By Kim Tae-jong
Staff Reporter
Seoul National University Tuesday failed to hire engineering professors as all the applicants were deemed unqualified.
It was the first time for the nation’s most prestigious university to reject applicants for the six engineering and science professors.
About 40 people applied but none of them met the screening guidelines, the school said.
A school spokesman said many talented Ph.d. holders in science and engineering shun applying to the state-run university due to the low compensation package.
Last March, the university announcement the recruitment of seven professors at colleges of science and engineering for the second semester.
The five departments included the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering; Department of Material Science and Engineering; and Department of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering.
Last June, the college of science and engineering also invited applicants for the position of dean, and professors from other universities were allowed to apply for the first time _ but all the eight applicants were from SNU.
Many cited that the failure illustrates a crisis in education at colleges of science and engineering.
``A bad tradition in the college of science and engineering is a problem,’’ said Kim Doh-yeon, a dean of the college of science and engineering. ``Once you are hired as a professor, you will get the same amount of salary regardless of how big a breakthrough you make in your studies and are treated as other professors’’
Successful candidates who study abroad and gain academic achievements do not want to return to Korean universities, Kim said.
Universities need to be like a market where competition makes products better and attracts customers, he said.