Premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) yesterday said that he would support the Ministry of Education's decision to relieve National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) president Huang Kuan-tsae (黃光彩).
"I believe that the ministry's decision was based upon a professional evaluation of Huang," Hsieh said.
"It is natural that only qualified people can be considered for the office of a university president," Hsieh added.
The premier said that initially, Huang's case should be considered the university's responsibility, because its selection of board members evaluate whether Huang is qualified.
However, Hsieh said that currently, the priority should be closing the case and solving the problem as soon as possible.
"It was a fast and clear decision made by the ministry yesterday," he said.
According to Hsieh, the ministry held a six-hour meeting before its selection board eventually came up with the decision to lay off Huang.
"It is certainly not a rough decision," the premier said.
In addition to the meeting on Wednesday, the ministry's selection board conducted a month-long investigation of Huang in order to discuss whether he should be disqualified and dismissed from his post.
The board eventually concluded that Huang's one-year stint as the president of the SingaLab, a private research firm under the supervision of the University of Singapore, did not meet the prerequisites that are required to become a university president.
Huang defended himself by organizing a press conference and said that the conclusion only reflected the differing points of view that both sides held regarding his qualifications.
Huang also said that he will discuss the matter with his lawyers and consider filing a suit against the ministry.
Despite the ministry's decision, the Minister of Education Tu Cheng-sheng (杜正勝) defended his decision to appoint Huang and refuted accusations that the ministry had wasted too much time in investigating Huang's qualifications.
The minister also denied any close relationship with Huang and criticized the politicization of the issue.
According to the Statute Governing the Employment of Educational Personnel (教育人員任用條例), university presidents are required to have a doctoral degree.
They are also required to have worked as a professor at a university, or to have served as chancellor or director of an educational institute for at least four years.
Huang worked as a senior manager at IBM's Watson Center for 18 years after receiving his PhD in electronic engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Huang then worked as project manager at the Institute of Systems Science at University of Singapore from 1989 to 1992, before serving as the president of SingaLab from 1992 to 1993.
The ministry's selection board concluded that SingaLab is not an educational institution so Huang's experience at an educational institute was therefore less than the required four years.
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