NTU controversy: Four oversight proposals on president Kao’s U.S. job search remain unpublished

National Tsing Hua University’s oversight committee approved four proposals on Aug. 21, but the university has not published the meeting’s conclusions. The committee later released the minutes through the Facebook page of Lee Min, a former senior aide to university president Kao Wei-yuan.

The first proposal asks the university secretariat to provide records of Kao’s overseas leave while he took part in the University of Hawaii at Mānoa’s presidential selection process. The requested information includes the application date, length and reason for the leave, the acting official during his absence, and whether Kao used official vehicles or public funds. The committee wants to compile the information for a special report at the next university affairs meeting.

A second proposal seeks information from the four current vice presidents and the secretary-general about whether senior officials knew that Kao planned to seek another presidency before his second term began on May 1. It also asks whether they knew after he took office but before the other university announced its selection result, and whether Kao took concrete preparatory measures in case he was chosen.

The third proposal calls for a credible anonymous survey of faculty, staff, students and alumni to assess whether the controversy harmed the university’s reputation or could create difficulties for future governance. The fourth recommends rules on information disclosure and standard procedures for similar cases.

Lee said it was surprising that the university had not followed procedure and published the Aug. 21 minutes. He accused the administration of using regulations to narrow the issues the oversight committee could discuss or question, arguing that this restricted its independent operation.