CHAPTER 4 RESEARCH FINDINGS
4.2 Case 1 ”University Corporations Project” from Ministry of Education
4.2.4 Policy stream
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Of course, the unclear problem statement from policy entrepreneurs also caused stakeholders’
resistance. In public hearings, one faculty questioned:
The goal of university corporations in Japan aims at decreasing the number of public officers, and what is the result of their reform? Strengthening competitiveness of national universities is the goal of “University Corporations Project”. And I am wondering which universities improve their global rankings in Japan and Germany?23
Due to the insufficient information about focusing events, stakeholders didn’t accept the event and questioned the project. During the committee of Legislative Yuan in 2003, the
chairperson also questioned:
As we know, the policy of university corporations in Japan has just initiated in 2004, and it had only implemented for a year. The assessment of this policy is not clear yet.
Therefore, I wonder if we need to put a similar policy into practice so soon.24
4.2.4 Policy Stream
Value acceptability: Institutional autonomy
In the “University Corporations Project”, policy entrepreneurs expected to construct their value acceptability by shifting governance power to university corporations. The director of Higher Education Department stated:
The Sustainability Development Committee aims at devising the university autonomy.
The finance management and accounting mechanism will be deregulated. Regulations of audit will be based on the mechanism set up by universities.25
Under the value of a parental government, the complete autonomy and responsibility
proposed by policy entrepreneurs from the MOE didn’t affirm with the value acceptability of universities. A government has been regarded as having a parental role in Taiwan; higher education institutions abided by public rules and received administrative or financial support from the government for decades. In the committee of Culture and Education, we can find legislators still expect the MOE to take the role as a major governor. A legislator said:
23 MOE, “Minutes of the public hearings on University Corporations Project”, (March 27th, 2009)
24 Legislative Yuan, 2005 public hearings hosted by MOE
25 MOE, “Minutes of the public hearings on University Corporations Project”, (March 20th, 2009)
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After universities become university corporations, do they have that capability?
Moreover, that measurement which aims at delegating institution autonomy to universities failed to gain support from universities. To higher education institutions, parental roles still of governments still dominate. During a committee conference of the Legislative Yuan,
legislators’ expressed resistance toward an unfamiliar value as well. They proposed a rival statement against the autonomous governance promoted in the “University Corporations Project”.
They asserted that university corporations would be led by industries once the policy of
university corporations was implemented, and the public of higher education would be eroded.
There was a concern that publicity of universities would be inappropriately or insufficiently conducted, and that resource allocation within universities would become biased.
Moreover, the MOE promoted the value of fair competition and performance-based merit in the project. The director of Higher Education Department stated:
We expect private universities and public ones can compete with each other fairly. That competition doesn’t aim at lowering the quality of public universities but at increasing the accountability of private institutions. Since Executive Yuan also approved the
measurement about a new retirement system for faculties in private universities recently.
We insist public officers can’t be protected too much.26
He also elaborated:
After universities are corporatized, we won’t cut our grant. The grant from the MOE will be open for competition instead.27
Faculties didn’t recognize the value promoted by the MOE. One faculty asked:
26 MOE, “Minutes of the public hearings on University Corporations Project”, (March 27th, 2009)
27 MOE, “Minutes of the public hearings on University Corporations Project”, (April 9th, 2009)
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In this project, the pension package and salary of faculties transferring to different universities may be influenced. For example, can faculties keep their full-time job and pension package after transferring to another university? 28
As a result, the value of fair competition doesn’t work. The benefit from individuals out weights that from institutions. And stakeholders became agenda competitors to protect their benefit. One vice president commented:
University corporations will force universities to sell their certificates and commercialize their education.29
Also, the other vice president elaborated:
Most of donation for universities has been appointed. So universities are still under great pressure of fundraising. We assert how to guarantee the quality of university education in this project should be clarified.30
Technical feasibility: Policy borrowing
The MOE borrowed the policy design from university corporations of Japan to a great extent to form their project. Because university corporatization is a new concept, policy makers in Taiwan utilized the policy design in Japan to increase its feasibility. That policy borrowing resulted in negative effects. During these public hearings in 2009, negative comments and news about the university corporations in Japan were reported. The government in Japan reduced the annual budget of university corporations; that controversial measurement
influenced faculty members’ perception in Taiwan. In public hearings, faculty members asked with suspicion whether university annual budgets would be maintained or whether reducing the number of public employees was the true motivation of the MOE; these inquiries indicate suspicion and distrust. One vice president questioned the policy agenda in the public hearing, he said:
The purpose of university corporations in Japan aims at decreasing the number of public officers, and may I ask their latest outcome?31
28 MOE, “Minutes of the public hearings on University Corporations Project”, (April 9th, 2009)
29 MOE, “Minutes of the public hearings on University Corporations Project”, (April 9th, 2009)
30 MOE, “Minutes of the public hearings on University Corporations Project”, (April 9th, 2009)
31 MOE, “Minutes of the public hearings on University Corporations Project”, (April 9th, 2009)
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Even though the MOE guaranteed that the funding from the government would be maintained, the effect still caused distrust among the stakeholders and resulted in obstacles to policy
entrepreneurs.
During the public hearing in 2009, representatives from universities criticized that this project was only equipped with general directions and lacked a detailed design. The elaboration on specific deregulation was not clear, which caused confusion and uncertainty for universities.
One university president expressed his confusion:
The critical part of this project lies in the details of implementation; however, we just could figure out the structure of university corporations, but couldn’t identify the exact statement about the deregulation of personnel system and accounting mechanism.32
That policy was viewed as a problem without feasibility from national universities’
perspective. For decades, universities in Taiwan relied on the regulations and management from the MOE; it was hard to expect universities to transform into autonomous institutions with sufficient capability overnight. During the committee in the Legislative Yuan, the legislator also questioned:
Relevant regulations are not complete yet; the model of university corporations is just an idea of yours now, I can’t detect the roadmap of this policy as well.33
As figure 10 illustrates, policy entrepreneurs from MOE have adopted diverse strategies in respective stream. And they took the timing of revising University Act as a window of policy.
32 MOE, “Minutes of the public hearings on University Corporations Project”, (March 27th, 2009)
33 Legislative Yuan, 2005
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Figure 10 Strategies of policy entrepreneurs from the MOE
Source: Adapted from Craig, R., Felix, H., Walker, J., & Phillips, M. (2010)
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