The National Dong Hwa University (NDHU) Higher Education Sprout Project (2025-2027) centers on the core concept of "AI-driven, Sustainability-empowered." It is dedicated to promoting campus-wide innovation in teaching, cultivating essential student competencies, and ensuring the sustainable development of institutional operations, thereby addressing educational digitalization and diverse societal needs.
During the 2025–2027 project period, the initiative will be based on the UNESCO AI Competency Framework for Students. By integrating AI technologies into university governance and teaching, the project aims to gradually establish adaptive administrative and instructional models, thereby enhancing educational quality and fostering holistic development. A summary of the achievements and highlights for 2025 is presented below:
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Advancement in Teaching Innovation
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Enhancing AI Literacy
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NDHU is elevating the AI literacy of its faculty and students by integrating the UNESCO AI Competency Framework. This includes implementing a campus-wide AI Seed Teacher Training Mechanism, requiring each department to recommend at least one faculty member to receive systematic training across four workshops, ranging from AI ethics to AI integration in their professional fields.
Figure 1. Launch of the AI Seed Teacher Training Program at our university
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Establishing an AI Teaching Resource Database
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A comprehensive AI tool teaching database has been developed. The content spans from fundamental operations of generative AI tools to practical AI applications in teaching and effective integration techniques within specific academic disciplines.
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Promoting the IDEAS Curriculum
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The IDEAS program, standing for Innovation, Design, Explore/Experience, AI Technology, and Skills, is being promoted to refine curriculum instruction. This initiative encourages faculty to utilize innovative teaching models that combine competency-oriented concepts with generative AI tools for course design. A mid-term course review indicated that "Faculty-Student Interaction" was the highest-rated item, achieving a score of 4.57 out of 5.0.
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Enriching Student AI Education via TAICA Alliance
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As a member of the second phase of the Taiwan AI College Alliance (TAICA), the university launched 8 AI-related courses in 2025, with a total enrollment of 94 students.
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Fulfilling Social Responsibility
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Commitment to Campus Sustainability
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NDHU received significant recognition in the Taiwan University Sustainability Awards, earning the titles of "Top 10 Exemplary Sustainable Universities in Taiwan" and the "Platinum Award for Sustainability Reports." Furthermore, President Hui-Ming Hsu was honored with the "Outstanding Sustainable Leader Award."
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Global Impact Ranking Acknowledgment
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The university’s score in the Times Higher Education (THE) 2024 University Impact Rankings improved by 2.5 points compared to the previous year, placing NDHU in a tie for 12th among participating Taiwanese universities.
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Developing Sustainability curriculum
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NDHU has established several sustainability-focused programs, including interdisciplinary and local specialty programs such as the "Carbon Neutrality Micro-Program," the "Environmental Disaster Monitoring and Prevention Micro-Program," the "Sustainable Development and Carbon Management Micro-Program," and local courses like "Local Social Practice" and "Organic Agriculture Guidance."
Figure 2. Students from the “Disaster Prevention Micro-Program” receiving awards for their project on the large-scale landslide-prone area in Hualien County: Antong Tribe as the study site
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Responding to Regional Disasters
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In response to the overflow event at the Mata'an Creek landslide dam this year, the university provided academic expertise by establishing the "Mata'an Creek Landslide Dam Monitoring Records" website and actively supporting disaster relief efforts in the Guangfu region with faculty and student assistance.
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Connecting Industry-Academia Collaboration
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Specialized Internship Course Offerings
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Eighteen internship-related courses were offered, focusing on themes such as AI, smart medicine, pesticide residue testing, and cultural and creative industry internships, aligning with the regional characteristics of Hualien and Taitung.
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Developing an AI Agricultural Autonomous Vehicle
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Students actively engaged in field practice and industry-academia collaboration by participating in the development and field testing of an AI-driven autonomous vehicle for watermelon farming. This innovation addresses the local labor shortage issue in agriculture.
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Training Talent in Sustainable Pesticide Residue Testing
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Recognizing Hualien County as a major non-toxic agriculture area in Taiwan, the university prioritizes student technical training in pesticide residue testing and rapid screening application, providing cross-disciplinary integrated learning experiences in real-world settings.
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Supporting Student Entrepreneurship
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An indigenous student team (qsurux_qraqil) was successfully mentored to secure the first phase of the Ministry of Education's Youth Development Administration's "Original U-start" entrepreneurship grant.
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Enhancing the Public Mission of Higher Education
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Digitization of Student Affairs System
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The university established the front-end system foundation and simultaneously planned the data governance and back-end analysis architecture. This initiative is gradually evolving the student affairs service model into one driven by data-informed decision-making.
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Cultivating Distinctive Student Learning Teams
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Guided by the spirit of "Gathering, Learning, and Co-creation," two unique student teams were mentored to successfully organize "New Student Orientation," "Campus Cultural and Entertainment Events," and the "NDHU Night Market." These events not only introduced local vendors but also actively promoted sustainable and environmentally friendly practices, encouraging students to reduce single-use waste.
Figure 3. Charity sale held at the Dong Hwa Night Market in response to the Matai’an Creek barrier lake overflow event
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Support for Economically Disadvantaged Students
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Beyond financial aid, and in response to the rise of AI tools, the "Learning and Empowerment" initiatives offered diverse activities, including AI tool application workshops, Notion digital note-taking, certification tutorials for MOS-Excel and Word, language courses, pre-employment makeup and interview simulations, financial literacy, and stress-relief handicraft sessions. A cumulative total of over 800 participants attended these sessions, with overall satisfaction scores consistently above 4.2 on a 5-point scale.
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