In the wake of the tidal wave to revitalize the economy and to cut down unemployment, NTU fulfills its social responsibility by launching the "Professional Skills and Knowledge Upgrading Program," under which the University will offer various courses to benefit the currently unemployed and those on temporary unpaid leave with a view toward enhancing their professional competitiveness.

The courses under planning include electrical engineering and information science, engineering, management, law, social sciences, literature, etc. In addition, in order to expand the scope of service, NTU makes a special effort to collaborate with Chunghwa Telecom to launch on-line courses on management science for those who are constricted by time and location. It is estimated that over ten thousand people will benefit from NTU's new initiative.

Owing to the impact of a severe economic slowdown, a number of people with jobs have been laid off or asked to be on unpaid leave. Although these people are temporarily deprived of their salaries, as far as their career planning is concerned, this is really a good time for them to seek self-advancement. As management skills are much in demand in all professions, NTU's School of Professional and Continuing Studies makes a special effort to collaborate with Chunghwa Telecom to set up an on-line platform, and to increase the volume of synchronous cybercasting, so that students can choose from 11 major management courses which include: economics, introduction to management science, financial report analysis, management statistics, management accounting, marketing management, entrepreneurship and innovation management, international business administration, investment science, financial management and strategy management. Since these courses are offered on line, students can take them without having to worry about the constraints of time and location. The length of a course lasts from 7 to 34 hours, and all courses are recorded on video by full time faculty from NTU's College of Management.

Moreover, to enhance teaching quality, teaching assistants are hired for all the courses to offer tutoring help on line to the students who encounter problems in their learning process. The ceiling for enrollment is limited to 100 students per course. If the enrollment is under 25, then the course will not be offered.

In the meantime, in order to provide pluralistic choices for those in need, NTU offers courses in the areas of electrical engineering and information science, engineering sciences, law, social sciences, literature, etc, to the general public. These courses include both undergraduate and master level classes, and a 10% quota is reserved for outside registration.

Applicants who want to take courses in NTU's "professional skills and knowledge upgrading program" must comply with the regulations stipulated in its curriculum. In addition, applicants must pay a N.T. $2000 deposit for each chosen course, but the deposits will be refunded in full (without interests) when the applicant finishes the course of his/her choice, makes the grades and obtains a learning certificate.

No academic credits will be offered for these free courses. The reason that a deposit is required is to ensure that the general public who enroll in these courses will study diligently and participate enthusiastically and to safeguard against deterioration in teaching quality or wasting of teaching resources.

Effective immediately, NTU's "Professional Skills and Knowledge Upgrading Program" starts accepting applications till February 22nd. With regard to the on-line management courses, the deadline for application is March 15th. For inquiries, please call (02) 2362-0502. Program guide and application forms can be downloaded from: http://training.dpd.ntu.edu.tw.