CNU’s rising number of European students is thanks to the European Union Industrialized Countries Instrument Education Cooperation Program (EU-ICI ECP) starting from 2013. In particular, students from the Czech Republic, the Republic of Poland, and the United Kingdom started studying on the CNU campus for the first time. Pavel Wodo Hanus (Czech Exchange Student, Czech University of Life Sciences) said, “My major is anthropology, so I really wanted to experience completely different culture. I want to look at the world through different eyes in Gwangju.” Costello Francis Joseph (UK Exchange Student, Northumbria University) said, “I came to CNU because it is a top 10 university in Korea. It has great facilities with a big campus, and the classes have been interesting so far and have many students in them which are good for interacting with local students.”

CNU provides a variety of programs for the international exchange students including orientation programs and peer support programs. On the first day of starting the semester, those students toured the Yongbong campus with student ambassadors and also a welcoming party and an orientation for foreign students were also held through the first week of September. Moon Gi-seok (Professor, CNU Law School), Consultant of the Office of International Affairs (OIA) welcomed international students at the party by saying, “Learn a lot, make friends, enjoy the city and the country, and have fun!” According to the OIA, for those newly arriving foreign exchange students and enrolled students, 173 Korean buddies from CNU Buddy Program which is operated to help international students adapt to campus life. The Korean students will support their partners’ school lives such as signing up for classes, opening a bank account, and purchasing daily necessities. Joseph said, “My buddy has been brilliant in helping me adjust to life in Korea and has also been very patient with me as I do not speak any Korean.”

CNU has been making efforts to attract foreign students to CNU through exchange programs with its affiliated foreign universities and also promoting new programs for international student diversity to build a global campus. As part of the efforts, the OIA members plan to participate in an international education conference organized by the European Association for International Education which is being held in Istanbul, Turkey from September 10^th to have a meeting with sister universities and to activate interchanges with other universities. Gu Hee-jin, Senior Coordinator for the European Exchange Program of the OIA said, “Thanks to the Korean wave, more European students interested in Korea and its culture, are coming to Korea including CNU. It is still difficult to conclude exchange agreement with European universities because they are already affiliated with universities in neighboring countries. But we will keep trying to activate more interchanges with schools in various countries.” As of the beginning of September, 339 new overseas students (170 for exchange students, 169 for foreign students; 39 for undergraduate, 130 for graduate) have studied with local students on the campus.