Brief History of NOU

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The National Open University (NOU) was set up on the 1st of August, 1986. Prior to that, the Ministry of Education had run three university-level courses at a distance, as a pilot program, for three years since 1983. Following the completion of the relevant legislation by Legislative Yuan (Yuan means governing branch) of the central government, the president of the country promulgated the 'Regulations on the Establishment of the National Open University' in June 1985. The University held its first opening ceremony and started its first-year courses in November 1986. Its first graduation ceremony was taken place in September 1991.

NOU reached several milestones in the past 30 years. The table below highlights the historical events in each stage.

Stage

Highlights

1986-1991:
The nurturing stage
  • NOU was established in 1986 as the 1st audio-visual based learning university in Taiwan.
  • NOU aimed to provide open, sustainable, and never-ending adult learning and continuous education for the society.
  • Departments of Liberal Arts, Department of Social Science and Department of Business were established.
  • 58 students graduated in 1991.

1992-1996:
The growing stage
  • Teaching Building and learning centers were built during this stage.
  • Administrative Junior College Affiliated to National ChengChi Unnivisity (NCCU) was merged into NOU.
  • Departments of Public Administration, Department of Living Science and Department of Management and Information were established.
  • NOU graduates started to be awarded a bachelor degree.

1997-2001:
The flourishing stage
  • Entrance exam was no longer required.
  • Number of students reached the peak since its establishment.

2002-2006:
The stability stage
  • Junior College Affiliated to NOU was merged into NOU (Associate degrees).
  • General Education Center was established.
  • E-learning platform was established.
  • Cross-centers online lecturers were implemented.

2007-2011:
The challenging stage
  • Lifelong learning and digital learning effect were the two focuses.
  • Lifelong learning practices, the leader of e-learning and open resources for the society were the visions

2012-2016:
The transforming stage
  • Repositioning itself as the lifelong e-learning university for global Chinese.
  • Big-data analysis and decision making were utilized in university management.
  • Outbound student markets were included.
  • Taoyuan Learning Center was established.
  • NOU (Taiwan) Education Center in Indonesia was established.

2017~Current:
  • Department of Liberal Arts, Department of Public Administration and Department of Management and Information were accredited by Higher Education Evaluation and Accreditation Council of Taiwan (HEEACT).