Tainan National University of the Arts has achieved significant results in teaching innovation, social responsibility, industry-academia collaboration, and public accessibility through its 2023–2024 Higher Education Sprout Project. While challenges remain, here is a summary of key achievements and highlights:
In teaching innovation, the university has enhanced digital education through practical workshops, built a modular resource library, and supported faculty in developing interactive digital courses. These efforts have steadily improved teaching effectiveness. A new credit incentive system has successfully encouraged student participation in interdepartmental projects, leading to improved cross-disciplinary collaboration and problem-solving skills.
Despite these advances, some faculty members still need additional support with digital teaching skills. The university plans more practical workshops to strengthen digital tool usage in course design and assessment. Student engagement in self-directed and interdisciplinary learning remains a challenge, especially in high-autonomy interdepartmental courses. The scheduling and resource allocation for these courses also needs improvement to enhance teaching effectiveness and student practice.
In social responsibility, the university has successfully implemented arts education initiatives across various regions, combining institutional resources with local characteristics. While these efforts have advanced the social practice of art among faculty and students—particularly in rural and regional revitalization—the projects remain somewhat fragmented. Future efforts will focus on developing a more comprehensive approach.
The university's industry-academia collaboration has yielded 70 projects during 2023–2024, partnering with the Ministry of Culture, local governments, museums, art galleries, and private enterprises. These collaborations span cultural heritage preservation, art history research, regional revitalization, creative design, and immersive exhibitions—showcasing strong interdisciplinary integration. However, the university faces resource constraints that limit project outcomes. Future plans include pursuing larger-scale projects to better demonstrate the institution's professional and interdisciplinary capabilities.
Efforts to enhance higher education accessibility have increased enrollment of economically and culturally disadvantaged students. The "Stars Recommendation" scheme and priority admission measures have met all KPI targets. The university conducts extensive outreach through recruitment campaigns and art promotion activities in remote areas, including Yilan, Hualien, Taitung, Penghu, and Kinmen, hosting 17–33 activities annually from 2018 to 2024.
The low student-to-faculty ratio enables instructors to quickly identify learning difficulties, address psychological concerns, and provide timely support through collaborative problem-solving approaches. However, recent years have seen fewer disadvantaged students advancing through the admission process, particularly in the application and TVE Joint College Entrance program. This has resulted in decreased applications for exam fee waivers and interview travel subsidies. The university remains committed to developing strategies to support these students' access to higher education.
In alignment with national policies, the university continues to integrate art and culture while developing distinctive courses and research projects that bridge academia and society. Building on its artistic foundation, the institution is expanding its humanities and social sciences offerings, with attention to local culture and industry needs. This approach aims to nurture needed artistic talent and strengthen the nation's cultural soft power.