CNU-YNU Merger is a hot issue that will command the future of Chonnam National University (CNU) and Yosu National University (YNU). Kang Jung-chaee, president of CNU and Lee Sam-no, president of YNU, signed a memorandum of understanding of the merger on
The Main Contents of the Merger
The project has attracted public attention since the announcement of the CNU and YNU merger. There are various opinions about integration, including pros and cons. First of all, let’s look at the contents of the project. Above all, this plan is based on the policy of balanced national and local development as a core for local universities through fostering specialized sectors of each university and enhancing competitiveness of university education.
The details of the plan are as follows: First of all, under the agreement of all members, the merger process will proceed with negotiations. The name of the merged universities will be CNU. The newly established CNU will have two campuses in Gwangju and Yeosu, respectively. Also, the Main Office of the new university will be in Gwangju campus. However, the current system of keeping the two universities’ affairs, finances and executive system separate will be kept. In addition, the position and rights of faculty members of the integrated university will be guaranteed and protected. The two universities will remove overlapping departments. The new university will accept freshman from 2006, if possible. The two universities will form Steering Committee for the merger and a working-level committee which comprises of the same number of members from the two universities along with the Consulting Committee for the Merger made up of influential people in local community.
In order to develop its own specialized sector on each campus, Gwangju campus will promote the state-supported programs and fundamental sciences for the protection-machinery industry that propels BK 21, and the optical fiber industry and digital information appliances industry that propels the NURI Project. At present, it seems CNU’s core courses will remain unchanged. On the contrary, YNU is under discussion to ensure differentiation in the fields of fishery science and oceanography, international distribution industry, tourism industry, industry-university cooperation and marine products, by rearing national strategy and attracting the financial support from the Local Autonomous Entity. CNU will establish a
When it comes to Academic Admissions, the two campuses should reduce student numbers by 20 percent by the year 2007. The university will also take measures to deal with the most challenging matters with regard to the employment ratio classified by department. Also, the integrated university will encourage students to transfer to other departments to magnify its competitiveness and to secure the power of incorporated and consolidated entities. During the three years of transfer, if any department has less than 50 percent of its original numbers, it will be abrogated or merged with other departments. This plan will be gradually carried out at Yeosu campus.
Defense for the Merger
Some students and faculty members of CNU worry about a level-off following the merger. According to the remarks by Seo Jong-seok, Vice President of Planning & Cooperation Office, this is a chance to jump, not to level-off for CNU and YNU through various programs.
On the other hand, some people think CNU and YNU signed on the agreement because of the national supportive fund. In fact, the opposite is true. It is expected that over one hundred billion will be spent on building an integrative computer network to link with YNU. This decision enhances the educational circumstances of both Gwangju and
As other people worried, CNU will restructure departments, but the departments of pure science will be excluded from the discussion. So far, CNU has made wonderful achievements and shown high performance in basic sciences. CNU is famous for the fundamental sciences. Some worry about a level-off of CNU because they believe that YNU students lack ability. Therefore, if they put on the clothes of CNU, the academic level of CNU would decline steeply. This point of view is somewhat over exaggerated. Actually, the academic achievement of the students attending the two universities is not quite different. There will be many advantages of the integration of the two universities. For instance, raising funds for study and opportunities to study abroad will be easier for both students and professors.
Voices from the Other Side
Voices of anxiety on the integration of the two universities exist. One of the worries is about the establishment of a
They are opposed to the plan because they believe the
Moreover, the General Student Council (GSC) opposes the merger because students’ opinions were not considered. GSC delegation committee said, “Although discussions on integration of the two universities have been made since 2003, students’ opinions were never asked. The Main Office did not ask the students, but reported the integration plans to the Ministry of Education & Human Resources. Even if the GSC, which is representative of all students’ opinions, agreed to the plan, we do not agree with the plan. A survey conducted by the GSC showed that the students of CNU do not want to integrate with YNU.” Sim Jin, administrative official of the School Independence Promotion Committee of GSC, protested, “We will campaign against the merger in the companionship of students and local people during the vacation.”
In addition, some are worried that integrated departments will become over burdened and thereby need more expenses than before. This means that the new university will produce a bad department system by integrating the departments. Arithmetically, an integrated department should be one department, so that it needs only the same amount of money needed for one department. However, fees for administrative affairs will extend almost three times because they will be practically administered as separate departments for several years. Along with the increase in fees for administration, there will be a slow decision-making system. Also, through the integration of several departments, too many students will be taught under the name of one department. This will lead to different levels of students’ academic achievement.
Let me take an example from the case of the Faculty of Applied Chemical Engineering. In March 2002, six departments were merged into one department under the name of the Faculty of Applied Chemical Engineering. A professor of the faculty looked back on the circumstances, saying, “Regrettably, I could not find any evidence of development of the department. Development of a department can be made up of three parts: Research performances of professors, educational achievements of the students and simplicity of administration. In fact, research performance of professors has made no progress and students do not know their major curricular well so they do not recognize the identification of the study they are majoring in. And in the process of decision-making, it is often delayed because of an ineffective administration system.”
Reporter’s Note
A merger between CNU and YNU has become a reality. CNU and YNU will start to open the door wide to the local community through specialization. It can be a starting point that CNU will serve the local community better. At this point, we should stop and pay attention to the opposite opinions before completing the merger. The Main Office should be fully aware that the constituents of CNU look forward to more careful, reflective circumspection of the Main Office on the issue of the integration.