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Office of Human Resources Holds Seminar for New Department Heads for 2013 Academic Year

Date 2013-08-13 4395 Clicks

A seminar for new department heads in the 2013 Academic Year was held August 7th and 8th at the Lanyang Campus Clement Chang International Conference Hall and the Evergreen Resort Hotel in Jiaosi. The seminar included a services report for the Office of Academic Affairs and the Office of Human Resources. In addition, invitations were sent to the Dean of the College of Engineering, He Chii-dong, to share the experience of being a senior dean, the Director of the Graduate Institute of China Studies, Chang Wu-ueh, to share the experience of being a senior department head, the Dean of the School of Business and Management, Chiu Chien-liang, to speak about leadership philosophy and communication skills, and the Dean of the School of Education, Chang Dian-fu, to lecture on team management and administration. A relaxing afternoon tea, an evening dinner gathering and a karaoke event were also arranged for the participants.

Vice-President of Academic Affairs Gwo-hsing Yu presided over the seminar, and in his opening remarks, he first welcomed the new department heads to the executive team, saying that everyone who joined the school was bringing new thinking and vitality. VP Yu encouraged all the newly-appointed department heads to comply with the three directives for the handover ceremony for new department heads held August 1st: 1) department heads are asked to focus on efficiency and a fast pace; 2) each department head should arrange off-campus visits to conduct benchmarking studies so as to better understand his/her own strengths and weaknesses; 3) and most importantly was the presentation of innovative ideas and practices. If each department head can practice these directives, it is felt that school events will be more prosperous. VP Yu further expressed the sentiment that the new department heads are members of the school’s new generation and can overcome any difficulties in times of trouble. Tamkang is a place where aspirations can be developed and where pressures and frustrations that one has been burdened with can be recalled in the future as the most substantial and sweet of memories.

TKU President Flora Chi-I Chang fully participated in the first day’s agenda, presenting Stephen Convey’s book, “The 3rd Alternative: Solving Life’s Most Difficult Problems,” to the new colleagues. President Chang emphasized that leadership is not natural and must be learned, asking which roles the serving department heads should play, and suggesting that this should be like the book’s basic premise, that people should think of a manner by which “your method” and “my method” change into “our method,” that is, collaborative innovation. The president further remind new department heads of the following points: 1) They will definitely want to make use of the summer to gain a detailed understanding of the relevant regulations because regulations are often revised whenever appropriate at the current moment, and not only are they archived, it is hoped that everyone will understand the changes in the rules. 2) In September school will begin and a discussion of the development plan for school affairs in the 2014-2016 academic years will be held to brainstorm the direction of development for the next three years, working to merge the school affairs development plan and the teaching excellence program. 3) This year ranking will be the theme of the teaching and administration reform seminar, and the first and second levels of ranking content will be introduced as well as precautions that must be heeded and methods to improve ranking measures.

In the last part of the seminar, VP Yu presided over the department heads exchanging ideas regarding shared learning experience and comprehensive discussions. At the conclusion of two days and one night of learning activities, everyone went home all the richer for their experience.

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