The Future of CNU in the Hands of Three Professors
Look after the Final Top 3 Nominees
The Future of CNU in the Hands of Three Professors
By Hwang In-Sik, TribuneReporter
The rise and fall of a nation is determined by the country’s top executive, the president. Similarly, the university president has an important role to determine crucial college policies. Last May, Chonnam National University (CNU) held its 19th University Presidential Elections. However, the results were announced as null and void and the Ministry of Education and Science and Technology (MEST) requested a new presidential nominee at CNU. On 17th of October, CNU will hold its 19th University Presidential Election, a reelection as request by the Ministry. As it is an important issue, the Chonnam Tribune interviewed the final three nominees’ about their main promises, their motivation to be the next CNU president and their views about the pressing issues of CNU.
Firstly, CNU alumni’s low employment rate has been a hot issue lately. The employment rate of each university is valuable to evaluate a university’s reputation and it has a big influence on entrance rates. CNU had a low entrance rate last year compared with other universities, reflective of the low employment rate of CNU graduates. CNU’s over-all image fell greatly because of that result. We can assume that someone may the lack of capacity to pass the company cut-off point or that work preference may be a huge factor as well. While there maybe lots of other aspects to be looked at, the three nominees have different views about this matter and different suggestions to address the issue. While Professor Oh Hee-kyun says that a mentoring system will make students increase work competitiveness, Professor Yoon Taek-rim and Professor Ji Byeong-moon believes in a more practical way of preparing for the future through experience and matching with the industry’s demands.
The focus on employment exacerbates the issue
on academics: there is a huge tendency that students do not pay enough attention in gaining expertise in their fields and only focus on what will increase their employment competitiveness. While we see that there is a need to be concerned about employment, we forget the effect on students and their studies. However, if we change this and focus on field expertise starting from the formative freshman year, this will require a huge sum of money to be executed. Currently, CNU has a very low budget because of the halving of the tuition fee and the reduction of national support. It cuts college programs and therefore decreasing the competitiveness of CNU students for employment. In order to solve this, each nominee promises to increase the budget by suggesting ways to solve it.
Second, CNU had a huge increase in international students. As we follow the internationalization trend of higher education in South Korea, CNU has been aggressive in increasing its foreign student population as well. These students have trouble with college life and academics. What do the three candidates think is the best way to help them? Professor Ji looks at a preventive approach with the creation of Korean language programs for students interested in going to CNU before they actually get here. On the other hand, Professor Oh and Professor Yoon recommend programs on campus including the creation of foreign student communities, counseling programs, expansion of the Office of International Affairs and, finally the creation of a more foreign student-friendly CNU homepage in different foreign languages. These solutions can be a Band-Aid solution to the real problems that internationalization has been facing.
Take Nuriduri for example. This program planned to engage both international and local students to socialize and it ended up having little or no effect. This is because local students are looking for the leverage that the program will provide such as volunteer hours, there is no real relationship with international students, and they ended up with superficial results. The Office of International Affairs, on the other hand, should focus on the creation of foreign student communities and consult them about their needs. The real issue that international students in CNU face is the lack of communication between them and their Korean counterparts as well as with the Administration. Communication is key to harmonize and develop the international student population at CNU. With it the much needed expansion of the Office of International Affairs in terms of manpower, funding and physical space will be provided for the benefit of both the international students and the local students.
These three professors before us were our teachers before they became nominees. They know us, the students, better than anyone else. And now, the choice is in our hands. Among the three nominees who is the best for us? Keep in mind good college life depends on the policies determined by the university president. Consequently, we have to be vigilant for the 19th CNU Presidential Election. Soon, we will have the national presidential elections that also need our attention, CNUians. Join the vote use your power to decide on good policies towards a better future.
