National University of Kaohsiung

National University of Kaohsiung (abbreviation:NUK)(國立高雄大學) is located in Nanzih (楠梓區), Kaohsiung City, Taiwan. The university is close to the Nanzih interchange of National Highway 1 and 30 minutes from the Kaohaiung train station.

National University of Kaohsiung
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Established	2000
Type	Public (National)
Chancellor	Ing-Chung Huan
Vice-Chancellor	Po-Chin Lee and Von-Wen Soo
Admin. staff	601
Students	5,279
Undergraduates	4,117
Postgraduates	1,162
Location	Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Website	http://www.nuk.edu.tw//

History

The university was founded in February 2000 and aims to narrow the gap in education between southern and northern Taiwan and promote the economy of the southern area.

There are seventeen departments in the university, including Western Languages and Literature, East Asian Language and Literature, Kinesiology, Health and Leisure Studies, Law, Government and Law, Economic and Financial Law, Applied Economics, Applied Mathematics, Applied Chemistry, Electrical Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Life Sciences, and Asia-Pacific Industrial and Business Management, Traditional Arts, Finance, Information Management, and Applied physics. Among these departments, Asia-Pacific Industrial and Business Management is especially designed for cultivating industrial elites.

There are eleven departments of graduate school. In 2006, the number of contestants of graduate school entrance exams increased 9% compared with 2005. In the future, there may be 36 departments and research institutes.

Features

An unusual feature in this school is its open space. There are no walls on the boundaries of the campus. Residents who live around this school often walk to campus or exercise by using equipment in the gym. Biodiversity is also a notable characteristic of NUK. There are more than 60 sorts of fish in pond of the Water Land Park.^{[citation needed]}

Colleges and Academic Departments

Currently, there are five colleges and seventeen departments in National University of Kaohsiung.

College of Humanities and Social Sciences

In June 2002, the University started to organize the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, which was then formally set up in May 2004 with permission of the Ministry of Education. The College includes the Department of Western Languages and Literature, the Department of Kinesiology, Health and Leisure Studies, and the Department of Traditional Arts, which were established in 2000, 2001 and 2002 respectively.

• The Department of Western Languages and Literature

Offers classes that enhance cultural and social understanding, such as History of Western Civilization, Introduction to Western Literature, Contemporary English and American Literature, English and American Children's Literature, English and American Novel, Feminism, and Sociolinguistics.

• The Department of Kinesiology, Health and Leisure Studies

Offers classes that improve general mental and physical well-being, for example, Introduction to Leisure and Recreation, Sport Psychology, Economics, Leisure Psychology, Agriculture for Leisure, Leisure Service Industry Management. The department also provides field training in hospitals and varies government training facilities.

• The Department of Traditional Arts and Creative Design

Offers a range of rich art training courses, including Basic Carving, Basic Molding, History of Chinese Art, Auspicious Signs and Culture, Traditional Wood Carving, Figure Molding, Pattern Drafting, Metal in Tin, Field Work, Workshop Issue and Bamboo Carving.

• The Department of East Asian Language and Literature

Includes programs of both language and sociology for East Asia countries. In collaboration with other departments in NUK, the department aims to provide interdisciplinary training concerning language, society, and culture of major East Asia countries, such as Japan, Korea, China, and Vietnam. They are based on the language training with the research of international relationships from the perspective of Taiwan. The course design follows the contents of eastern Asia languages, social science theory, practices, and application, literatures, Japanese conversation and translation, Korean conversation and translation, the third language training, and international student exchange program.

College of Law

The College of Law was established in 2002 in response to the demand for the advancement of legal education in southern Taiwan.

• The Department of Law

provides traditional legal education to undergraduates. Traditional legal education teaching and research is the foundation for the College’s long-term development.

• The Department of Government and Law

prepares students for success in the legal profession and public service. The so-called “political mind” refers to individuals dedicated to the political and public services and is not limited to graduates from the political science departments. The so-called “legal mind” refers to individuals dedicated to the legal profession or individuals with an interest in legal affairs. The Department combines these two disciplines to nurture today’s students into tomorrow’s leading political and legal minds.

• The Department of Economic and Financial Law

prepares students for law practice with emphasis on economic, financial and related disciplines.

College of Management

The greater Kaohsiung community is widely recognized^{[citation needed]} as a leader in technology and business in the Asia-Pacific region, and the College of Management at NUK stands at the forefront of this community. From both regional and global perspectives, the College of Management implements its departments based on both the industrial needs of the region and the greater global trends.

• The Department of Applied Economics
  • The Department nurtures students with economic awareness and analytical skills by integrating theory and practice, and instills students with a broad view and interest in society, economics, politics, and management.
  • The Department offers a wide range of courses in three major areas: Industrial and Management Economics, Regional and Development Economics, and Government and Public Policy Economics. Students are encouraged to gain knowledge in a wide range of interdisciplinary subjects across the University.
  • The Department offers master degree in economics, and provides students with complete training in economics and management.

• The Department of Asia-Pacific Industrial and Business Management

The Department of Asia-Pacific Industrial and Business Management was established in August 2001 as the first academic department offering bachelor degree of its kind in Taiwan. The motivation underlying the establishment of this unique department is to provide global business leaders for managing companies in Taiwan and other countries, particularly those in southeast Asian and China. Along with the emergence of newly industrializing countries, e.g., BRICs, many companies in both manufacturing and services industries have moved their operational units from Taiwan into china and Southeast Asian countries to gain competitive advantages on cost and markets.

• The Department of Finance

Finance plays an important role in management sciences, which may be classified into Corporate Finance, Investment, Financial Institutions and Markets, and Financial Engineering.

• The Department of Information Management

The Department of Information Management (IM) was established in 2002. As one of the departments of College of Management in National University of Kaohsiung (NUK), it enrolls a class for undergraduate and graduate program at this stage and will provide Ph.D. program in the near future. Because NUK will be planning to establish a comprehensive university that combines local industries in many fields, the IM department provides both theoretical and practical training in the field of information and knowledge management to cope with international developing trend in the same area.

It has been seen that most universities in Taiwan serve for information management department. However, with the increasing need of centurial construction of Asia Pacific trade center, the development of science-based industry parks, as well as software development parks, in southern Taiwan becomes more and more urgent, particularly for the field of information and knowledge management. The establishment of the IM department is offering the southern Taiwan both training programs and research manpower to help in country’s economic development.

To realize the blueprint and plan on the key points of future development in the southern Taiwan, particularly in Kaohsiung area, goals are set as follows

• • To provide advanced informational technology as well as knowledge technology for both enterprises and the government to help achieve effective and efficient management.
  • To provide a global view of process reengineering for the development of both computerized and knowledge-based society.
  • To provide a research forum for the improvement of information and knowledge management, e-commerce, and information systems.
  • To match the government’s policy and southern Taiwan development trend for the training of specialists in the field of information and knowledge management.

• Institute of Business and Management

The Institute was established in 2004 as named the Institute of Economics and Management, and renamed the Institute of Business and Management in August, 2008.

• Other Programs
  • Executive Master of Business Administration
  • International Executive Master of Business Administration
  • Executive Master of Law and Business Administration

College of Science

The College of Science has played an important role within the university since its inception.

• Department of Applied Mathematics

The Department devotes itself to the development of three areas: probability and statistics, discrete mathematics, and scientific computing. In addition to basic mathematical training, the Department also provides a range of advanced courses. After acquiring basic understanding on all fields of mathematics, students are expected to choose one of the three areas as the field of their major study.

The department also encourages students to take courses in other departments such as physics, bioinformatics, economics and electrical engineering, and to participate in research projects sponsored by NSC and the industry. Furthermore, the department seeks to strengthen the students in their programming skill as well as their knowledge on the statistical and mathematics-related software packages.

• Department of Applied Chemistry

The College of Science established a teaching and research chemistry program in 2001.

• Institute of Statistics
• Institute of Biotechnology

External links

• National University of Kaohsiung (in English)
• National University of Kaohsiung (in Mandarin)

Coordinates: 22°43′59.89″N 120°17′04.83″E / 22.7333028°N 120.284675°E / 22.7333028; 120.284675