In the face of the worst pandemic in a century, many NTU members rose to the challenge and joined the global efforts with concrete actions. For example, many NTU faculty members actively supported the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) under the Executive Yuan by contributing their expertise to policy-making, while others participated actively in antibody testing and vaccine development. Beyond faculty contributions, student associations from the School of Medicine and the Department of Public Health established "Fight COVID Taiwan," an English website where students dedicated their free time to answer frequently asked questions from the foreign press. Their hard work and enthusiasm earned international acclaim and recognition from the Ministry of Health and Welfare through certificates of appreciation. The collaborative efforts to combat the pandemic on campus were also featured in top international medical journal. The Taiwan experience then served as a role model for universities worldwide as they planned to reopen campuses.
On campus, the University initiated a series of stringent control measures. To ensure campus safety, a dedicated team produced over 80 "NTU Epidemic Prevention No. 1" devices – automatic forehead thermometers. Some of these devices were donated to neighboring libraries and elementary schools to help the protection of local communities. Digitally, our online platform, NTU COOL, was swiftly enhanced to cater to the learning/teaching requirements of over 24,000 students and 1,200 faculty members. With all these measures in place, NTU welcomed approximately 4,300 students abroad to pursue or continue their studies in Taiwan. In addition, the University offered subsidies totaling over NT$5 million to these students, ensuring they did not face financial challenges during the pandemic. These endeavors underscore the University's comprehensive commitment in both pandemic prevention and education promotion.
Collectively, we at NTU have spared no effort and played our parts in the past four years under the constant threat of COVID-19. Dr. Shan-Chwen Chang received several significant honors for his long-term contributions to epidemic prevention in Taiwan, including the "Epidemic Prevention Medal" (2020), the "Tsai Wan-tsai Taiwan Contribution Award" (2022) and the "Third Class Order of Brilliant Star" (2023). These honors not only affirm Dr. Chang's dedication and accomplishments in government entities and on campus over the past 20 years, but also highlight NTU's critical role in combating the devastating pandemic.
The Taiwan experience in fighting the pandemic has attracted global attention, and the achievements of NTU and Taiwan in general have reached the international community. The disturbance caused by COVID-19 has not yet ended, and NTU will persist in fulfilling its social responsibilities to all citizens, working together to establish a new norm in the post-pandemic era.
Engaged in epidemic diplomacy, students from the NTU “Fight COVID Taiwan” team were active.
Implementing the COVID-19 Special Visiting Student Program for overseas students returning/arriving in Taiwan for studies, NTU offered an airport pickup service.
Upon entering quarantine upon arrival, overseas students would promptly receive assistance from the University.
"NTU COOL" was first launched as the new-generation teaching platform in the spring semester of 2019. After COVID broke out, a total of 2,026 courses were shifted to online instruction via NTU COOL in the spring semester of 2020, constituting 30% of all courses offered that semester.