poster introducing their operating strategies and optimal practice, share their experiences at the workshop, and finally vote for the most effective and forward-looking administrative system introduced in the session.

One of the centerpieces was the Panel Talk by Senior International Offices, where Vice President Chang joined senior officers from Kyoto University, University of Hong Kong, University of California, Davis, Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education, and Prince of Songkla University in sharing their views on the role of higher education in internationalization and the career development of university international affairs administrators.

The workshop culminated in a Group Report session, in which every sub-theme group presented and shared the key points of their one-and-a-half-day discussion, collaboratively creating a blue ocean strategy for higher education and internationalization. In the past 13 years, the UAW has demonstrated great success in bringing together university administrators worldwide to discuss and further higher-education internationalization as well as talent development and retention. In the future, the workshop will continue to serve as a platform for all strategic partners, including NTU, to fulfil these goals.

(Source: Yu-Ru Yang, Manager of Global Alliances, NTU Office of International Affairs)