From March 12th to 15th, a delegation of six students and faculty members led by Prof. Robert J. Bob Haggerty from the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Idaho, visited NCYU. Arranged by NCYU's Office of International Affairs, they toured the Department of Horticultural Science, Department of Food Science, Department of Animal Science, Department of Early Childhood Education, World Vegetable Center in Tainan, CHIMEI Happiness Factory, and Chiayi Agricultural Experiment Branch, Taiwan Agricultural Research institute, Ministry of Agriculture, among others. On March 15th, the delegation engaged in lively group discussions, and shared insights into academic and practical development in a general education course of NCYU.
Founded in 1889, the University of Idaho is the oldest comprehensive public university in Idaho, United States. It consists of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences, College of Education, Health and Human Sciences, College of Engineering, College of Business and Economics, College of Science, College of Art and Architecture, College of Natural Resources, and College of Law. NCYU and the University of Idaho have become sister universities following a memorandum of cooperation signed between both universities in 2003. The University of Idaho, which had sent delegations annually for exchanges before the pandemic, has fostered close relationships with various departments and teacher-student research teams at NCYU. There were not only frequent mutual visits by faculty and students, but also short-term internship programs. Exchanges between both sides had been halted due to the pandemic since 2019, and has not resumed until now (2024).
The
delegation this time comprised members from the College of Agriculture and
College of Life Sciences, specializing in fields such as land resources, crop
management, food and nutrition. They visited sites where teaching and practice
in orchid breeding and environmental control, food processing and sampling,
ranch management, early childhood education and nutrition took place. They
actively asked questions and interacted with with faculty and students from
various departments. During the visit, the delegation also met with Vice
President Chun-Hsien Chang and heads and researchers of the relevant
departments to discuss cooperation opportunities. According to Prof. Robert J. Bob
Haggerty, the University of Idaho shares similarities with NCYU in terms of
student scale and professional agricultural training, and close ties have been
established through mutual visits over the years. He hoped there will be
opportunities to promote substantive cooperation projects and scholar exchanges
in the future.
Photo 1: The delegation visited the orchid
breeding farm at the Horticultural Technology Center, NCYU.
Photo 2: They toured NCYU’s Food Processing
Pilot Plant, where Hsu Cheng-Kuang (1st from right), Chairman of the Department
of Food Science, introduced specialty products.
Photo 3: The delegation participated in a
course at the Department of Early Childhood Education.
Photo 4: A group photo of the delegation
visiting the Department of Animal Science.
Photo 5: The delegation exchanged ideas
with the Coffee Club.
Photo 6: The delegation interacted with the
students in “Globalization and Multiculturalism,” one of the general education
courses offered at NCYU.
Photo 7: A group photo taken during the
visit at the Department of Early Childhood Education.
Photo 8: The delegation visited the Chiayi
Agricultural Experiment Branch, Taiwan Agricultural Research institute,
Ministry of Agriculture.