The Cabinet yesterday expressed the hope that National Taiwan University (NTU) would restart the process to select a new president and not let the multiple contentious issues that have arisen following a school committee’s election of Kuan Chung-ming (管中閔), whom the government refuses to accept, slow down its trajectory toward progress and advancement.
The university should move forward on the matter after the Ministry of Education sent an official letter to the school asking it to remedy and then restart the selection process, Executive Yuan spokesman Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) said.
Addressing criticism of the government’s focus on alleged flaws in the process used to elect Kuan, Hsu said that multiple regulations and principles, including an amendment to NTU rules allowing its professors and administrators to simultaneously work in the private sector, require the university to sign an industry-academia collaboration agreement and give written consent before an individual can assume a position at a private company.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
It is therefore clear that Kuan broke the rules when he assumed a position at Taiwan Mobile Co without the university’s approval, he said, adding that he hoped the media would “stop distorting” the truth in reports on the issue.
NTU is expected to hold a university affairs committee meeting today to address the Kuan issue and other matters related to the selection of a president.
NTU Student Association president Lin Yen-ting (林彥廷) and about 200 students gathered in front of the university library yesterday afternoon to urge the school to choose a president whose selection is uncontested.
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