On November 22, 2019 NPUST hosted the “Impact Summit” at the university’s International Conference Hall to give scholars from different backgrounds an opportunity to discuss a variety of challenges that universities are expected to face in the years ahead.
During the opening remarks, NPUST President Dr. Chang-Hsien Tai expressed that “in the current era of technological development and mass migration, the world faces many opportunities and challenges. The Impact Summit is being convened to bring together different perspectives and insights on a set of questions that is sure to influence each of our respective institutions in the years ahead”. Dr. Tai commented on the many changes that took place at NPUST over the 95 since its founding, but stressed that the changes that are still to come will be much more pronounced and take place on a much shorter time scale.
Scholars in attendance at the summit represented some of NPUST’s sister universities in Poland, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Japan. NPUST’s Department of Civil Engineering professor, Dr. Yu-min Wang moderated the panel discussions, with questions giving focus to the changing roles that universities will likely be playing in a world of rapid technological development. In a conversation format, panelists explored the changing needs of today’s learners and proposed some strategies that could be employed to meet those needs. Such ideas as “non-degree courses” offered to people looking to learn specific professional skills were raised, and considerations were given to the fact that today’s learners are interested enriching their learning by taking part in international and cross-cultural learning activities.
Hopes are that through international exchange and cooperation, educational institutions will be able to create the types of learning environments that can meet the needs of the students of tomorrow and that universities will be able to make positive contributions to local and sustainable development according to practices of social responsibility.