News in Focus

Tunghai University received the First Prize in the University Sustainability Report category, the highest honor of the event. President Kuo-En Chang (right) accepted the award from Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng.

At the 6th Global Views Monthly University Social Responsibility (USR) Awards in 2025, Tunghai University claimed four major awards, becoming the most-awarded private university in Taiwan. Among them, Tunghai received the First Prize in the Sustainability Report category, the highest honor of the event.

During his acceptance speech, President Kuo-En Chang stated: “The value of a university is not determined by how many honors it receives, but by whether it always remembers why—and for whom—it exists. Tunghai has achieved all of this because we have never forgotten that we are a university with a mission.”

The award ceremony took place on April 8 at the Far Eastern Shangri-La Hotel in Taipei, attracting representatives from over one hundred universities and USR teams across Taiwan. President Chang led Tunghai’s delegation, which included Vice Presidents Chia-Hsiu Chang and Cheng Liu, Vice President for R&D Hui-Chen Lin, Director of the Office of Sustainability Ho-Wen Chen, Director of Public Affairs Chao-Hsi Huang, Professor Shih-Wei Chen of Computer Science, and Professor Chi-Chao Lin of the Graduate Institute of Education.

Recognized as a consistent leader in USR excellence, Tunghai once again stood out this year for its systematic integration, comprehensive content, and tangible impact, showcasing its strong capabilities in sustainable governance and social engagement. President Chang also expressed his heartfelt appreciation: “We thank Global Views Monthly for creating this platform. Our goal in participating is to ask ourselves how we can do even better. In the past, universities may have contributed relatively little to society, but by receiving first prize for three consecutive years, Tunghai has been inspired to fully transform in line with sustainability principles—in teaching, faculty development, and campus governance. This includes establishing sustainability literacy courses and continuing to promote the labor education philosophy that we have long cherished.”

This year, Tunghai University received four major awards: 

The First Prize in the University Sustainability Report category, demonstrating a comprehensive reporting capacity that integrates labor education, AI technology, humanistic concern, and governance strategies. 

The Model Award in the Well-being and Co-living category, for promoting elderly care and intergenerational learning through the establishment of open wellness villages and senior co-learning models.

The Model Award in the Ecological Harmony category, for implementing the “One University, One River” initiative, integrating hydrological management, community participation, and environmental education.

The Excellence Award in the Learning and Talent Development category, for its Digital Buddy Program, which has accompanied over 13,000 rural elementary students, advancing educational equity and digital transformation.

Under the leadership of President Kuo-En Chang, Tunghai University has won the highest honor of the Global Views USR University Social Responsibility Awards for three consecutive years.

Behind these honors lies the collective dedication of Tunghai’s faculty and staff and the result of long-term institutional planning. Vice President Chia-Hsiu Chang led the team in compiling the sustainability report, skillfully integrating strategy, storytelling, and results into a document of both depth and warmth. Vice President Cheng Liu and Professor Shih-Wei Chen integrated AI and health care to address aging-related challenges and build innovative co-learning villages. Vice President for R&D Hui-Chen Lin guided students in river conservation, field research, and community engagement.

It is worth mentioning that Tunghai University has long been committed to narrowing the urban–rural education gap. The Ministry of Education’s Digital Buddy Program has been cultivated at Tunghai for fifteen years, becoming a heartwarming and inspiring story on campus.

Led by CIO Chao-Tung Yang and Professor Chi-Chao Lin, the project links 34 departments and involves over 2,650 university students, providing learning companionship to 1,319 “digital buddies” from 18 elementary and junior high schools and two digital opportunity centers in central Taiwan—bringing both knowledge and care to rural communities. Directors Ho-Wen Chen and Chao-Hsi Huang coordinated the university’s strategic resources to advance Tunghai’s three-axis, six-dimension USR framework, creating a system that unites institutional support with a culture of shared values.

The Tunghai University team, led by President Kuo-En Chang, won four awards at the 2025 6th Global Views USR University Social Responsibility Awards.

Beyond its domestic achievements, Tunghai University has also gained international acclaim. In 2024, it was ranked among the global top 100 universities in the UK’s Times Higher Education Impact Rankings, making it the only private university in Taiwan to earn this distinction. The university performed exceptionally well in several UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) categories, particularly through its cross-college Carbon-Neutral Campus initiative, which integrates green architecture, environmental engineering, computer science, education, and environmental humanities—creating a cross-disciplinary collaborative environment that has become a model for other universities and enterprises. This international recognition symbolizes Tunghai’s role not only as a flagship of Taiwan’s USR education but also as a major driving force in sustainable higher education across Asia.