Since the Ministry of Education (MOE) launched the BEST program in fall 2021, major executives of Tunghai University have been continually engaged in promotion of the program with coordinated deployment of both internal and external resources and establishment of the university-level Bilingual Education Promotion Committee (BEPC). The BEPC is hosted by the university’s Vice-President under the directive of the President and is composed with committee members including the Dean of Academic Affairs, representative deans whose colleges have demonstrated excellent performance in bilingual and global education over the past decade, and associated department chairs and faculty members. As the leading college in global education, the university’s College of Management accredited by the AACSB International in both 2018 and 2023 has played the pilot role in the MOE’s BEST program as of the academic year 2021-2022. Besides its Global Elite Program (GEP) with a specific EMI curriculum, the college hosts an English-taught Global MBA (GMBA) program and offers dual-degree program in partnership with top business schools worldwide. Tunghai University has accelerated the promotion of EMI courses across its nine colleges beyond the College of Management since fall 2023.

With the university’s pioneering spirits since its foundation in 1955, the BEST program is mainly implemented through three major axes. First, Tunghai University is achieving its goals through incentive mechanism for both instructors and students. Second, participating faculty members are actively involved in EMI workshops and communities and have continuously interacted with both internal and external EMI teachers and experts for enhancement in EMI pedagogy and skills. Third, the BEST program designed by Tunghai University has taken into account significant gaps in English proficiency levels in participating students and hence adopted differentiated teaching methods in small classes which aim at inclusive growth in each student’s skills required for attending EMI courses as of the second year of study.

With regular supervision and dynamic revision in the university’s BEST program by the BEPC, three key achievements can be summarized. First, students in the College of Management have been spontaneously engaged in the BEST program following the pilot program in academic years 2021-2023. Under the MOE’s directives, the BEST program cannot force students to take EMI courses. With improvement in EMI skills by faculty members and enhanced peer effects, the ratio of the students having chosen the EMI class has been increased from 30% to 60% in the academic year 2023-2024. Second, close-to-250 freshmen have taken the BESTEP proficiency test sponsored by the MOE, marking strong motivation to enhance EMI skills. Third, the interaction between the College of Management and other colleges has been strengthened by the Bilingualism Promotion Office (BPO) as a university-wide administrative unit for the BEST program. More colleges will be ready for the BEST program in par with the College of Management in the years to come.