Discontinued Programs

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As a result, FSE’s program scope grew from 14 grants a year in 1979 to 234 grants a year in 2019. The annual grants have grown to 17 times of the size in 1979. Even though among the 234 grants, there were 155 grants to the two languages teaching assistantship, ETAs and FLTAs, which still left 79 grants a year for exchanges of scholars and students. Put this in a situation of U.S. core funds were flat since 1985, FSE’s growth in program size was truly impressive. To the traditional programs of exchange, FSE is now about six times of the size in 1979. Cumulatively, there were a total of 724 grants from 1957 to 1977, and about 3,200 in total from 1957 to 2019.

More important, in this time period, there some feature programs and activities were initiated that made Taiwan’s Fulbright program distinctive. Also, it was these timely programs that made Fulbright in Taiwan a viable program. During the forty-years-of-people-exchanges, from 1979 to 2019, there were upheavals of programs on education and cultural activities.

Among them, some were created to serve a purpose more than to promote mutual

understanding, and/or to serve a short-term goal. Some died after experimentation, some had a long impact on Taiwan’s society in general, not just in the academic world. For a narrative review and analysis purpose, the highlighted programs and activities will be clustered into six categories for illustrations: 1) discontinued programs, 2) the two core programs, 3) initiatives, 4) hyphenated programs, 5) regional activities and programs, 6) others.

1. Discontinued Programs

Regarding the discontinued programs, some are worth a historical review.

a) The Modern Management Foundation Fellowship: 1981-2006

Beginning in 1981, FSE began cooperating with its first partner in private sector, the Modern Management Foundation (MMF), later changed to the Felix S.Y. Chang Foundation(張心洽 學術基金會). This program started from two two-year grants for every year, then was reduced to a one-year grant of US$25000 for every two years. [275:2004/3/18] Up to the last award in 2006, this joint program lasted twenty-five years, and marked the longest

partnership that FSE built, since its inception, with any institution both in private and public sectors. From its beginning, FSE had developed its selection process to secure the high quality of grantees under the Fulbright title, which were then offered by FSE a token of grant of US$1000 and provided placement service through IIE. The MMF cooperation built on this

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pattern, and the Board was pleased to see this first successful FSE attempt to solicit contributions from the private sector.

b) Chinese Scholar-in-Residence at University of Virginia: 1985-1988

In 1983, the AIT/Washington Director David Dean visited Taipei and announced that a grant of US$150,000 for FSE would come from AIT’s 1983 fiscal year supplemental grant

program. Also, Mr. Dean’s suggested that part of the funds could be used to “establish a university-to-university exchange program in which a Chinese professor in some fields of Chinese studies would teach at an American university and an American professor of American Studies would come to Taiwan.” [228:1983/12/21]

After a further communication and discussions, the program called ‘Chinese Scholar-in-Residence,’ later renamed to ‘Asia Scholar-in-Residence’ at the University of Virginia was created and implemented from 1985 to the 1989 academic year. A commitment for four years was ‘formalized’ by a letter-exchanged between Mr. Dean and University of Virginia, [231:

1984/6/20] in which, the Foundation agreed to send Taiwan scholars to lecture and consult on specific areas in Chinese studies.

Since the idea was first proposed for the development of a Chinese Studies Program in the USA, it attracted much attentions from the Board, whose meetings on related agenda items often fell into a lengthy discussions and debates. Before the program was established, the Board had varied opinion on all the issues of implementation including open competition for universities, the difficulty of recruiting appropriate candidates from Taiwan, and the

definition of Chinese Studies, etc. [229:1984/2/15]

In the middle of the program, the Board Chair Robert E. Knopes seemed inclined to continue the program and expressed that “everyone involved was pleased with the program and hoped it would be renewed.” However, the Executive Director Wu, Jing-jyi had pointed out several obstacles, in which a particular one was a shortage of funds of US$170,000 from AIT’s than was originally hoped for that year. [239: 1986/2/15]

In March 1988, during a general discussion which was followed by the final selection of the last scholar-in-residence for 1988 program year, the minutes said that the Board Chairman Michael M. Yaki explained the program “had been planned as a seed program in the hope

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that at the end of the four-year period the University of Virginia would begin to develop a program in Asian studies with funds of its own.” The Treasurer, M. Lynne Martin echoed

“that such a program was meant to be a catalyst, not a regular supplier of personnel to a particular institution.” Meanwhile, the Chinese Board, Dr. Tawei Lee, a representative from MOFA and also a Fulbright alumnus, suggested FSE to discuss the possibility of the

University continuing the project with the President of UV, who was invited by MOE to visit Taipei in July 1988.

The program then ended without renewal. During the time from the initial idea to the

program’s end, from 1983 to 1988, FSE went through five Chairs of the Board [in sequence:

Harry P. Britton, Charles N. Silver (temporary Acting), Robert E. Knopes, and Michael M.

Yaki, and M. Lynne Martin (temporary Acting)]. During this same time period, Mr. David Dean had served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees and Managing Director of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT/Washington) since 1979 and then later the Director of AIT/Taipei from 1987 to 1989.

c) Herbert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program: 1985-1995

Established in 1978, the Humphrey Fellowship Program aimed to develop mid-level

professionals, both in private and public sectors, with leadership potential, from developing countries in order to commentate Senator Herbert Humphrey. This was a one-year non-degree grant program, totally funded by U.S. government appropriation as a Fulbright exchange activity, but separated from Fulbright Program. The eligible candidates were recruited only through U.S. Embassies and Fulbright Commissions.

In December 1983, the Fulbright Board of Foreign Scholarship (BFS) made a resolution that

“a mechanism should be devised for the inclusion of people from Taiwan in the Hubert H.

Humphrey Program.” (BFS, 1983) As Taiwan was not considered a country, it was only through the assistance of U.S. Senator Percy and former members of the FSE Board that Taiwan got into the program in 1985. Accordingly, FSE was eligible to nominate Taiwan candidates for competition for the Humphrey fellowships beginning in the 1985 program.

The final decision about awards was the responsibility of BFS. [290: 2008/12/2]

For the first two rounds of nominations for 1985 and 1986 programs, FSE only nominated one candidate each year to BFS. As the second year’s nominee did not go through to the finalist receiving a fellowship, a lesson was learned. FSE began in 1987 to nominate multiple

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candidates to cover all Humphrey fields to increase the chance of one may be selected. As a result, multiple applicants, two to five from Taiwan among candidates, received their fellowships every year from 1988 to 1994.

On October 21, 1993, at the 259^th Board Meeting, the FSE Board nominated a group of 14 applicants sent to Washington. At the meeting, the Board Chairman Mr. John Thomson explained that, “though Taiwan is no longer a developing country, its Humphrey fellows have been very helpful to the other fellows because of its comparatively recent and relevant

experience as a developing country. Taiwan fellows have been chosen by other fellows as leaders. Thus, USIA has continued to include Taiwan in the program.” [259:1993/10/21] It turned out that this was the last cohort of Taiwan nominees for Humphrey Fellowship.

Taiwan “graduated” from ranks of developing countries for Humphrey program. (FSE, 2006) Within a decade, from 1985 to 1994, Taiwan had produced about twenty Humphrey fellows.

Later, although FSE had tried to be re-included in the Humphrey program, it never

succeeded, in contrast to the success of the Korean Fulbright program. Yet, neither Korea and Taiwan are no longer in the Humphrey program.