Beware the Destruction of Industry-Academia Cooperation by Politics

Beware the Destruction of Industry-Academia Cooperation by Politics
China Times editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)
A Translation
July 9, 2008

Summary: Polaris Securities Group CEO Wayne Bai's suicide set off a bombshell in political and financial circles. It also led to soul-searching in academia. The industrial sector has practical experience and economic might. Academia has human resources with research abilities. Just what sort of relationship should the two maintain in order to create a win/win situation? Just where should the line between the two worlds be drawn? Wayne Bai's death was regrettable. Chang Chun-yen's withdrawal of his candidacy has increased political controversy. But the incident has also highlighted how universities and industry should interact. This issue has become increasingly important. If one does not understand the rules of the game, one can easily fall prey to undue speculation and misunderstanding. When industry-academia cooperation collides with politics, matters can become complicated and calculating. The pitfalls are not necessarily something someone in industry or academia unfamiliar with political machinations can understand or endure. The best solution is to make everything open and transparent, to set clear rules, and to lay all the cards on the table.

Full Text below:

Polaris Securities Group CEO Wayne Bai's suicide set off a bombshell in political and financial circles. It also led to soul-searching in academia. The industrial sector has practical experience and economic might. Academia has human resources with research abilities. Just what sort of relationship should the two maintain in order to create a win/win situation? Just where should the line between the two worlds be drawn?

The cause of Wayne Bai's death is still under investigation. However, according to people close to him, negative coverage about "buying academic credentials" and "subsidizing" former Chiao Tung University President Chang Chun-yen deeply pained Bai. In fact, many industries provide funds and resources to universities, helping them establish a wide variety of programs. Some schools may be unable to obtain funding for research or construction projects. Nevertheless they would like business community sponsorship. Such sponsorship can help students complete their studies or enter postgraduate programs. They can help schools expand their resources and increase their academic influence. The business community can receive tax benefits, recruit outstanding talent, and enhance their corporate image. That is why so many enterprises are eager to make such investments.

Industry and academia have long enjoyed a symbiotic relationship. Each have contributed their strengths to the relationship, creating synergy. Academic research and academic activities have been of practical assistance to industry. Practical experience in the outside world meanwhile, has enabled industry to give back to academic institutions. The two complement each other. More and more universities and enterprises are relating to each other this way. In recent years, through campus recruitment, the sponsoring of campus entrepreneurship contests, and Investment competitions, industry influence has penetrated the ivied halls of learning and even affected individual students.

In fact many schools regard the seeking of corporate sponsors as their most important mission. With the government's finances worsening every day, universities must find their own financing, A lack of university funding, coupled with rising tuition fees, make contributions from the business community increasingly important to the university's development, even survival. It is not wrong for universities to seek funding from the outside world. Take for example Chang-Lin Tien, ethnic Chinese Vice-Chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley, a first-class research institute. Tien once mentioned that the reason he stood out from the rest of the 258 candidates was his superior fund-raising ability. Take Ralph T. Yang, newly elected Fellow of the Academia Sinica, or his brother, Henry Yang, also a Fellow of the Academia Sinica. Henry Yang is currently Chancellor of the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is considered one of the most effective fund raisers among American university heads. People on Taiwan may have difficulty speaking so frankly about fund-raising ability. But in fact, university presidents with the ability to raise funds is a clear trend. In the past, Taiwan's universities have never made much fanfare about fund-raising. But National Taiwan University has long been the recipient of Terry Kuo's 15.2 billion NT contributions. One really has to admire the major universities. The importance of fund-raising is gradually being highlighted. Some universities have even set up "fund-raising offices" to engage in sustained, in-depth fund-raising work.

A few days ago, Academia Sinica Fellow Ambrose King said that in the past only private schools needed to raise funds, but now even public schools need to. Because of fund-raising, contact between universities and the business community will increase. Based on his experience as a university president, King said for universities to become more intimate with the business community it is not a bad thing. One merely needs to know where to draw the line.

Actually, the symbiosis between the Polaris Group and the National Chiao Tung University is not unique. Universities are strapped for funds. Industry on the other hand, needs college trained talent. The same situation as Polaris has occurred with several universities on Taiwan. Wayne Bai was denounced by the media for "buying academic credentials." Universities that cooperated with Polaris should have come forward to explain the nature of this cooperation. The public might have a better understanding of this increasingly common cooperation between industry and academia.

The reason universities refuse to open up and talk about such matters, is society's mores. They make such matters taboo within the academic community. But such cooperation has long been commonplace. Open discussion may help everyone see industry/academia cooperation as perfectly normal. Concern and discussion by the outside world may help universities and industries remain transparent and public.

Wayne Bai's death was regrettable. Chang Chun-yen's withdrawal of his candidacy has increased political controversy. But the incident has also highlighted how universities and industry should interact. This issue has become increasingly important. If one does not understand the rules of the game, one can easily fall prey to undue speculation and misunderstanding. When industry-academia cooperation collides with politics, matters can become complicated and calculating. The pitfalls are not necessarily something someone in industry or academia unfamiliar with political machinations can understand or endure. The best solution is to make everything open and transparent, to set clear rules, and to lay all the cards on the table.

中時電子報
中國時報 　2008.07.08
小心產學合作被政治鬥爭摧毀
中時社論

　寶來證券集團董事長白文正自殺身亡，不但在政治圈、金融圈投下震撼彈，對學術界而言，這個事件也帶來了一定程度的省思。有實務經驗與經濟實力的產業界，和有研究人力資源的學術界，究竟應該維持怎樣的關係才能互蒙其利，創造雙贏，其中的分際又是什麼，頗值得關切。

　 白文正的死因固然還有待調查，不過，根據他身邊的人透露，「買學位」、「供養」前交大校長張俊彥的負面報導，顯然帶給白文正極大的痛苦。其實，不少業界都 會提供資金、資源，幫助大學完成各式各樣的計畫，特別是一些學校不一定能夠申請到研究經費的專案或建設，總希望能夠得到企業界的贊助，如此既能幫助同學完 成學習、深造的計畫，也能增加學校的資源，拓展學術的影響力，而企業界又有節稅、招募優秀人才、提升企業形象種種的利益，因此使得企業也樂於做這方面的投 資。

　長期以來，產業界與學術界之間本來就有很多合作關係，兩者如何透過各自的優勢相互加值，讓學術界的研究以及各種學術活動，能對實務 界有更多的幫忙，而實務界則可以實際的經驗回饋給學術機構，使之相得益彰，這是愈來愈多大學和企業共同努力的事。近年來，透過校園徵才、贊助校園創業競 賽、投資競賽等活動，企業集團的身影和影響力，更加深入校園，並且直接滲透到個別的學生。

　不少學校事實上是把尋求企業贊助、捐款視為重 要的使命。在政府財政日絀，大學自籌經費比例日益提高之下，再加上大學經費不足、學費調漲不易，來自企業界的捐款、贊助對大學的發展甚至生存，已經愈來愈 重要。大學爭取外界的資助並非不可，如首位擔任美國第一流研究型大學、加州大學柏克萊分校校長的華裔人士田長霖，就提過，當年他能在二五八位校長候選人中 脫穎而出，「超強的募款能力」正是個很重要的條件；而剛獲選為中研院院士的楊祖保，有位同樣身為中研院院士的哥哥楊祖祐，楊祖祐目前是美國加州大學聖塔芭 芭拉分校校長，他被譽為是美國大學募款能力最強的校長之一。或許台灣還沒有辦法那麼理所當然地公開談論大學校長的募款能力，但事實上，校長要有「吸金能 力」已確是個明顯的趨勢。過去台灣的大學並不會太大張旗鼓地進行募款，但台大陸續得到郭台銘一五二億元的捐款，實在羡煞各大院校，募款的重要性也逐漸被凸 顯；有大學就成立了「募款辦公室」，持續且深入進行募款的工作。

　前幾天，中研院院士金耀基說，過去或許只有私校才需要募款，現在連公立學校也得要這麼做了；而因為募款，學校與企業界之間的接觸會愈來愈多，金耀基以其擔任過校長一職的經驗指出，學校跟企業界之間走得近，並不是什麼壞事，只是一定要掌握好分際。

　 其實，寶來集團與交大之間的產學合作並非獨有，在大學經費日窘、而產業界也的確需要學院培養人才的情況下，國內有好幾所大學都有寶來的身影；如果在他遭受 媒體「買學位」報導打擊之初，與寶來有過合作關係的大學就願意出面說明這種產學合作是如何進行的，或許也可以讓社會各界對這種其實早已日益普遍的產學合作 模式有更多了解。

　當然，各大學不願意出來公開地多談這類事情，也是因為社會風氣的關係，使得學術界對此頗為忌諱，但是，既然產學合作方 式早已屢見不鮮，公開討論或許一方面可以幫助大家以一種平常心、正常的眼光來看待大學與企業之間的互動，另一方面，透過外界的關注和討論，也可以督促大學 和產業之間必須以公開、公共化的方式進行合作。

　白文正的死亡讓人遺憾，張俊彥的退審也徒增政壇紛擾，但是這整個事件卻也凸顯了大學與企 業之間究竟應該如何往來的這個議題，已經愈來愈重要；若是不了解其中的遊戲規則，很容易產生不當的臆測與誤會；特別是，產學合作一旦遇到政治，很容易就會 變得極為複雜，充滿算計，種種威脅壓力不見得是不熟悉政治操作的學界或者業界能夠理解或者承受的；最好的辦法還是，讓一切公開透明，訂出明確的規則，讓所 有的流程都能「檯面化」。