A Study of the Possibility for Goverance and Autonomy in Taiwan Higher Education

• Main Authors: Pi-chiu Kang, 康碧秋
• Other Authors: Gtien-hui Chian
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2013
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/95742759932206078023

碩士 === 國立臺南大學 === 教育學系教育經營與管理碩士班 === 101 === With the relaxation of national policies and regulations on the establishment of universities, the number of colleges and universities in Taiwan has been increasing sharply over the past decade. However, as the government budget allocated for higher education is decreasing year on year, many educational institutions have found it difficult to maintain the flexibility needed to perform their organizational functions and responsibilities according to existing laws. In response to greater global competition, and following trends seen in the educational systems of Japan and England, it has been proposed that national universities be corporatized to raise their competitiveness. Ideally, administrative corporatization can enable an institution to perform its public functions with increased administrative efficiency within a de-politicized context. While such moves allow institutions more flexibility in terms of management and operations, they require the phasing out of civil service concepts of employment, as well as greater financial independence, to decrease reliance on state funding. However, these proposals have met with strong opposition from existing faculty and administrative staff, and thus steps toward greater corporatization have not yet been included in the University Act. Based on a review of the literature on government policies related to national university corporatization, this study adopted a qualitative approach to perform in-depth interviews with faculty and staff members of various institutions involved in projects to increase autonomous school governance. It aims to understand the problems that arose due to earlier university corporatization initiatives, as well as current moves in the direction of school autonomy. Based on the results, this study presents a number of suggestions to improve school administration and enhance innovation in the promotion of greater university autonomy.