NTU joined in an historic partnership with its neighbors National Taiwan Normal University and National Taiwan University of Science and Technology with the establishment of the NTU Triangle Alliance in January.  Taking advantage of the close proximity of these three elite Taipei City universities, as well as the complementary nature of their academic and research programs, the new alliance facilitates a broad range of inter-campus cooperation among the three institutions.  The alliance also permits the students to enroll in for-credit courses at the other two universities.

By introducing a new model for substantive collaboration, the formation of the NTU Triangle Alliance marks the turning of a new page in the history of higher education in Taiwan.  Already, the partnership has enabled the three universities’ nearly 60,000 students and faculty members to enjoy inter-campus access to wireless Internet, library resources and computer facilities, receive special store and restaurant discounts, and commute quickly between the three campuses on direct shuttle buses.

NTU, NTNU, and NTUST have each developed distinctive areas of academic specialization, and their strengths and resources complement each other well.  While NTU boasts the best overall performance across a range of fields, NTNU is renowned for its excellence in education as well as music, the arts and humanities, and athletics. Meanwhile, NTUST stands as a high technology leader in Taiwan, educating outstanding professionals for the technology industry.  The NTU Triangle Alliance integrates the abundant resources of these institutions, creating a more optimal educational and research environment, and allowing students to pursue their learning interests across campuses and disciplines.

The members of the NTU Triangle Alliance are located within close proximity of each other in the Daan and Wenshan Districts of Taipei City.  This makes the sharing of resources among the campuses easy and convenient.  Beginning in the 2014 academic year, students of the three universities are permitted for the first time to enroll in courses on any of the three campuses, with their own university recognizing the credits earned.  During the first semester, 572 students took advantage of this opportunity, 223 from NTNU, accounting for the greatest portion at 39%, and 183 from NTUST and 166 from NTU, or 32% and 29%, respectively.

During the course registration period for the second semester, the universities jointly launched an online course selection system that allows students to sign up for classes on any of the three campuses with just the click of a finger.  Another major area of integration will come with the coordination of academic calendars at the start of the 2015 academic year.  Such synchronization of major dates, including the dates for the beginning and end of the semester and for adding or withdrawing from classes, will enable students to take full advantage of the expanded range of courses offered across the three campuses.

These actions of eliminating the institutional barriers that have separated the neighboring campuses have opened the door for greater utilization of the three universities’ resources to their combined student bodies and faculties.  The integration of library resources, for instance, entails issuing inter-library passes to all full-time faculty and graduate students, as well as the exchange of 100 library cards between each university to be reserved for undergraduate students.

In addition, the universities will also share academic resources and cooperate in organizing joint events and activities aimed to promote exchanges among their three administrative systems.  The events will include academic forums, adult education exhibitions, professional skills seminars, and volunteer community service projects.  They will be open to the faculty and students of all three schools.

The NTU Triangle Alliance is turning Taipei City into a real university town in so many ways.  By working with local businesses, it provides students with special store and restaurant discounts; 103 businesses have signed on so far.  Meanwhile, shuttle busses now run daily among the three campuses, linking the schools via quick and convenient commutes.  The students, faculties, and administrative personnel of the alliance universities also enjoy parking discounts on all three campuses.