National Chengchi University yesterday said that plans to adjust the number of faculty based on departmental contribution are not set in stone and would only be implemented after due process, including public hearings and a university-wide consensus.
The university’s comments came after some departments lodged a complaint based on an article in the Chinese-language United Daily News.
The university is considering drafting changes to its charter that would consider departmental contributions and use of administrative resources as an index to determine how many faculty members a department should be allotted, the report said.
Liu Mei-chun (劉梅君), from the university’s Graduate Institute of Labor Research, was quoted as saying that the draft is unfair to specialized, smaller departments.
Contributions should not only take into account tuition and research grants, but should also consider post-study employment rates among students, Liu was quoted as saying.
University secretary-general Ho Lai-chieh (何賴傑) quoted university president Kuo Ming-cheng (郭明政) as saying that all departments have asked for additional staff to alleviate heavy lecturing burdens.
There should be an objective method to gauge departments’ needs and provide a sound basis for whether the president agrees with deans, Ho quoted Kuo as saying.
As president, he should not have sole determination of whether a department receives additional faculty, he said.
While details are sparse and the university is still discussing them, the university would take into consideration that some departments, despite using more funding and contributing less, foster rare talent or focus on delivering quality research, Ho said.
The university would consider alternative methods to help departments, Ho said, adding that Kuo had not stated explicitly that underperforming departments would be closed.
A drop in the number of lecturers would lead to problems such as difficulty in student recruitment, Ho said.
Applying to add or close departments is subject to the approval of the Ministry of Education, faculty and the student body, he said.
The university will do everything it can to ensure there is a consensus over the draft, Ho said, adding that if approved, the measures would be implemented as early as February next year.
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