Dear Colleagues, Happy Chinese New Year: How time flies! It is the end of the Year of the Horse and the Year of the Sheep is about to begin, so I would like to wish all of you a prosperous and satisfying new year. Ming Chuan University had many achievements in 2014, including seeing MCU MI established and students recruited there and having over 20,000 students spread over its five locations, nearly 300 of whom are at MCU Kinmen Location. The registration rate for undergraduate programs is 97% and the MCU teaching evaluation indicator by the Ministry of Education is top ranked among private universities in Taiwan. These facts are even more meaningful against the background of the declining birthrate that has affected many universities in Taiwan, leaving them with declining registration rate. Many departments did not recruit any freshmen in 2014-15; more and more national universities cannot continue their Ph.D programs. Even though the Minister of Education, Dr. Se-Hwa Wu, vows to reduce the number of universities in Taiwan to 100 through consolidation, we still need to face the challenge of the supply of higher education exceeding domestic demand. As you know, MCU survives well due to our achievements and thrives in Taiwan. However, we must be on guard with our spectacular achievement. We made efforts in the past years to have a wonderful record, but it does not guarantee us a good future outcome. For good achievements in the future, we must make effort every single day. At the beginning of this new year, I would like to offer three wishes regarding our goals in the coming year. 1. The big enterprise plan of each School must be launched immediately to ensure our teaching content meets the needs of industry. My wish is that we cultivate our students with innovative and practical experience to guarantee that students can apply what they have learned. 2. All departments and graduate schools must pass the Department Accreditation to ensure that teaching quality at MCU is affirmed by the Ministry of Education. My wish is for this to promote our foundation for establishing ‘name brand education’. 3. The number of the international students is gradually increasing to meet our goal. My wish is to see 20 percent of our students be from overseas, so as to ensure that our institution has a steady scale of operations. My vision of “One More Golden Decade”, which I described to you as the first semester got underway, set out the plan for MCU to grow in the face of adversity from 2010 to 2020. It is easy to grow with the rising tide; however, the external environment has changed and it is not easy to achieve our goal of continued growth while facing today’s adversity. An unbending rule for managing any organization is “If you are not advancing, you are retreating.” We all, myself each of you on the MCU faculty and staff, share good times and bad together. As MCU belongs to all of us, we must make our best efforts for this big family. May we continue to try our best to cultivate more excellent talents to meet MCU’s mission. At the end of 2014, I wish you a Happy Chinese New Year and look forward to meeting you around campus during the second semester of 2014-15 academic year. Let’s work together for MCU! Best wishes for the year to come! Prosperity in All Your Endeavors President Chuan Lee