Following Program Director Lisa Lin’s visit in October, Executive Fulbright Taiwan Executive Director Dr. Randall L. Nadeau from the Foundation for Scholarly Exchange (Fulbright Taiwan) recently headed a delegation to NCUE to renew the MOU between NCUE and the Consortium for Study Abroad in Taiwan (CSAT). NCUE signed the MOU in 2017. This is one of the few channels enabling American students to come to Taiwan for exchange during the COVID-19 era.

CSAT is sponsored by the Ministry of Education and managed by the Foundation for Scholarly Exchange. It recruits American students to Taiwan for exchange or short-term studies.

NCUE Vice President Ching-jan Chang expressed his appreciation for Fulbright Taiwan’s far-reaching influence. With the Fulbright Program, young students from Taiwan and the U.S. have broadened their horizons by studying abroad or engaging in international exchanges.

Dr. Nadeau was also invited by NCUE International Office to give a speech to NCUE’s students on Fulbright’s exchange programs.

The Fulbright Program is an educational and cultural exchange program established by the U.S. State Department in 1946. It awards scholars, teachers, and students of all backgrounds to the U.S. for research, teaching and studying. Likewise, it offers opportunities for U.S. grantees to teach, research, study and conduct professional projects around the world.

Dr. Nadeau pointed out that becoming Fulbright alumni and grantees is regarded as a prestigious honor. The award recipients so far include 60 Nobel Prize winners and 37 heads of state or government. Over the past 63 years, more than 1,700 grantees have been financed to Taiwan and 1,600, including 26 university presidents and 40 cabinet members, to the U.S. There are three NCUE professors that are Fulbright Senior Scholars.

The Fulbright grantees are mainly divided into three categories: scholars/ professionals, fellows/ students, and Teachers & Teaching Assistants, who go to the U.S. for research, teaching, collecting dissertation materials, or pursue a doctorate degree respectively.

Dean Ling-yu Wen of OICA then shared her experience of conducting research at San Jose State University and in Silicon Valley in the US for a year with Fulbright’s senior research grant.