Higher Education SPROUT Project

Improvements in student learning: The University has established four student learning outcome assessment indicators: basic ability, interdisciplinary ability, employability, and innovation ability. Assessment results for 2019 showed that 79% of students have achieved the required rubric scores for all four assessment indicators. In 2017, 30% of undergraduate students completed a programming design course, in 2018 this number increased to 54%, and in 2019 60.9% of students completed the course. In the past two years, all students have taken an interdisciplinary course and completed an internship. In 2017, the University had 22 innovation and entrepreneurship courses. The number of courses increased to 78 in 2018 and 87 in 2019, which is a 3.9-times increase over three years. The number of students who took these courses increased 2.9 times from 1,827 in 2017 to 2,639 in 2018 and 4,891 in 2019. With regard to the improvement of teaching quality, the percentage of lecturers using innovative teaching methods increased from 40% in 2017 to 56% in 2018 and 67% in 2019.

Development of the University’s defining characteristics: The University has continued to expand life education and environmental sustainability as the main pillars of the curriculum. The percentage of faculty members and students achieving assessment standards in vitality reached 71% and 73% respectively. This percentage increased to 83% and 78% respectively in 2019. In addition, with regard to promotion and expansion of life education, the University has assisted high schools in strengthening life education and provided support mechanisms where required. The number of participating high schools increased from 49 in 2018 to 70 in 2019. The number of school personnel participating in this program reached 92%. The internationalization strategy of the University has yielded outstanding results. The percentage of foreign students at the University increased from 6.2% in 2016 to 13.5% in 2019. Furthermore, the number of students that has participated in exchange programs or attended international conferences increased from 9.9% to 13%.

Improvements in public accessibility of higher education: By strengthening the mechanisms to support the underprivileged, the percentage of underprivileged students with overall rubric scores that attained the assessment standards for the four assessment indicators (basic ability, interdisciplinary ability, employability, and innovation ability) reached 80% in 2019. In terms of improving the quality and quantity of faculty members, the number of associate professors or above employed at the University stands at 59%. In order to provide a high level of transparency for matters related to the management of the University, regular information updates on the public platform have been provided periodically. In addition, accountability reports and student learning assessment reports for 2019 have been regularly published, as well as feedbacks from surveys on the overall management of the University.

Obligation to social responsibility: The University and Fo Guang Shan have been promoting ten life education courses in which 82,000 participated from January to July 2019. In addition, the University hosted food and agriculture workshops in 2018 and 2019, in which 26 and 56 high school teachers respectively, participated. The University also worked tirelessly to collaborate with local communities, as a result, the University was awarded three University Social Responsibility (USR) projects by the Ministry of Education from 2018-2019. These projects yield significant results, in which the University was ranked number one for tertiary institutions with 6,000 students or fewer. Moreover, the University has formed academia-industry alliances with local companies and enterprises with a total of 11 collaborations in 2017, 43 in 2018, and 102 in 2019, which is a nine-fold increase over three years averaging five collaboration per academic department.

The promotion of the University’s defining characteristics has achieved outstanding results. Even with the low birth rate in the country, which is having a severe impact on university enrollments, Nanhua University has been able to achieve a high student registration rate of 94.39% in 2018, ranking the University first in all private universities. In 2019, the registration rate further increased to 95.43%. It is clear that in combination with the SPROUT project, the University has been able to promote our distinguishing characteristics and attract prospective students. Nanhua University will continue to strive with the vision to become an “International University for Life Education” and a “Carbon Neutral, Green University”.

▌The Pursuit of Environmental Sustainability Goals: Establishing a Sustainable Campus

In the past few years, the University has been promoting environmental sustainability initiatives, which has yielded exceptional results in our pursuit of attaining a carbon-neutral campus. The University’s Sustainability Center in collaboration with the sustainability volunteer team have been hosting various environmental education training courses and sustainability-related national and international conferences to share our experiences with attendees on climate change topics. In 2019, the University supported 56 elementary and middle schools to promote food and agriculture education, in which 161 up-and-coming teachers participated. In addition, Nanhua University has been actively promoting environmental education and vegetarianism, which has resulted in the University winning numerous awards in various categories related to environmental sustainability management. These awards include: the first ever Gold Award from the National Corporate Environmental Protection Award, a Gold Award from the Taiwan Corporate Sustainability Award (TCSA), the Taiwan Top 50 Corporate Sustainability Award, and the 25^th National Quality Award: Sustainable Development Award. The University was also ranked in the top 100 of the Green University Worldwide rankings from 2016-2018. In particular, Nanhua University was ranked 66^th in the world by Green University Worldwide in 2018, which included being ranked the number 1 university in Taiwan for waste management, joint number 1 for transportation, and number 2 for water resources. The pursuit for environmental sustainability is a shared vision for all faculty members and students. The University will continue to strive to realize the goal of attaining a sustainable campus and a carbon neutral, green university”.

▌The Pearl Project – Achieving Success through Self-Accomplishments

The Pearl Project is aimed at cultivating positive attributes in students by improving their problem-solving abilities, increasing their self-confidence, and realizing their potential through their own accomplishments. In 2019, there were 12 Pearl Projects that were completed, some of which involved students that experienced major difficulties and challenges in their lives. Under the guidance of their project advisors, participating in these projects became a turning point in the lives of these students where they were able to turn a new leaf and start anew. The experiences of these students will be compiled into Letters of a Pearl Student and be made available in the National Central Library collection.

＊Example: Pearl Project: You Are Not Alone in Your Journey Through Life

This Pearl Project was aimed at nurturing a student from the Department of Life and Death Studies. A professor, who is also a life counselor, has had first-hand experience in seeing incidents of family breakups that led to the separation of students from their families. The sense of loss and helplessness that these students felt gave the professor a new mission in life. As a result, she used the opportunity in class to brainstorm an idea that led to the birth of the “You are Not Alone” card. The professor shared this idea with an advisor of the Pearl Project and they came to the decision to create and promote the “You are Not Alone” card. During 2019, the Pearl Project student led a team of classmates to create the You are Not Alone” cards, which have been used as a tool for students who have experienced a sense of loss in their lives to express and alleviate their emotional challenges.

▌From Concept to Action: The I/WE CAN Project

With the goal of training students to develop the ability to solve problems independently, the University initiated the I/WE CAN project in 2015. The initiative centers on the following processes: ‘passion’, ‘imagination’, ‘practice’, and ‘share’. We encourage students to be innovative in their thinking and keep an “I Can Do It” mindset to pursue and act on their ideas. In 2019, all ten I/WE CAN projects that were initiated were completed, resulting in a 100% accomplishment rate.

＊Example: I/WE CAN Team Project: Self-reliance & Self-supporting & Independent – Experience and Learn through Adventure

This team based their project on children from rural or disadvantaged families. The team, which included a therapist with backgrounds in mental health and social work as well as a counselor, set out on bicycles on a 7-day adventure therapy session. The theme for each day was: set the goal, search for survival tools, finding yourself, express and respect, learn to serve others, self-reliance and coexist, and set out again. The rules of the 7-day adventure included: not bringing money, no electronic devices and illegal substances, no requesting for assistance, and leaving no-one behind. By completing this adventure therapy course, students were able to learn more about themselves, learn about self-value, learn about facing and talking to themselves.

▌Expanding Life Education and Enhancing the Value of One’s Life

The University has organized Coming-of-Age ceremonies, mindfulness courses, and life education courses, which have been shown to improve the vitality of faculty members and students. Nanhua University has also provided assistance to various schools to develop their life education curricula through official and non-official courses to model their campus culture based on life education. In collaboration with Buddha’s Light International Association (R.O.C.), in 2019 about 82,000 people from various schools enrolled in ten life education courses that the University provided. In 2019, 83% and 78% of faculty members and students, respectively, reached the assessment standards for vitality. Nanhua University also actively assists vocational high schools in enhancing their life education and putting in place support mechanisms. In 2019, up-and-coming lecturers of the Life Education and Care project, which was responsible for organizing life education forums, hosted 70 such forums with about 22,200 attendees, of which the vitality rates of 92% of school staff members were shown to have improved. For four consecutive years from 2016-2019, the University received the Social Services Award, which is testament to the efforts and dedication the University has put in to the promotion of life education in society.