Advance HE, a foundation with more than 400 global universities in partnership and over 150,000 Higher Education Academy (HEA) Fellowship members worldwide, has recently written an article through the international media featuring the achievements and long-term efforts of National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (NYCU) on the training of faculties in the higher education. The article mentioned that NYCU has cultivated 121 HEA Fellowship members included in the university-level Teachers’ Day Ceremony this year. More than 30 teaching, mentoring, and curriculum awards were awarded to those dedicated faculties of NYCU.
Advance HE said that NYCU had accumulated more than 100 HEA Fellowship members from 17 colleges, proving that the university has established a solid teaching support system and formed a culture of professional teaching development. Ian Hall, Head of International Membership in Advance HE, also praised the efforts made by the university, “This milestone is a great recognition and acknowledgment for the team of NYCU, and Advance HE will continue to work with NYCU and continue to bring out more dazzling projects in the future.”
Since 2018 (in Chiao Tung University before the merger), former President Mau-Chung Frank Chang and Advance HE introduced the Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (CLTHE) to Taiwan. In August 2019, the first Center of Higher Education Accreditation for Teaching (HEAT) was founded in Taiwan. Since then, the program has held Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (CLTHE) every year. Through internationally credentialed professional teaching training, the program helps teachers, doctoral students, and post-doctorates to enhance their professional knowledge in higher education while assisting participants in applying for a certificate of higher education with international credentials. So far, the program has cultivated more than 166 faculty members and doctoral students from National Taiwan University, National Tsing Hua University, and National Cheng Kung University, with 121 of them being awarded the International Higher Education Academy Fellowship at various levels. Last year, Prof. Ta-Sung Lee and Prof. Henry Horng-Shing Lu were awarded the HEA Principal Fellowship for their long-term commitment and leadership in teaching strategies to enhance teaching effectiveness.
NYCU’s Higher Education Accreditation for Teaching (HEAT) program highlights the 25 HEA Fellowship faculty as the core faculty team to support faculty teaching and curriculum development in different colleges. More than 20 faculty members trained initially by our program returned to our team to collaborate with Advance HE international lecturers. Such collaboration enables the training to meet global trends and theories in the field of higher education teaching while also reflecting the local cultures and scenarios of higher education in Taiwan. It may thus promote the professional development of teaching among participants and create an excellent higher education environment for Taiwan.
According to Lu-Chun Lin, the Director of the Higher Education Accreditation for Teaching (HEAT), the program has been dedicated to building a system of certification for training teachers and doctoral students. It has been featured in the international media in the past five years. The results have been further recognized internationally through published articles in global media. As the article written by Advance HE published, it will significantly enhance the international visibility and reputation of NYCU, with more than 150,000 HEA members from the Advance HE organization.
NYCU has long been working on international theories of higher education, trends and how to put them into practice under Taiwan’s current local higher educational system to elevate the quality of professionalized teaching on university campuses. Currently, the university’s Higher Education Accreditation for Teaching (HEAT) program is the only international member of Advance HE in Taiwan. The school will continue to cooperate strategically with Advance HE and expect to expand the training to other university teachers with international credibility while meeting the needs of higher education in Taiwan to create an excellent higher education environment.