Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 65.49
Liaison Jun-Ming Chen
Submission Date Oct. 29, 2021

STARS v2.2

National Tsing Hua University
PA-2: Sustainability Planning

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 4.00 Fu-Ren Lin
Professor
Institute of Service Science, National Tsing Hua University
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1. Measurable sustainability objectives 

Academics

Does the institution have a published plan or plans that include measurable sustainability objectives that address sustainability in curriculum and/or research?:
No

A list or sample of the measurable sustainability objectives related to academics and the plan(s) in which they are published:
We will implement the following plans in the future:

1. Inventory the connection of SDGs with the existing courses and develop new sustainability-focused courses
a. Increase the proportion of sustainability-focused courses from the current 6% to 12% within three years.
b. Increase the number of sustainability-focused undergraduate minor programs from 3 to 6 within three years.
c. Increase the proportion of sustainability-focused courses in continuing education from 29.72% to 50% within three years.

2. Encourage teachers to form a teacher community and make teaching plans based on sustainability.

Engagement 

Does the institution have a published plan or plans that include measurable sustainability objectives that address student, employee, or community engagement for sustainability?:
No

A list or sample of the measurable sustainability objectives related to engagement and the plan(s) in which they are published:
(1) Subsidy student clubs to handle various activities and create a social learning field "outside the classroom".
(2) Improve the orientation of freshmen to help adapt to school life as soon as possible.
(3) Go out of the campus and enter the community through courses, such as student participation in "Social Innovation and Appropriate Technology", "Social and Cultural Analysis of Space", and "Regional Revitalization" to systematically cultivate the ability to participate in the community. (4) Organize a series of practical ability training workshops, such as "Design Thinking Workshop" and "Urban and Rural Area Exploration", led by instructors into the community to connect to the local, thinking about global local issues, and expanding life experience. (5) Through the "service learning" course, establish teamwork, cultivate the ability of cooperative planning and implementation of plans, and develop the leadership ability to serve others.
(6) Assist students to communicate with international students to expand their international horizons: (a) Through the organization of small activities, such as food exchanges and language exchanges, create a natural and interactive atmosphere for Taiwanese students and international students. (b) Through courses, workshops, large-scale speeches, etc., enhance the level of communication between the two parties and increase further cross-cultural understanding.

Operations

Does the institution have a published plan or plans that include measurable sustainability objectives that address sustainability in operations?:
No

A list or sample of the measurable sustainability objectives related to operations and the plan(s) in which they are published:
(1) Establish a full-university sewage pipe: 6 of the 12 districts of the campus have completed sewage pipe and electrical and mechanical engineering, and the other 6 districts are under planning and design.
(2) Improve the campus high-voltage power system: replace old high-voltage substations and use high-efficiency transformers to obtain energy-saving benefits.
(3) Improving the barrier-free environment: The architect investigates the barrier-free environment of the campus and submits an improvement plan every year.
(4) Improve the water quality of campus lakes and lower the Eutrophication index.
(5) Revitalize campus space: On holidays, campus venues will be rented for parent-child, silver hair, art, and cultural activities.
(6) Construction and renovation of student dormitories: Two student dormitories are planned to be built, and renovated an old dormitory every year so that students have sufficient accommodation space and reduce traffic commuting.

Administration

Does the institution have a published plan or plans that include measurable sustainability objectives that address diversity, equity, and inclusion; sustainable investment/finance; or wellbeing?:
No

A list or sample of the measurable sustainability objectives related to administration and the plan(s) in which they are published:
(1) Strengthen the diversification of student sources: increase the Multi-star Project (to reduce the education gap) to 16%, and the special selection to 3%, among which disadvantaged students will be given priority.
(2) Planning the Indigenous Science Development Center: It is expected to provide research, teaching, office, cultural relic display, and Indigenous market.
(3) Establish the "Indigenous Student Resource Center": to assist Indigenous students to improve their learning ability and take care of economic disadvantages.
(4) Set up resource classrooms: provide integrated assistance for students with disabilities, including schoolwork, family counseling, mental health, etc., to form a support network to help integrate into the community.
(5) Assisting international students in all aspects: assisting international students in staying in dormitories, registration, residence, academic studies, cultural exchanges, and employment counseling.
(6) Strengthen campus safety network: establish emergency student incident handling procedures and campus rescue system to maintain campus and student safety.
(7) Provide disease risk assessment: The health care team will establish a “cardiovascular disease risk assessment in the next ten years” in the “health management system”, and input annual physical health examination data for the entire school’s staff and students to grasp personal health trends.
(8) Handle mental health activities: Each semester, the Counseling Center organizes lectures, workshops, psychological tests and other activities according to different psychological counseling topics, so that faculty and staff can understand their mental state and strengthen psychological care.

Part 2. Sustainability in institution’s highest guiding document

Does the institution have a published strategic plan or equivalent guiding document that includes sustainability at a high level? :
Yes

The institution’s highest guiding document (upload):
Website URL where the institution’s highest guiding document is publicly available:
Which of the following best describes the inclusion of sustainability in the highest guiding document?:
Major theme

Optional Fields

The institution's sustainability plan (upload):
Website URL where the institution's sustainability plan is publicly available:
Does the institution have a formal statement in support of sustainability endorsed by its governing body?:
Yes

The formal statement in support of sustainability:
A Word from the President

It is our primary concern as a university to achieve the sustainability of human society. Our mission is to cultivate talents for future generations. The purpose of education is to sustain generational culture and create a meaningful life. Thus, a university needs to be an active problem-solver for the world and sustains generations despite different disciplines and departments in the university. The university governance aims to realize sustainability. For example, the investment of sustainability fund has been selecting the investment targets on enterprises with sustainable and stable operations that also fulfil social responsibility; the realizations of campus sustainable development plans, such as biological diversity of the campus, responsible food and beverage service, green procurement, energy-saving, carbon reduction, and recycling; Also, let the export of our academic power, such as research, teaching, industry-academia cooperation, and social connection, concentrate on realizing 17 SDGs of the United Nation. We have identified knowledge across different disciplines and started
integrating humanity and technology via interdisciplinary research and teaching activities. We aim to bring students’ learning and self-fulfillment to engage the pursuit of SDGs together, which is also the fulfillment of our motto, “self-discipline and social commitment ”. We have marched for cross-disciplinary collaboration within the university, and now let’s move forward together to realize the SDGs. The publication of the NTHU SDGs Report shares all perspectives in sustainable development results and processes in NTHU. We hope this report becomes the process for us to review the progress of our sustainable development, and exchanges information with the government, industries, NGOs, and the public on the sustainable development pathway, and seeks the opportunities to collaborate in realizing SDGs.



A Word from the CSO

The motto of NTHU is “self-discipline and social commitment”, calibrates the promotion and the execution of SDGs from the perspectives of university governance, research, teaching, campus life, and social connection. After the United Nations proposed 17 SDGs in 2015, NTHU connected faculty research and teaching, students’ learning, and campus life to focus on the realization of SDGs. Not only raised the awareness of SDGs from NTHU faculty and students, alumni, entrepreneurs, and the communities but also became the basis of resource allocations for goal realizations and evaluate performance, by which we are able to calibrate NTHU and the world’s SDGs. Integrate course learning, campus activity, service learning, and social practice to expand learning areas and enrich learning contents in order to promote various, flexible, and cross-domains learning environments and innovate educational mode, echoing the educational goal in NTHU of cultivating cross-domains talents with local care and global mobility. Through the operation of the NTHU sustainable development committee, in which committee members are from colleges and the first-level administrative units as CSOs in their units, chaired by the university Chief Sustainability Officer as which a senior vice-president serves.
The committee aims to draft the strategy of NTHU sustainable development, integrate resources from inside and outside of the university, promote cross-domain cooperation to guide faculty to devote themselves to the realization of SDGs. From cognition to action taken, we fully committed to sustainability through the course, research, campus life, and student activity. To expect not only NTHU fulfilling social responsibility but also realizing SDGs specifically.

The institution’s definition of sustainability:
National Tsing Hua University upholds the motto “self discipline and social commitment”, through integrated organizational resources, cross-domain academic cooperation, actively responding to the realization of SDGs from the UN to fulfill University Social Responsibility. The three major tasks in the university are teaching, research, and service. It involves the shareholders not only students, teachers, and staff, but also the communities and alumni.
This ecosystem gradually involved outwardly important stakeholders, such as parents, the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Science and Technology, business entities, NGOs, and the influences from domestic to international. Therefore, The sustainable development strategies of the university should be based on the
ecosystem in the university, mutualistic symbiosis, pursue the goals of economics, social, and environment can maintain and sustainable development. Based on the long-term performance of Tsing Hua‘s academic achievement and service to society, we have the cornerstone to realize SDGs.

Is the institution an endorser or signatory of the following?:
Yes or No
The Earth Charter No
The Higher Education Sustainability Initiative (HESI) No
ISCN-GULF Sustainable Campus Charter No
Pan-Canadian Protocol for Sustainability No
SDG Accord No
Second Nature’s Carbon Commitment (formerly known as the ACUPCC), Resilience Commitment, and/or integrated Climate Commitment No
The Talloires Declaration (TD) No
UN Global Compact No
Other multi-dimensional sustainability commitments (please specify below) No

A brief description of the institution’s formal sustainability commitments, including the specific initiatives selected above:
---

Website URL where information about the institution’s sustainability planning efforts is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
1.NTHU Sustainable Development annual reports(Full version): https://sdgs.nthu.edu.tw/SDGs-reports

2.2019-2023 NTHU five-year development plan
The attached pdf file is NTHU's highest guiding document "2019-2023 NTHU five-year development plan"(Only cover and table of contents, because this is an unpublished document).

The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.