In order to promote Taiwan’s quality educational resources and cooperation projects for strengthening collaboration with universities adjacent to Washington DC, Dr. Aaron Chen, Director of the Education Division of Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States (TECRO) visited Catholic University of America (CUA) to meet Dr. Margaret Ann Kassen, Chair of Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, Ms. Yung-Yung Chang, Clinical Instructor, and Ms. Yi-Hsiu Peng, Taiwanese Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant (FLTA) at CUA on Jan. 20.
During the meeting, Dr. Kassen and Ms. Chang briefly introduced the status quo of the Chinese and Asia Studies Programs at CUA. With the current amount of 18 students signing up for the Programs, Dr. Kassen bluntly expressed the hope to explore more cooperation opportunities with Taiwan for expanding the scale of the Programs, except for conducting the Test of Chinese as a Foreign Language (TOCFL) bilaterally with Taiwan annually.
Dr. Aaron Chen introduced and promoted multiple resources such as the Ministry of Education (MOE) Taiwan Scholarship, MOE Huayu Enrichment Scholarship (HES), Huayu BEST Program and Sending Mandarin Teachers and Teaching Assistants Program and encouraged the university relay the resources for CUA students to study in Taiwan. The both side were on the same page that Taiwan and CUA will continue to explore any chances for deepening bilateral educational ties under the framework of the U.S.-Taiwan Education Initiative launched since Dec. 2020.
To celebrate the Lunar New Year with CUA students, Dr. Aaron Chen hosted an orientation for 10 American students of the Chinese Program and interested in studying in Taiwan at an Asian restaurant later the evening. During the activity, Dr. Aaron Chen emphasized that MOE Taiwan Scholarship and HES will open and welcome application of all American students interested in studying in Taiwan since Feb 1. He also encouraged students at site seize the opportunity to apply for the scholarship to learn and study in Taiwan with an immersive way.