I、History

During the vocational school period (from 1966 to 1999), our Educational Administration Department took charge in regulating the school’s overall general courses. In 1999, the time when the school became a college, the General Education Center was then founded with a purpose to blueprint and execute the general education courses of the school. In 2005, the school became a university and the General Education center then became a unit under the Administration of the Liberal Arts Yuan.

II、Philosophy

Based on our school motto of “Diligent Study and Performing Benevolence”, Tajen University founds its cultivation of professional experts with creative thinking on the three values, “Improving the Quality of Human Life”, “Protecting our Environment” and “Improving Social Welfare”. To realize these ideals, the school especially emphasizes five distributive categories of general education courses which include 1.Liberal ARTS , 2. Social Science, 3. Natural Science, 4. Recreation and Health, and 5. Intelligent Living. With these five distributive categories of education, students can develop the five basic good qualities which include 1. Fluent Expression and Communication, 2. Constant Self-learning, 3. Work Ethic and Discipline, 4. Effective Team Work and Cooperation, 5. Independent Problem- Solving, 6. Creative Thinking, 7. Decent Human Interaction, 8. Effective Utilization of Computer and Information Science, and 9. Benign Human Care. In accordance with the requirements of different vocational departments, the general education courses aim not only at cultivating students’ professional knowledge and techniques but also at developing their advanced abilities for perpetual research and learning. With these efforts, we hope to cultivate students to become people with good work ethics, an effective power of flexibility, administration and rational thinking, a broad worldview and an abundant knowledge of arts and technology. And with these efforts, we will motivate students to a deep concern and care of humans, our society and our natural environment, thus reaching our aim of holistic education.  

III、Organization and Operation

1. The General Education Center, a top academic organization of the university, is composed of one director and one assistant. The director is appointed from associate professors or professors of the university by the president and is in overall charge of, plans, hosts and implements the center affairs. He is also in charge of planning all the general education courses of the whole university and the course arrangement.

2. There are four committees in the General Education Center: General Education Committee, Course Committee, Teacher Evaluation Committee and Center Affair Committee. Five teaching groups are divided by teachers’ specialties: Mandarin, Foreign Language, Society and Culture, Technology and Creation, and Physical Education.

3. The General Education Committee, which is chaired by the president of the university and the executive secretary of which is the head of the Center Education Center, is in overall charge of all the important general education center projects and planning and implementing general education courses to realize holistic education.

4. The Course Committee is in charge of planning and stipulating the long- and mid- term directions of the general education, and in charge of researching and planning the obligatory as well as elective general education courses, examining and approving the general education goals and teaching plans, coordinating all the academic departments for mutual support in teaching, general education lectures, conferences and getting ahead in relative activities, and examining and approving the general education students’ minor courses, double major courses and principles of waiving credits.

5. Teacher Evaluation Committee is in charge of teacher’s  recruitment, promotion, and evaluation, rewards and punishments. 

6. The Center Affair Committee is in charge of examing and discussing the center development plans, regulations, proposals of all teaching groups and assignments of the university.

7. The teaching groups, having teaching seminars periodically, are in charge of revising their relative proposals and regulations.

IV、Teaching and Administrative Resources

1. Faculty: There are fifty-seven (57) full-time teachers working in the general education curriculum section and more than forty-three percent (43%) hold the title of full-time assistant professor or above in the General Education Center (based on the 105 academic year). In order to address the diversity of the curriculum for students, we also hire part-time teachers.

2. Administrative Facilities: Administrative offices and a shared conference room of College of Humanities and Social Sciences are located in the General Education Center. They serve as venues for daily administrative work, academic activities and conferences. In addition, to carry out distance learning, a professional studio is built for teachers to record online teaching materials.

3. Faculty Offices: To encourage teachers to do research and to create a good academic environment, the General Education Center provides individual offices for assistant professors or above, along with shared offices.

 4. Venues for Teaching: Besides common classrooms, venues for General Education also include a shared music classroom with the Department of Early Childhood Care & Education, a dancing classroom, two shared audio classrooms with the Department of Applied Foreign Languages, and an English amphitheater classroom. The music classrooms are equipped with pianos and audio-visual equipment.  Audiovisual classrooms are equipped with lectern podiums, projectors, DVD players and other audio equipment, which enable various types of teaching. English audio-visual classrooms are equipped with computers and interactive audio-visual teaching equipment, which enable English audio-visual teaching and allow students to do extracurricular self-study. We also have a Project Adventure Park for students and teachers to do research and teaching. It enables different kinds of trainings and activities.