Chapter 6 The Interview Analysis and Discussion (C): Global
6.1 The discussion on the importance of global connection
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Chapter 6 The Interview Analysis and Discussion (C):
Global Connection, Issuing License and Related Topics
This chapter continues to discuss the final part of the interview results. The major topics of this chapter concern the global connection of higher education accreditation, relationship between accreditation and licensing, as well as other related topics.
6.1 The discussion on the importance of global connection
In the era of knowledge-based economy and globalization, higher education aims to gear graduates to international connection, which is an important goal. The professional mobility for graduate to enter international job market becomes an inevitable trend. Due to the principle of international reciprocity and equality, there are more and more organizations of evaluating International Education Agreement.
Institute of Engineering Education Taiwan (IEET) also joined some International Accreditation Agreements, Washington Accord and Seoul Accord. In the future, whether all fields of higher education in Taiwan should be brought in line with international practice to perform evaluation or accreditation? Whether this action is to pursue the superficial pride? We should develop our own professional accreditation agencies and take part in international organizations, or inviting internationally well-known agencies to perform evaluation or accreditation for us in Taiwan?
Whether international connection will be the incentives for university departments to receive evaluation or accreditation? This study discovers different point of views among different fields, both in academic and governmental, through in-depth interviews. Observed from interviews, we learned that everyone thinks meeting the
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international standard for the evaluation and accreditation is a good direction.
However, not all interviewees agreed to fully promote such development. The opinion of one senior professor who is open to and in favor of meeting international standards is given here.
It is very important to be geared to international connections because students are not limited in working in domestic job market. If we want to be recognized in international job market, we cannot close our doors. Only by bringing in line with international norm, can professional talents mobilize internationally. The more mobilized, the more beneficial it is. The impact is the challenge, and such impact is positive, so we should take a more open-minded attitude. (G)
On the contrary, some interviewed senior scholars think taking part in international accreditation requires large amount of expenses. University departments need to identify their own attributes before making the decision whether to take part or not. In the free economy, professional mobility is an inevitable trend.
Regarding to international connections, it depends on departments' attitude over international accreditation. Some departments think it may not bring any benefit for the department, and it costs too much. I don't think it is an incentive, and the decision is highly relied on university departments. Some departments think it is sufficient by just being evaluated locally without international accreditation. For instance, it is more appropriate for catering departments to receive some international accreditation or license, but it does not apply to every department. International connection can definitely be beneficial for professional mobility. If you can receive international license, you certainly meet international
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standards. Moreover, the professional mobility does not impact on domestic job market for local graduates. Those who are more talented will leave if they want to. In this free market, everyone has to show one's own ability. (C)
The departments that have already received international evaluation or accreditation are certainly in favor of promoting international standards. The professions that require license more concern about international accreditation of education qualification, as it facilitates the professional mobility. I listed the opinions of three interviewees below.
International connection certainly has incentives for departments joining the accreditation or evaluation process. In fact, many of the engineers are brought into Taiwan due to the international mobility. Professional mobility should not cause the objection from domestic labor market as those who have expertise are not worried about competition. (A)
To equip with international ability is to equip with the ability of international mobility, do we need it? Enterprises often ask us that, and I also ask them what the main reason and consideration you think when hiring graduate. I often get the answer “mobility”, without the mobility, we dare not to hire you.
What is Mobility? Say, I need you to attend a meeting abroad, can you go?
International connections are certainly beneficial to professional mobility because transnational enterprises need international talents for transnational economic activities in Taiwan. Taiwan economy needs these talents to create values in domestic industries. The stronger their abilities are, the better the national economy is. (D)
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Higher education accreditation or evaluation in Taiwan must develop towards gearing to international connection, which is the definite trend. With the incentives of knowledge-based economy, integration of international regions, and transnational professional mobility, the education certificate of graduates need to be recognized internationally. This will increase the intention of university departments for taking part in evaluation and accreditation. (H)
Some interviewed experts indicate that although accreditation and evaluation match well with international standards, we can invite some accreditation experts from other countries to take part in domestic accreditation team. Through the reputation of international organization, it can increase the effect of accreditation results done by domestic organizations.
It would be better to gear to international connections. If we want to reach that, I think we can imitate the medical school accreditation process in Japan, as they invite well-known scholars abroad to be evaluators. We can do like them in future Taiwan. We can invite accreditation experts from overseas to join our accreditation team, such as from Australian medical association or worldwide medical association. Their endorsement will be more effective than it is of only local evaluators. (J)
The advantage of this point is to adopt the experiences of advanced organizations abroad, but the disadvantage is that method is not suitable for domestic environment and culture. After being accredited, the graduate certificate becomes acceptable by foreign countries. This can be used to apply international license which is the purpose of gearing into the international connections. Another interviewed professor mentioned two ways of gearing into international connections: one is to invite foreign
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association to conduct evaluations in Taiwan universities, and the other is that domestic professional agencies should take part in international evaluation or accreditation organizations. This scholar indicated that getting recognized internationally for the certificates is the biggest incentive. University departments with different attributes are not necessarily receiving the Western accreditation systems, and they should consider the appropriateness of bringing in international norms.
With regard to the matter of international connections, I know some universities introduce international accreditation. The Business Schools take part in American accreditation system, AACSB, which has been popular in many business schools to assure their teaching qualities matching international standards. It is different in engineering field in which domestic organizations participate in international organizations. Through it, the domestic accreditation can be geared to international connections. For example, students in Japanese department, Engineering department or medical school need to be equipped with various basic abilities. With the international accreditation, the graduates can be recognized by other member countries. This can be the incentives for university departments to attend evaluation from the Ministry of Education. To take a compromise approach, for example, the accreditation method in Japan takes into consideration of the environment in Taiwan. If we try to gear with it, I think it has some incentives for department accreditation. I will be willing to receive such accreditation system. (F)
To what we discussed above about international connections, some interviewed experts remain conservative attitude. One interviewed expert think domestic
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accreditation needs to have autonomy and social responsibilities, and should not be bound by international organizations for their reputation or to be geared into international standards.
We should not only say that we want to be geared into international connections because “international” is a vague term. What country do you mean?
Which department do you mean? Which accreditation organization do you mean?
Which international standards should we try to meet? After all, we need to examine ourselves, what do we want to receive from it? What we usually mean is
“America”, but in fact, America is very protective to its national market. We should be careful and not fall in their trap. We want to be globalized, but we forgot why the education system in Taiwan needs to bind with the standards of international accreditation organizations? We can receive their evaluation, which is another qualification we can offer our students as well as opening another window for our university. But don’t forget, that is not originated from Taiwan, and you are facing Taiwan, accepting the accreditation that is issued by Taiwan is a responsible performance and social responsibility. (L)
A senior professor interviewed also mentioned that some universities in Taiwan apply for the recognition of American associations. The foreign organizations do not understand the situation of Taiwanese universities. Instead, they recommend that Taiwan universities search for the accreditation in Taiwan. This interviewed scholar also indicates that government does not commission foreign organizations to evaluate Taiwan universities. This interviewed scholar worried about the fact that Taiwan universities excessively pursue international accreditation.
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Not many university departments invite foreign evaluators to conduct evaluation. IEET itself can only receive the accreditation procedure and follow the rules. International evaluation or accreditation agencies are never commissioned by our government, only domestic accreditation association, such as Taiwan Assessment and Evaluation Association, will be commissioned. IEET is not commissioned, either, but itself process the accreditation. Then IEET requested the Ministry of Education to approve its accreditation results. The programs that passed the IEET accreditation might waive the evaluation by HEEACT. International accreditation associations can decide whether to receive application from Taiwan universities. Most America agencies do not do international accreditation, but some universities still apply to it. For example, one Taiwanese university applied for the accreditation in Mid-west American regional association, but that American association was concerned because they do not know anything about this university. Nor do they know about the situation in Taiwan universities. They suggested the university to get approval from domestic accreditation system. That is, if you pass the accreditation in your own country, then you can come and apply for ours. (B)
To university being evaluated, due to the popular belief of comparison and competitiveness in Taiwan, universities gradually turn to pursue international evaluation or accreditation. One evaluator being interviewed pointed out that the goal of gearing to international accreditation or evaluation is beneficial for students who would like to study or work abroad. However, the percentage of those students is not high among the whole student population. The interview conversation showed that department heads in some low-quality universities are under lots of pressure due to the contemporary trends. Nevertheless, they cannot question the university policies
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for some reason.
With regard to the international connections for university department, the first question is how many students require the certificate of international connections. Is that the minority? Certainly, if we want to be globalized, we need to bring in the international norms. How effective it will be, I don’t know. How much will it be helpful for our entire student population? But it’s a popular thought at the present time, and everyone thinks it’s better to do so. (K)
I agree to be geared to international connection, but not for the reason of just get it. There are two-thirds of our students who may not need to use English at work at all. But gradually, they may feel that English is also important. We don’t request everyone to meet international standard, nor do we mean that those who do are greater, or those who publish their work abroad are more outstanding. (E)
In terms of the opinion of local professors, not all of them are enthusiastic about the international connection. It is especially evident towards the point that international accreditation associations might evaluate Taiwan universities. Due to the lack of mutual understanding on culture perspectives, one senior professor strongly criticizes that it damages our national right. The interview conversation shows suggestions to the Ministry of Education for the recognition of foreign accreditation agencies. The interview results indicate many hidden considerations.
Accreditation is gearing to International connection, but international does not understand the demand in our market. There is no boundary between universities, nor is there a boundary between the mobility of talents. But it does
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not mean any international association can evaluate your university. For example, some schools have been accredited, but in fact, some departments of that school do not have teachers or any qualified conditions, but they managed to get accredited. The primary objects universities in Taiwan serve are people in Taiwan. International organization evaluates your teaching performance, but do they know how much or how well your service is to Taiwan market? You can say that’s my opinion, I think it’s the transfer of consular jurisdiction. (E)
Government has already begun to approve the international accreditation agencies. One scholar interviewed mentioned when pursuing international connection, it is necessary to be careful about the acceptable extent. After all, the cultural perspective and the mission of education are different. Government should guard its jurisdiction.
This is a question whether educational jurisdiction should be open. It’s like the question that whether farm product should be open in the free market. It is a commercial behavior, controlled by the government jurisdiction. How open it should be is the concern of national policies. The same applies to accreditation, because accreditation involves the cultivation of professional mobility. If jurisdiction is not guarded, all the different international accreditation agencies come in to Taiwan, and accredit your universities. Then your universities become those established according to foreign standards. Does it conflict with your original purpose of establishing the university? The primary question is to consider whether it should open to international accreditation associations.
Before opening it, the Ministry of Education should set up a clear goal. Actually, foreign scholars think it is fine to open the qualified accreditation, but the
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national right of jurisdiction should not be opened. (I)
Government authorities certainly hope the domestic accreditation or evaluation can be geared to international connection. It has positive impact on governmental performance. With the encouragement of governmental policies, domestic professional agencies, such as IEET, can indeed be geared to international connection successfully as well as participating into international accreditation agreements.
Domestic universities being led by this policy pay a lot to take part in the accreditation process. It echoes what the interviewed experts said that international standard becomes a popular thought at the present time. The followings are the opinions of governmental department head interviewed in this study.
It costs about three hundred thousand NT dollars to take part in IEET accreditation procedure, but university department are willing to spend this money. This is one incentive because IEET accreditation is geared to international connection. The policy change of Malaysia is one example. Recently, Malaysia announced that these departments that are approved by IEET are recognized in Malaysia. You can see how influential it is to universities.
Therefore, universities hope to meet international standards so that their reputation will be increased as well. For example, National Chengchi University has adopted dual-accreditation, which reinforces its influence power in international business field as well as increasing its visibility. It is good to a university. That’s why we encouraged universities to get approved by IEET, and those get approved can be waived from the evaluation process by the Ministry of Education. (M)
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Universities would participate in domestic accreditation process and achieve international connection. They may participate in international accreditation systems and will be evaluated by foreign agencies directly. The decisions are entirely the university’s choice and are not forced by government. Viewing from the well-known universities in neighbor-countries, such as Japan or Korea, they have already received international reputation. They do not participate in any international accreditation process. The opinions of one expert of national legislative authority are listed below.
The establishment of accreditation agency is to develop toward international connection. It is an international organization and everyone receives my accreditation as international acceptance. It is a brand guarantee and is a big attraction for recruitment. Even if it is an accreditation, I don’t force every university to participate in it. Because if you want to invest largely in internationalizing your university, this is one way you can attract students. But we don’t say that you must or must not participate in the accreditation system.
That is your own decision. (O)
Higher education evaluation in Taiwan is performed with governmental budget, so universities do not need to pay any evaluation fee. However, if you would like to take part in international accreditation systems, such as IEET or AACSB, you are required to pay the expenses on your own. The fee costs as much as few hundred thousand NT dollars for accreditation to each department. After being approved internationally, you can apply for waiving domestic accreditation evaluation by the Ministry of Education. The question is if the government should reimburse universities from the evaluation budget? When universities attempt to bring in international norms, they are actually helping government on diplomatic activities.
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Should government provide financial subsidy to universities for this case? Moreover, domestic accreditation agencies are non-governmental, if more professional associations are approved by the Ministry of Education, can government be able to afford the financial load? The interview of this study received various opinions. The opinions of two senior scholars, who are in favor of the idea, are listed below who are in favor of the idea.
We need to do things step-by-step, and avoid the jumping-style open policies.
Government should encourage universities or accreditation agencies to be geared into international connection. This is very important. Seeking for accreditation from international institutes will be very costly. We should encourage them to do so, and reimburse them as the incentive, as well as some
Government should encourage universities or accreditation agencies to be geared into international connection. This is very important. Seeking for accreditation from international institutes will be very costly. We should encourage them to do so, and reimburse them as the incentive, as well as some