National Taiwan University’s (NTU) Action Alliance for University Autonomy yesterday said it might file a lawsuit against the Ministry of Education this week over what it called the ministry’s procrastination in university president-elect Kuan Chung-ming’s (管中閔) appointment, saying it has affected students’ right to education and the school’s administrative operations.
Kuan was elected the university’s president on Jan. 5 and was scheduled to take office on Feb. 1.
However, he has since been accused of conflict of interest, plagiarism and having illegally worked in China.
In response, the ministry has repeatedly said the allegations must be properly investigated before it would approve his appointment.
The ministry on Tuesday last week said it would form an interministerial task force to investigate whether Kuan has illegally worked in China and that the team would inform the ministry about its findings later this month.
Chou Chung-hsi (周崇熙), a professor at NTU’s School of Veterinary Medicine and one of the alliance’s founders, said that the school has already convened a university council meeting as required by the ministry, but the latter still would not approve Kuan’s appointment.
The delay has affected students’ right to education and the school’s operations, he said.
The alliance might file a lawsuit against the ministry for stalling the appointment, he said, adding that it would soon hold meetings to determine details about how to proceed.
The ministry needs to understand that doing nothing about the appointment is a form of dereliction of duty, he said.
Separately, Kuan’s volunteer attorney, Yu Ta-wei (俞大衛), said they might file an administrative appeal if the ministry continues to delay the appointment.
Ministry officials yesterday did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the issue.
Additional reporting by Ann Maxon
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