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Article 1
Universities shall encourage academic research, cultivating
talent, enhancing culture, serving society and accelerating
the development of the country.
Universities shall be guaranteed academic freedom and shall
enjoy autonomy within the range of laws and regulations.
Article 2
Universities referred to in this Act shall be senior
educational organizations established according to the Act
and granting academic degrees above bachelor’s degree
(inclusive).
Article 3
The competent authority of the Act shall be the Ministry of
Education.
Chapter 2 Establishment and classification
Article 4
Universities are classified into national universities,
universities established by municipalities (counties)
(hereinafter referred to as public universities) and
private universities.
The establishment, alteration or suspension of national
universities shall be approved or adjusted according to the
educational policies of the Ministry of Education and the
situation of different locations; the establishment,
alteration or suspension of universities of municipalities
(counties) shall be reported by governments of different
levels in order to receive approval or adjustment by the
Ministry of Education. Private universities shall follow
stipulations of the Private Institute Act.
To balance college education of different regions, the
Ministry of Education may approve counties (cities) without
colleges to establish colleges and divisions in universities.
Universities may establish branches and divisions.
Regulations of requirements, approval procedure and other
proceedings for establishing standards, alteration or
suspension of universities and their branches, divisions and
subsidiary colleges shall be formulated by the Ministry of
Education.
Article 5
Universities shall regularly carry out self-evaluation of
their teaching, research, services, counselling and
guidance, academic affairs, administration, and student
participation; regulations governing the evaluation shall
be formulated by each university.
To promote the development of every university, the
Ministry of Education shall organize an Assessment
Committee or commission academic organizations or
professional accreditation bodies to carry out regular
assessments of the universities, and it shall make the
results public. The assessment results shall be referred to
for making changes to and developing universities. The
assessment shall be undertaken in accord with the
principles of incorporating diversity and professionalism,
and the associated regulations governing assessment shall
be formulated by the Ministry of Education.
Article 6
Universities may organize inter university systems or
research centers.
Regulations for the organization and operation of inter
university systems referred to in the previous paragraph
shall be formulated by the universities.
Regulations for inter university research centers shall be
formulated by the universities jointly and reported to the
Ministry of Education for future reference.
Article 7
Universities may formulate merger plans, which shall be
approved by academic affairs meetings (for national
universities) or local governments (for universities of
municipalities or counties/cities) or boards of directors
(private universities), and then be reported to the
Ministry of Education for approval before implementation.
The Ministry of Education may, after taking into account
the factors including the overall development of higher
education, distribution of educational resources, the
geographic conditions of the relevant universities and
other related issues, propose a merger plan of national
universities to the Executive Yuan for approval. The merger
plan approved by the Executive Yuan shall be implemented by
such relevant national universities.
The stipulations covering the conditions, procedures,
financial aid as required of any such merger plan in the
previous paragraph, the types of administrative assistance,
the required content of a merger plan, the rights and
duties of the relevant national universities, and other
related matters shall be promulgated by the Ministry of
Education.
Chapter 3 Organization and meetings
Article 8
A university may appoint one president responsible for the
overall management of the university and development of
academic affairs, and represents the university externally.
Deputy presidents shall be appointed by the president to
assist with the promotion of academic affairs; the number,
tenure and qualifications of the deputy presidents shall
be stipulated according to organizational regulations.
The position of president of a university may also be taken
by foreign professionals according to related laws and
shall not be bound by stipulations concerning nationality
and employment in Nationality Act, Private Institute Act
and Employment Service Act.
Article 9
To appoint a new president to a university, the university
shall organize a President Select Committee 10 months prior
the expiry of the present president’s tenure, after the
new president is selected through public procedure, he or
she shall be appointed by the Ministry of Education or the
local government.
The proportion and means of selecting different members of
the committee referred to in the previous paragraph shall
be as follows:
1. Representatives of the university recommended by an
academic affairs meeting shall take up 2/5 of all
numbers.
2. Institute fellow representatives recommended by the
university and social justice defenders shall take up
2/5 of all numbers.
3. Other commissioners shall be representatives selected by
the Ministry of Education or the local government.
Regulations of the organization, operation and other
proceedings of the President Select Committee of public
universities shall be approved by Ministry of Education (for
national universities) or local governments (for
universities of municipalities or counties/cities) or
before being selected by the board of directors a Select
Committee organized by the boards of directors (private
universities), and then be reported to the Ministry of
Education for approval before implementation..
The representatives of either sex shall take up a third or
more of all numbers of the President Selection Committee.
The tenure for presidents of public universities shall be 4
years, and the president may be reappointed upon expiry of
the tenure; the procedure, times of reappointment and
methods of decommission before the expiry shall be
stipulated in the organization procedure of the
universities; the tenure and reappointment of private
universities shall be stipulated in the organizational
procedure of the universities.
The Ministry of Education and the local government shall
carry out an evaluation on the president 10 months prior
the expiry of his/her tenure as reference to make a
decision about reappointment.
Any university, which has followed former regulations in
organizing the President Selection Committee and conducting
the procedure of the President Selection prior to the
promulgation of this Article as amended on January 10, 2011,
may continue the unfinished procedure and be exempted from
the sexual proportion restrictions as provided in paragraph
4 of this Article as amended.
to the expiry of their term of office and use the results
when deciding whether to reappoint that president for a
further term.
A president of a public university who states that they do
not want to extend their term of office during the course
of the performance assessment by the Ministry of Education
or by the local government referred to in the previous
paragraph, or who fails to satisfactorily pass the
performance assessment, is not permitted to participate in
the selection process for the next president of that same
university.
Article 10
The president of a newly established national university
shall be selected by a President Selection Task Force
organized by the Ministry of Education. The president of a
newly established public university other than a national
university shall be selected by a President Selection Task
Force organized by the Ministry of Education from the list
of two to three candidates nominated by the agency
governing the university. The president of a newly
established private university shall be selected and then
be reported by the board of directors to the Ministry of
Education for approval before appointment.
The representatives of either sex shall take up a third or
more of all numbers of the President Selection Task Force
as provided in previous paragraph.
Article 11
Universities may establish colleges or independent graduate
schools; colleges may establish departments or graduate
schools.
Universities may offer interdepartmental, inter institute
or inter college credit courses or degree courses.
Article 12
The number of students in a university shall be in
accordance with the resources of the university; the
standards shall be stipulated by the Ministry of Education,
which may also be the basis for the universities to add or
adjust colleges, departments, or institutes as well as the
planning of courses and quota of student recruitment.
Article 13
Each college under a university shall appoint a dean
responsible for the overall management of the college; Each
department shall appoint a director and an independent
graduate institute shall appoint a dean, responsible for
affairs of the department and the institute respectively.
The university may also appoint the degree and course
director responsible for course affairs.
Academic supervisors like deans and directors adopt a
tenure system, following the methods below:
1. Deans of colleges shall be selected from the professors
according to the procedure stipulated in the
organization procedure of the university, and then be
reported to the president for approval before
appointment.
2. Directors, deans of institutes and degree & course
directors shall be selected from teachers above the
title of associate professor according to the
organizational procedure of the university and then be
reported to the president for approval before
appointment. However, directors of departments,
institutes of arts and technology and degree & course
directors may be senior specialists above the level of
associate professor as a concurrent post.
Colleges, departments and institutes of a university
reaching a certain scale so as to meet the requirements of
the development of academic affairs may appoint deputy
supervisors to assists with academic affairs.
Procedures for the tenure, reappointment and dismission of
deans, directors and degree & course directors as well as
other proceedings shall be stipulated in the organizational
procedure of the university.
Academic supervisors referred to in paragraph 2 may be
taken by foreign teachers as a concurrent post.
Article 14
To achieve the target referred to in Article 1,
universities may establish various executive agencies or
hold different meetings; Names of the executive agencies,
tasks and duty of the meetings as well as division of work
and qualifications of executive supervisors and other
proceedings shall be stipulated in the organizational
procedure of the university.
Executive posts of different levels in national
universities may be taken by teaching or research personnel
and shall be stipulated in the organizational procedure of
the university.
Colleges, departments and institutes of a university
reaching a certain scale so as to meet the requirements of
the development of academic affairs may appoint deputy
supervisors, who shall be teaching or research personnel to
assist the supervisors with the promotion of business;
qualifications and other proceedings shall be stipulated in
the organizational procedure of the university.
Related laws of civil servants and educational personnel
shall be applicable to the appointment of staff to national
universities; appointment of personnel for human resources
and accounting shall follow the stipulations of relevant
regulations.
Staff of non executive posts in national universities may
be contracted and shall not be limited by the stipulations
in the previous paragraph, their rights and obligations
shall be specified in their contracts.
Article 15
Universities shall each set up a university council to
deliberate and make decisions regarding significant
university matters. The university council shall comprise
the university president, deputy president(s), teacher
representatives, the heads of academic affairs and
administrative affairs, research personnel representatives,
representatives of non-teaching staff, student
representatives, and representatives of other personnel.
The numbers and details regarding the selection of each
category of the council members referred to in the previous
paragraph, apart from the president and deputy president(s),
are set out below:
1.The teacher representatives shall be chosen by election
and shall comprise at least one half of the university
council; in principle, at least two thirds of the teacher
representatives shall be a professor or an associate
professor.
2.The student representatives shall be chosen by election
and shall comprise at least one tenth of the university
council.
3.For other categories of voting and non-voting members of
the university council, the method of selecting them and
the proportion of the council that they comprise shall be
stipulated in the charter and by-laws of each university.
When calculating the actual number of people in accordance
with the ratios stipulated in Subparagraph 1 and
Subparagraph 2 of the preceding paragraph, any number
including a fraction shall be unconditionally rounded up to
the next integer.
University council meetings shall be convened by the
president, and at least once each semester. If an
extraordinary university council meeting is requested by a
minimum of one-fifth of the number of those council members
who are required to attend meetings, the president shall
convene the extraordinary meeting within fifteen days.
When the university council considers it necessary, it may
establish various committees or special task groups to deal
with matters that the university council assigns to them;
whenever such a such committee or special task groups is
established, its name, duties, and the method of selecting
its members shall be written into in the charter and
by-laws of the university.
Article 16
The academic affairs meeting shall discuss the following
proceedings:
1. Development plans and budget of academic affairs.
2. Organizational procedure and various important rules.
3. Establishment, alteration and suspension of colleges,
departments, graduate institutes and auxiliary
organizations.
4. Academic affairs, student affairs, general affairs,
research and other important internal affairs.
5. Methods of teaching evaluation.
6. Decisions of committees or task forces established by
the academic affairs meeting.
7. Resolutions of the meeting and suggestions of the
president.
Chapter 4 Ranking and engagement of teachers
Article 17
Teachers in universities are ranked professors, associate
professors, assistant professors and lecturers, engaged in
teaching, research and instruction.
Universities may offer lectures presided by professors.
Universities may be provided with teaching assistants to
assist the teaching and research.
Universities may engage research personnel for research and
technicians for teaching; ranking, qualifications,
engagement, dismission, suspension, refusal of reengagement,
appeal, treatment, welfare, advanced study, retirement,
pension, severance, annual salary, salary increase and
other rights and interests shall be stipulated by the
Ministry of Education.
Article 18
Engagement of university teachers are classified in the
initial contract, reengagement and long term engagement;
the engagement shall be transacted following the principles
of justice, equity and openness. Moreover, initial contract
of university teachers shall be published in traditional
media or academic publications. Qualifications and
procedure for the engagement of teachers shall follow the
stipulations of related laws.
Article 19
In addition to following the stipulations in the Teacher
Act, universities may also add rights and obligations of
teachers in the academic rules and formulate separate
stipulations for the suspension or refusal of reengagement
of teachers upon requirements of academic research and
development, which shall be implemented and provided in the
contracts after being approved by the academic affairs
meeting.
Article 20
Confirmation for reasons of engagement, upgrading,
suspension and severance of university teachers shall be
reviewed by the Teacher Review Committee.
Stipulations for ranking, composition and operation of the
teacher review committee shall be implemented after being
approved by the academic affairs meeting.
Article 21
Universities shall establish the teacher review system for
review of the achievements of the teaching, research,
instruction and services as important reference for
upgrading, reengagement, long term suspension, refusal of
reengagement and encouragement of teachers.
Methods, procedure and specific measures of review referred
to in the previous paragraph shall be implemented after
being approved by the academic affairs meeting.
Article 22
Universities shall establish the teacher’s appeal review
committee to review teachers’ appeals against dismissal,
suspension and other decisions; Stipulations on the methods
of composition and operation shall be implemented after
being approved by the academic affairs meeting.
Decision of the appeal review committee shall not
influence the rights of parties concerned to lodge legal
prosecutions.
Chapter 5 Student affairs
Article 23
Students having studied in public high schools or
accredited private high schools or equivalent schools shall
be entitled to study for a bachelor’s degree.
Students receiving a bachelor’s degree or equivalent
degree shall be entitled to study for a master’s degree.
Students receiving a master’s degree or equivalent degree
shall be entitled to study for a doctor’s degree. However,
graduates of the present year studying for a bachelor’s
degree with excellent grades or studying for a master’s
degree shall be entitled to apply to study for doctor’s
degree directly.
Standards for recognition of equivalent educational level
referred to in the previous 3 paragraphs and regulations
for studying for graduates of the present year studying for
a bachelor’s degree with excellent grades or studying for
a master’s degree referred to in the previous paragraph
shall be stipulated by the Ministry of Education.
Article 24
Student recruitment by a university shall be transacted
independently or jointly with other universities following
the principles of equity, justice and openness; regulations
on methods, quota of recruitment (including examinations)
and recognition of the examinees’ identification as well
as conflicts of interest, review of grades, treatment of
students’ appeals and other proceedings shall be
formulated by the university and reported to the Ministry
of Education for approval before implementation.
To carry out student recruitment or joint recruitment,
universities shall organize student recruitment committees
or joint boards for discussion of the previous proceedings
jointly, which shall then be reported to the Ministry of
Education for approval before implementation; student
recruitment committees or joint boards shall entrust
academic organizations or corporate bodies to carry out
related examination business.
Organization, tasks of student recruitment committees or
joint boards and qualifications, range of business,
responsibilities of entrusted academic organizations or
corporate bodies as well as other related proceeds shall
be stipulated by the university or the joint board and then
reported to the Ministry of Education for future reference.
For universities with departments (institutes) of arts, the
qualifications of students entering the university and
methods of student recruitment (including examination)
shall follow the Arts Education Act and related
stipulations.
Entrance examinations carried out by universities shall be
provided with rules of examination and penalties of
violation, which shall also be specified in the Student
Recruitment Regulations.
Examinees participating in entrance examinations violating
rules of examination hall and the equity of examination
shall be treated according to related laws as well as the
rules of examination and penalties of violation referred to
in the previous paragraph and academic rules of the
universities.
Article 25
When entering into an university to study for degree,
student, who is from significantly affected disaster area,
is a child of government official assigned overseas,
receives excellent grades in international field or written
contests, is awarded excellent sports achievements, is a
veteran, is from Mongolia/Tibet, is an overseas compatriot,
is a student from Mainland China, or is a foreign student,
shall not be subject to the published recruitment quota or
means as limited in the previous Article.
Students to be recruited from Mainland China as referred to
in previous Paragraph shall not be admitted to those
schools, departments, graduate institutes and other degree
programs designated as related to national security and
secret for studying therein; such designation shall be
published by Ministry of Education after consulting with
relevant government agencies.
Regulations as referred to in Paragraph 1 on quota, means,
qualifications, term of transaction, composition of the
student recruitment committee, principles of recruitment
and other provisions related to the rights and
responsibilities of examinees shall be stipulated by
Ministry of Education; however, any such regulations as
related to student from Mainland China shall be formulated
by Ministry of Education and approved by Executive Yuan
before promulgation.
Article 26
The studying term for a student pursuing a bachelor degree
shall be 4 years as a general rule, with exception that the
department, school, college, and program which he/she
enrolls may require to extend the studying term for one to
two more years to meet its academic needs, or to add an
extra practice term of a half year to 2 years in addition
to the studying term to meet its practice requirements. The
studying term for a master degree shall be 1 year to 4
years while that for a doctoral degree shall be set in
between 2 years and 7 years.
The studying term as mentioned in the preceding paragraph
may be extended or shortened in accordance with the
qualifications, terms and application procedures as
designated by the University with report thereof given to
the Ministry of Education for review.
A mental and physical disabled student pursuing a bachelor
degree may request for prolonging the studying term with
maximum 4 years for his/her special mental and physical
demands and to meet his/her needs of learning, and shall
exempt from quitting rules due to his/her academic
performances.
A student pursuing a bachelor degree or above may request
for prolonging the studying term on account of pregnancy,
childbirth, or childcare for the toddler under three years
old.
The total credits and course hours required for a bachelor
degree stipulated in Paragraph 1 with the way of its
calculation shall be regulated by Ministry of Education,
while those credits and course hours required and necessary
evaluations for receiving master and doctoral degrees shall
be set by the University with report thereof given to the
Ministry of Education for review.
Article 27
When a student completes the credits required for a credit
course, the university shall award the credit certificate
of the course to the student; When a student completes the
credits required for a degree and passes the examinations,
the university shall award the degree to the student
according to law.
Article 28
A university students’ minor study in the university or
other universities, study of double degrees, courses,
interuniversity optional courses, maintenance of admission
qualifications, transference to other universities,
departments, institutions and courses as well as suspension
of school, withdrawal, disciplinary dismissal, grade
assessment, transfer of credits and holiday courses,
adoption and recognition of foreign degrees, treatment of
enrollment relating to military service and going abroad,
dual enrollment and other proceedings shall be listed in
the academic rules of the universities and then reported to
the Ministry of Education for future reference.
Principles for the adoption and recognition of foreign
degrees referred to in the previous paragraph and procedure
of recognition as well as other proceedings shall be
stipulated by the Ministry of Education.
Article 29
University students may study for degrees in domestic and
foreign universities at the same time upon approval;
universities shall specify related proceedings in the
academic regulations according to the stipulations of
related decrees and then report them to the Ministry of
Education for future reference.
Article 30
Studying for degrees according to the stipulations of the
Act may adopt remote education for credits for part of the
subjects; Regulations on the ratio of credits adopted and
recognized, requirement and other proceedings shall be
stipulated by the Ministry of Education.
Article 31
When carrying out extension education, universities shall
follow the principle of subjects or credits of study.
However, students completing credits stipulated by the
departments or institutes and qualifying the examinations
and at the same time passing the entrance examination may
be awarded the degree according to the stipulations in the
previous paragraph.
Enforcement rules of the extension education referred to in
the previous paragraph shall be stipulated by the Ministry
of Education.
Article 32
To ensure the effect of the students’ study and to
establish the criteria for the students’ behavior,
universities shall formulate academic rules and regulations
of reward and punishment, which shall be reported to the
Ministry of Education for future reference.
Article 33
To enhance each university’s educational achievements, the
elected student representatives shall attend meetings
related to students’ studies, life, and the formulation of
regulations governing awards and penalties.
Each university shall advise and assist the students to
form a student association through elections in which all
the students of the university have a vote, and other
associated self-governing organizations, to enhance the
effectiveness of students’ on-campus learning and their
ability to act autonomously.
Students are ipso facto members of the student association
referred to in the preceding paragraph. The student
association may collect membership fees from its members;
the university shall collect such membership fees from the
students on behalf of the student association if requested
to do so.
Universities shall establish a student appeal system to
handle cases of an appeal made by any student, or the
student association, or any other student self-governing
organization against some university disciplinary action,
administrative action, or some other university measure or
decision, to ensure that the rights and interests of
students are protected.
Regulations governing the matters referred to in the
previous four paragraphs shall be stipulated in the charter
and by-laws of each university.
Article 33-1
When handling cases of the appeals referred to in Paragraph
4 of the preceding article, universities shall act in
accord with the principles of objectivity, fairness, and
professionalism, and provide the appellant sufficient
opportunity to make a statement and put forward their case.
The university shall inform in writing or through some
other appropriate means the appellant of the decision made
after a review of their appeal, and of the remedy
procedures available if the appellant is not satisfied with
the decision.
Details of the student appeal system shall be set out in
the Student Handbook and be widely publicized.
Article 33-2
If the appellant referred to in the preceding article has
lodged an appeal with the university regarding a matter it
designates administrative disciplinary action and is not
satisfied with the university’s decision regarding their
appeal, the person may initiate any further appeal
proceedings available under the law.
If the appellant has lodged an appeal with the university
regarding disciplinary action not included in the
administrative disciplinary action category, or some other
university measure or decision, and is not satisfied with
the university’s decision regarding their appeal,
depending on the particular nature of what is being
appealed against, the person may initiate the proceedings
available under the law to seek a remedy.
Article 34
Universities shall pay group insurance for students;
Regulations on the coverage, amount, term of payment,
period, standards of payment, rights and obligations as well
as other proceedings shall be stipulated by the
universities. Universities shall help the students with
insurance claims in a positive manner.
Article 35
Items, spending purpose and amount of charges collected by
University from the students shall not exceed the
stipulations of Ministry of Education.
To help students study at university, the governments shall
transact student loan; the loan items should cover the
related expense of tuitions, fees, practice, books,
accommodation, living, student group insurance and oversea
study etc.; the regulations on student loan conditions,
quantum, rights and obligations as well as other
proceedings shall be stipulated by Ministry of Education.
Chapter 6 Supplementary Provisions
Article 36
Universities shall formulate the organizational procedure
according to the Act and then report it to the Ministry of
Education for approval before implementation.
Article 37
Contents in Article 25, Article 26 and Article 37 of the
Statute for Appointment of Educational Personnel in
conflict with the Act shall no longer be applicable.
Article 38
To optimize education, training, research and services,
universities may cooperate with governmental agencies,
business entities, non governmental organizations and
academic institutions; Enforcement rules shall be
formulated by the Ministry of Education.
Article 39
Except those kept secret according to law, information
about academic affairs in universities shall be open in
principle and may be provided to the people upon
application .
Article 40
Unless otherwise stipulated in the Teacher Education Act
and the Private School Act, the Act shall be applicable to
the establishment, organization and educational faculties
of universities for teacher education and private
universities shall be applicable.
The central government and governments of municipalities
may establish open universities, whose organization and
educational faculties shall be stipulated in separate laws.
Article 41
The Enforcement Rules of the Act shall be formulated by the
Ministry of Education.
Article 42
The Act shall be effective as of the date of promulgation.
The effective date of Article 25 of this Act as amended
August 19, 2010 shall be prescribed by Executive Yuan. |