Taiwaneers

A few months back the school had a meeting where all the class leaders (you take all your classes with the same group of people and you elect class leaders) met with Ming Chuan University’s president, Dr. Lee, and MCU’s department heads. I went because I am vice-leader of my class. At that meeting one of the International College graduate students suggested that the same type of thing occur for all IC (International College) students to attend and ask questions, voice concerns, etc.

Today was a culmination of that suggestion. The president was good enough to give us a little over an hour of his time. It was quite an interesting meeting. Anyone that likes studying the effects of globalization and cross-cultural communication would have been feverishly taking notes and making analysis.

Basically one of us students would say something, the president would say something very general like how much he cared about our concerns, etc., then the president’s crony who oversaw the stuff that the question or comment was directed at would respond, and then the president would make another general comment about how important we international students are. It was very interesting to hear the different styles of speaking and questions from the students and then hear the styles of responses. One very interesting thing I observed was my Taiwanese classmate, while nervous, asked his question without sugar-coating and then listened to his response from the president looking him straight in the eye. This was interesting because here I would have expected a Taiwanese student to look down at the middle of the president’s body while the president talked to him showing respect and not “challenging” the President’s authority. My classmate must really be fed up with MCU.

I broke the ice with the first question. I asked if the university could have some sort of standard for IC professors in regards to their English proficiency. The president told a story about how, while he was studying for his Ph. D in the United States he had an Indian and also a Pakistani professor who it was very hard to understand. the IC Dean then talked about how all professors have to take English tests to get into their various Ph. D programs so their English was at least at “that” standard. She said that we students should come to our department directors if professors are seriously lacking English ability. We as a class did go to them a few weeks ago about a professor so we’ll see what happens.

All in all I was pleased by the meeting. I was pleased that MCU’s president was making such a public display of his support for international students and communicating to his staff that they had better take care of us or else. I am displeased however as to his expectations of his staff. I believe he understaffs the IC and therefore the staff that is in place cannot get to our needs, even though they’d like to. The IC staff, from what I can see, are hard workers and want to do a good job but simply because they are forced into that place of always dealing with the urgent, the important is put off.

President Lee definitely does care about us. Under his leadership Ming Chuan University has built its International College, one of the first of its kind in Asia. Now MCU is in the middle of the process for receiving accredidation from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education in the United States. His words today were something like: ‘we want MCU to be an American university in Taiwan.’ It should be noted at this point that that is perceived to be a good thing and a furthermore a prestigious thing. President Lee correctly pointed out that while many universities around Asia have international colleges, Ming Chuan’s is very diverse in terms of student populations with seventy countries represented. Under his leadership MCU has been very aggressive in recruiting students from all corners of the world.

I believe MCU can, as president Lee said they would, become very reknowned in Asia and throughout the world for a unique, international, college experience. MCU can also miss that mark however. President Lee must now, without dropping recruitment of students completely, shift priorities to building infrastructure, and support mechanisms so that faculty will want to stay on a long-term basis, as well as provide students a college experience that engenders endearment and life-long support for MCU. I fear that if this shift does not happen within the next five years his vision will crumble and other Asian universities will catch up to and pass Ming Chuan in the international student niche.