President Kuan Visits UIC to Promote Bilateral Collaboration

President Chung-Ming Kuan (管中閔) and his leadership team have fully committed to internationalizing NTU since taking office. In mid-April, President Kuan, along with Deputy Vice President for International Affairs Chris Lin (林俊昇), visited the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) to discuss with them the strategic collaboration between the two universities. During his visit, President Kuan was also invited by NTU Alumni Association in Chicago to give a talk on his vision and plans moving forward.

UIC, formerly known as the Colleges of Medicine, Dentistry, and Pharmacy, has the largest college of medicine in all of the United States and is ranked among the top in medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, and nursing in the US. Considered one of the top three universities in the Greater Chicago region along with the University of Chicago and Northwestern University, UIC is also the main training center for medical staff in Illinois. President Kuan and his delegation had an intensive, well-scheduled visit. Not only did he share with UIC how he planned to further internationalize NTU, but he also brought up the concept of “NTU Hub,” which aims to make NTU the academic hub in Asia by collaborating with internationally recognized universities and by creating academically prestigious interdisciplinary research groups. President Kuan also stated that he hoped UIC would see NTU as a strategic partner in Asia, which UIC responded positively. According to UIC, they are working to establish strategic partnership programs with NTU, hoping to provide both sides with more opportunities for cooperation and interaction. President Kuan and Deputy Vice President for International Affairs Lin were also invited by UIC Chancellor Michael Amiridis to attend the banquet held at his residence, meeting with UIC's faculty and deans from different colleges. Chancellor Amiridis promised during the banquet that he would lead a delegation to NTU to further discuss the collaboration between the two universities.

President Kuan was well-received during the visit. Not only did the chancellor and the vice chancellor personally welcome and speak with him, but they also introduced the delegation to the Colleges of Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy, Nursing, Engineering, Business Administration, and the Innovation Center, for in-depth discussion on the possibilities of creating dual master’s and PhD programs, overseas internship and apprenticeship opportunities, customized summer programs, visiting scholars program, as well as collaborative research projects. More specifically, the delegation sought to establish interdisciplinary collaborative projects with the College of Medicine on important issues such as the betterment of medical education and the training of hospital administrators. Also, it pushed for overseas internship programs as well as the sandwich scholarship program, which allows PhD students from NTU to apply for studying at UIC for three months twice and be co-mentored by professors from both universities, with the College of Nursing and the College of Pharmacy. In addition, the delegation discussed with the College of Business Administration to see if both sides could work out a way to establish a dual MBA/MS degree program without having to change the current school system and relevant regulations. This dual degree program will allow MBA students from NTU to intern in the US for three years, and, given the fact that Chicago is an international hub for finance and commerce, such an opportunity will undoubtedly help students from NTU with their global competitiveness.

The consensuses reached during this visit have opened up a brand new door for NTU to push for internationalization. In the future, NTU will continue working strategically with more and more internationally recognized universities and eventually make itself an important flagship university in Asia.