In a Nov. 1 ceremony in Taipei, capital of Taiwan (Republic of China), Temple University President Ann Weaver Hart joined the presidents of six leading Taiwanese universities to sign a groundbreaking agreement creating a dual bachelor's-master's degree program for Taiwanese students.

The five-year program will offer highly qualified Taiwanese students a bachelor's degree from their home university and a master's degree from Temple.

Taiwan's Vice President Hsiu-Lien (Annette) Lu was a special guest at the ceremony at National Taiwan Normal University, one of the signatory universities. Taiwan's minister of education, Cheng-Sheng Tu, presided.

"I am thrilled to begin this pioneering collaborative relationship between our seven great universities," Hart said. "The benefits will be mutual. Taiwanese students will have access to Temple's excellence as a research university, while the international flavor of Temple's campuses will be enhanced by Taiwan's students."

The dual bachelor's-master's degree program is often referred to as a "three-plus-two" program because participating students will complete the majority of the requirements toward their bachelor's degree at their home institutions, followed by two years of study at the advanced undergraduate and graduate levels at Temple. In the summer between the first three years and final two years of the program, students will come to Temple for intensive English-language training and preparation for their master's program.

The six universities joining Temple are among Taiwan's most prestigious institutions: Chung Yuan Christian University, National Cheng Kung University, National Sun Yat-Sen University, National Taiwan Normal University, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology and Tunghai University. The combined enrollment of the six universities is more than 93,000 undergraduate and graduate students.

A preliminary list of Temple master's degrees offered for participating students includes M.S. and M.A. degrees in 21 different disciplines in the sciences, engineering, business, humanities, social sciences and arts.

"This program will enhance Temple's position as an innovative leader in international education," said Hai-Lung Dai, dean of Temple's College of Science and Technology and one of the agreement's chief architects. "With a president who recognizes internationalization as a high priority for higher education and a supportive provost and deans representing a wide variety of disciplines, Temple is the perfect place to make innovative, multidisciplinary international programs work."

According to Dai, who was born and raised in Taiwan and educated in Taiwan and the United States, Temple is negotiating similar three-plus-two dual-degree programs with universities in Europe, the Middle East and elsewhere in Asia.