NSYSU partners with West Virginia University for Taiwan Huayu BEST Program
2021-12-14
NSYSU President Dr. Ying-Yao Cheng and West Virginia University (WVU) President E. Gordon Gee signed an agreement on teaching and study abroad placement in an online ceremony. The agreement provides great opportunities for both institutions to further their efforts in teaching and studying abroad.
The agreement was centered on the following items: instructors from NSYSU serving as instructors of record in their role as Graduate Teaching Assistants at WVU; WVU students attending study-abroad programs at NSYSU through Taiwan’s Huayu Bilingual Exchanges of Selected Talent Program (BEST) Scholarship. In addition to Chinese language classes at NSYSU, scholarship recipients from WVU can elect to enroll in regular classes at NSYSU with a tuition waiver. Furthermore, WVU students will participate in community service projects through teaching English at local elementary and junior high schools. As part of the agreement, selected and admitted Chinese language instructors from NSYSU will enroll in a master’s program at WVU with a tuition waiver and a monthly stipend to support their living expenses while teaching in the United States. They will also have opportunities to serve as Chinese language tutors at WVU and receive a tuition waiver in their Intensive English at WVU in exchange for their work as tutors.
The agreement was signed virtually by both institutions’ presidents during the ceremony, and the process was witnessed by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States (TECRO), represented by Deputy Representative Robin Cheng and Director Yuri Yao-Tsung Chih from the Education Division. WVU representatives were as follows: Dr. David Steward, Associate Provost for International Relations; Dr. Amber Brugnoli, Associate Vice President; Director Henry Oliver from Global Advancement; Nicole Lauffer, Coordinator for International Agreements; Dr. Amy S. Thompson, Chair of the Department of World Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics; Dr. Ching-Hsuan Wu, Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics. NSYSU was represented by Dr. Chih-Wen Kuo, Vice President for International Affairs; Tanya Hsu, Director of International Relations; Anny Hu, Chinese Language Center Manager. From the video shown during the ceremony, WVU students were thankful for and thrilled about their study-abroad program at NSYSU and the opportunities to teach English in Taiwan this coming spring semester.
NSYSU and WVU began the discussion on this new partnership in March this year, and they started their recruitment and admission efforts in October before the agreement was formally signed. President Cheng thanked the efforts of Dr. Wu from WVU and Director Chih from TECRO. He extended his appreciation towards the WVU leadership for their support and facilitation. President Cheng added that NSYSU has signed an MOU with George Mason University (GMU) earlier in June to implement the same BEST Program. A Chinese language teacher from NSYSU began teaching at GMU in September. GMU intends to engage students in the study-abroad program at NSYSU next year to learn Chinese and teach English in local schools.
NSYSU would like to reiterate its support for the Bilingual Nation Policy to enhance citizens’ English language proficiency by 2030. According to the MOU that was signed by the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) and TECRO as part of the U.S.-Taiwan Education Initiative, Taiwan and the US will continue to strengthen the partnership through a series of undertakings. Mandarin Chinese language learning is one of the focused areas in the Taiwan-US cooperation on education. The BEST program, funded through the Ministry of Education (MOE), intends to increase educational pathways for students from both Taiwan and the U.S. to improve their English and Chinese skills. Furthermore, the BEST program extends its educational outreach into local K-12 school communities, where scholarship recipients from US institutions can teach English and share their international experiences with local students in an effort to develop Taiwanese students’ bilingual and global competence.
NSYSU President Dr. Ying-Yao Cheng and West Virginia University (WVU) President E. Gordon Gee signed an agreement on teaching and study abroad placement in an online ceremony. The agreement provides great opportunities for both institutions to further their efforts in teaching and studying abroad.
The agreement was centered on the following items: instructors from NSYSU serving as instructors of record in their role as Graduate Teaching Assistants at WVU; WVU students attending study-abroad programs at NSYSU through Taiwan’s Huayu Bilingual Exchanges of Selected Talent Program (BEST) Scholarship. In addition to Chinese language classes at NSYSU, scholarship recipients from WVU can elect to enroll in regular classes at NSYSU with a tuition waiver. Furthermore, WVU students will participate in community service projects through teaching English at local elementary and junior high schools. As part of the agreement, selected and admitted Chinese language instructors from NSYSU will enroll in a master’s program at WVU with a tuition waiver and a monthly stipend to support their living expenses while teaching in the United States. They will also have opportunities to serve as Chinese language tutors at WVU and receive a tuition waiver in their Intensive English at WVU in exchange for their work as tutors.
The agreement was signed virtually by both institutions’ presidents during the ceremony, and the process was witnessed by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States (TECRO), represented by Deputy Representative Robin Cheng and Director Yuri Yao-Tsung Chih from the Education Division. WVU representatives were as follows: Dr. David Steward, Associate Provost for International Relations; Dr. Amber Brugnoli, Associate Vice President; Director Henry Oliver from Global Advancement; Nicole Lauffer, Coordinator for International Agreements; Dr. Amy S. Thompson, Chair of the Department of World Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics; Dr. Ching-Hsuan Wu, Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics. NSYSU was represented by Dr. Chih-Wen Kuo, Vice President for International Affairs; Tanya Hsu, Director of International Relations; Anny Hu, Chinese Language Center Manager. From the video shown during the ceremony, WVU students were thankful for and thrilled about their study-abroad program at NSYSU and the opportunities to teach English in Taiwan this coming spring semester.
NSYSU and WVU began the discussion on this new partnership in March this year, and they started their recruitment and admission efforts in October before the agreement was formally signed. President Cheng thanked the efforts of Dr. Wu from WVU and Director Chih from TECRO. He extended his appreciation towards the WVU leadership for their support and facilitation. President Cheng added that NSYSU has signed an MOU with George Mason University (GMU) earlier in June to implement the same BEST Program. A Chinese language teacher from NSYSU began teaching at GMU in September. GMU intends to engage students in the study-abroad program at NSYSU next year to learn Chinese and teach English in local schools.
NSYSU would like to reiterate its support for the Bilingual Nation Policy to enhance citizens’ English language proficiency by 2030. According to the MOU that was signed by the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) and TECRO as part of the U.S.-Taiwan Education Initiative, Taiwan and the US will continue to strengthen the partnership through a series of undertakings. Mandarin Chinese language learning is one of the focused areas in the Taiwan-US cooperation on education. The BEST program, funded through the Ministry of Education (MOE), intends to increase educational pathways for students from both Taiwan and the U.S. to improve their English and Chinese skills. Furthermore, the BEST program extends its educational outreach into local K-12 school communities, where scholarship recipients from US institutions can teach English and share their international experiences with local students in an effort to develop Taiwanese students’ bilingual and global competence.
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