NSYSU is the leading university in Southern Taiwan, and its growth is strongly correlated to that of the Greater Kaohsiung region. Therefore, its developmental blueprint is focused on local and international growth. Since joining the Aim for the Top University Project hosted by the Ministry of Education, NSYSU has been committed to promoting international development, encouraging departments to design degree programs taught in English, and attracting overseas students. The number of degree programs taught in English is increasing year by year. By the 2021 Academic Year, the University has established 16 EMI programs. These programs are the stepping-stones for international expansion. They help the University build an inclusive teaching environment while its international competitiveness is strengthened.
In response to the growing demand for international professionals, NSYSU hosted the Level 1 and Level 2 Administrative Director Consensus Camp in August 2019, rallying executive staff members around achieving the goals of “ranking in the Top 200 in the Academic Ranking of World Universities by 2030” and “establishing a College of Medicine to balance regional medical markets.” Drawing on existing strengths, NSYSU aims to upgrade the university DNA to DNA 4.0 by aligning university development with international standards. Moving forward, the university will focus on improving students’ English proficiency and international mobility and fostering English-speaking social elites and leaders. NSYSU also aims to become one of the top universities globally by streamlining the recruitment of international teachers, researchers, and administrators; strengthening international research; fostering students’ interdisciplinary abilities; expanding students' worldview; and ensuring administrative processes align with international standards.
NSYSU’s development plan is divided into several components: education, internationalization, research, industry-university cooperation, and administrative support. Internationalization entails expanding students’ international reach, increasing international faculty, establishing international strategic alliances, and strengthening international promotion and marketing. To achieve these objectives, the university formulated an internationalization policy aiming to increase the percentage of international teachers to 15% by 2025 and over 20% by 2030, that of international students to 20%, and that of courses taught in English to 15%.
In response to the Bilingual Language Policy by President Tsai, NSYSU formulated a sweeping 10-year EMI teaching enhancement program to transform the university into a bilingual institution. In addition to building a diversified, effective, and competitive education system centered on English learning and creating a favorable environment for learning English listening, speaking, reading, and writing, NSYSU aims to attract outstanding international students and ramp up the cultivation of highly skilled professionals for key industries in Taiwan. To overcome the challenges of fierce international competition in higher education and cross-domain transformation, NSYSU conceptualized the 2030 NSYSU Vision, focusing on ranking in the Top 200 in the Academic Ranking of World Universities by 2030.
Therefore, NSYSU not only promoted the EMI policy in a top-down way, but also reached a campus-wide consensus through two-way communication from the bottom-up. We have a comprehensive promotion plan covering the dimensions of the organization, faculty, students, courses, and the environment.