National Chengchi University

Chrissie Lu

December 1982

中文

Students like to read on the campus' large fields.

National Chengchi University, founded in Nanking in 1927, is now located in the Taipei suburb of Mucha. It was originally a public administration school for training civil servants and government cadres. The late President Chiang Kai-shek was the first principal of the school. Later on, it was enlarged to include departments of education, diplomacy, land economics, journalism, and the graduate divisions of political science and political economy. The institute was reorganized and given its present name in 1946.

The university was re-established in Mucha in November 1954 and consists of three colleges: Liberal Arts and Sciences, Law, and Commerce. Today there are 23 departments and 18 graduate schools. The most outstanding are the Graduate School of Business Administration, the Department of Journalism, and the Department of Diplomacy. Altogether there are about 6,000 students in the university, which besides the main campus, also includes the smaller Center for Public and Business Administration Education and the Institute of International Relations.

The university emphasizes social sciences and administration. Its graduate schools of Public Administration, Business Administration, Journalism, East Asian Studies, Land Economics, and International Law and Diplomacy are unique in the country and highly regarded. Because of its special emphasis in these fields, most of the graduates of Chengchi University serve in the government or other public organizations.

The current president of the university is Ou-yang Hsun, who assumed his position in 1977. Dr. Ou-yang is an economist by training and has brought his expertise in this field to his administration of the school. Current plans call for expansion of the campus through construction on the mountain behind the school, increasing the area of the campus by 600%. Last year a "ten year plan" was drawn up which includes plans to convert the Departments of Law, Diplomacy, and Journalism into separate colleges. When the plan is fully carried out Chengchi University's three colleges will be increased to eight.

The resources that have been developed at Chengchi University over the last 30 years have made it second to none in social science research, nationally. Teaching facilities, teachers, and students are all first rate. For example, besides the main library there is the Social Science Materials Center which contains much valuable and exclusive information. It is considered the most complete repository of social science materials in the country.

The Graduate School of Business Administration is one of the most well-known within the university. Because students in the school come from a diverse background (there are those from electronics, mechanics, and engineering as well as business and law) there are many different viewpoints and attitudes towards business. The school is renown for the free flow of ideas that exists within its walls. Two years ago a program was started for "post professional" students with prior work experience. This has added to the diversity of the students in the school and led to a vigorous give and take between students, post professionals, and professors, from which all benefit greatly.

The facilities of the Department of Journalism are first rate and the department is housed in its own building. Within the building is a TV studio which rivals those at the three TV stations within the ROC. Additionally, there are many opportunities for practical work experience and by their junior and senior years most students are already acting like professional reporters. The department's reputation has even spread abroad and almost half of the students there are overseas Chinese.

Their junior year all students in the department work on putting out the "Cha Mei Report", a weekly newspaper which reports on news in the Mucha-Chingmei area. All reporting, photography, editing, advertising, and business is handled by the students. To supplement this experience, during the summer vacation before their senior year, students co-op at news organizations around the nation.

The Department of Diplomacy is the only one of its kind within the ROC. Diplomacy majors must possess strong foreign language abilities, a quick reaction time, a sense of humor, and a clear understanding of other cultures' customs and habits. Because of this, students within the department take a wide variety of courses before graduation.

It is difficult for diplomacy majors to get real practical training so they often invite foreign and Chinese diplomats to come to Cheng-chi University to lecture. Every year they also hold a "Diplomacy Week" and stage either a mock meeting of the United Nations or an International Students Conference to become better acquainted with the procedures, order, and conduct of international forums.

It is probably because diplomacy majors must study such a broad range of subjects that students cultivate many different interests and discover many hidden talents. One result is that after graduation many diplomacy majors go into other fields of endeavor and often end up at the top of those fields.

Since the National Chengchi University moved to Taiwan 30 years ago it has continually expanded and grown, becoming one of the leading schools in the nation and a major source of government and business leaders. As the university moves ahead into the future it can only add to its proud history, turning out even more leaders of tomorrow.

[Picture Caption]

1. Students like to read on the campus' large fields. 2. The Social Science Materials Center houses many valuable reference materials. 3. The Department of International Trade among others is located in this building. 4. The Chung Cheng Library. 5. Audio-visual equipment can also be used as teaching aids.

1. The Department of Journalism. 2. President Ou-yang has continually worked to improve and expand the university's facilities during his five year tenure. 3. A cafeteria. 4. The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences' office. 5. The Graduate School of Business Administration has worked together with computer companies who have donated computers to the university. 6. In order to facilitate access to the new campus being built on the mountain this bridge has been built making the old one obsolete.

1. The school motto: "Camaraderie". 2. The newly constructed gymnasium. 3. The Department of Journalism's TV studio can be compared favorably with any on the island. 4. May 20 is the school's Activity Day and students vie for awards in athletic events. 5. After this stream is covered over to make a field, it will only be a memory to be seen in photos. 6. Gazing at the College of Law from the gymnasium. 7. A woman's dormitory.

1. Students studying while they bask in the sun. 2. The gymnasium is fully equipped and many different kinds of courses are offered there. 3. At dusk few students are to be found on the athletic field. 4. This is one of the students' favorite spots to gather and chat.