Three cash-strapped private universities have been ordered to stop enrolling new students for the upcoming semester and shut down next year, the Ministry of Education said on Monday.
The ministry made the announcement after a meeting of its private university closure review committee, which had placed Mingdao University in Changhua County, Tatung Institute of Technology in Chiayi County and Transworld University in Yunlin County on a watchlist in August last year, due to mounting debts and unpaid wages.
The universities failed to resolve their financial issues by the deadline on Wednesday last week.
Ko Chin-wei (柯今尉), deputy director of the Department of Technological and Vocational Education, said the three universities were ordered to halt enrollment of new students from the fall semester and shut down on July 31 next year.
The ministry would oversee the closures using about NT$1.25 billion (US$40.68 million) from a designated fund and would help 1,120 students at the universities transfer to other institutions, Ko said.
Tatung Institute of Technology has 419 students, 102 of whom would not graduate this year or next year and would need to transfer to other schools. It has 52 employees and debts of NT$50 million. Transworld University has 1,873 students, 556 of whom would need to transfer, 184 employees and NT$180 million in debt. Mingdao University has 1,376 students, 462 of whom would need to transfer, 190 employees and NT$328 million in debt, the ministry said.
The committee would meet next month to appoint new boards of directors for the universities, Ko said.
From the appointment of the new boards until universities’ closure, employee’s salaries would be paid from the ministry’s designated fund, Ko added.
Back salary owed to employees would be paid next year, after the universities close and their assets are liquidated, Ko said.
University employees recently protested asking to receive compensation sooner.
Any assets remaining after the schools’ debts are settled would be transferred to the designated fund, the central or local governments, or designated public schools, Ko said.
Kao Yuan University in Kaohsiung was removed from the watchlist after receiving a NT$280 million donation from Taiwan Steel Group on Monday last week, the ministry said.
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
UPGRADE: The Kang Ding-class frigate is replacing its Chaparall missiles with Tien Chien II and Hua Yang VLS, which would provide it with long-range, 360° air defense Taiwan plans to produce 1,200 to 1,376 Hai Chien II missiles (海劍二, Sea Sword II) — also known as TC-2N — to serve as the standard air defense system of the navy’s surface combatant fleet, a source said yesterday. Last week, the Hai Chien II, the naval version of the Tien Kung II missile (天劍二, Sky Sword II), completed a live-fire test in waters off the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology’s Jiupeng facility (九鵬) in Pingtung County’s Manjhou Township (滿州). The MIM72 Chaparral and other dated air defense missiles that currently arm Taiwanese ships have inadequate range to combat Chinese
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
RSS