Autonomy Will Make Universities Competitive
By Kang Shin-who
Staff Reporter
The first and foremost step to help sharpen the international competitiveness of South Korea’s universities is to allow to select their students autonomously, and boost their finances, Dongguk University President Oh Young-kyo said.
He added that the incoming government’s move to give more power to universities to do this is a step in the right direction.
``Liberalization is the key to solving various problems facing our universities,’’ Oh said in an interview with the Korea Times. ``Our hands are tied by regulations. We should be allowed to set up profit-oriented units to make money.’’
Korean universities, whether state-run or private, are strictly restricted in running profit-oriented subsidiaries as they are defined as non-profit organizations. These restrictions have long been cited as shackles preventing the development of the universities.
``We are heavily dependent on tuition fees from students for our finances. But that’s simply not enough,’’ he said. ``The control of universities is outdated. Look at foreign universities. They have various ways to make money. For stronger competitiveness, it’s inevitable.’’
At the same time, he said that greater autonomy in the selection of students would eventually help reduce skyrocketing educational costs for parents. He added that if schools pick students in diverse ways, the need for high school students to go to costly private cram schools would decline.
``The Korean education system makes all students study everything to make them all-round talents. However, I believe it will be completely different, if universities can pick students using their own methods,’’ Oh said.
To date the Ministry of Education and Human Resources dictates the ways universities select their students.
``Many parents misunderstand that universities using their own admission exams will cause more private education costs. But we will diversify them to pick students who are doing well in a certain field,’’ Oh said. ``Then, they won’t have to study so many subjects.’’
He also compared the admission systems of universities to that of companies, saying ``Look at companies. The government doesn’t get involved in company recruitment. They don’t run their own exams to select employees. It should be same for Korean universities.’’
He said the educational authorities should let universities run their schools freely.
``Autonomy is a must for universities. We know freedom demands responsibility. Nurturing quality students is our responsibility’’ he said.
English-only Programs
The school head plans to introduce English-only programs for freshmen this year. Selected students will study all classes only in English.
In line with the President’s emphasis on English, Dongguk will require more professors to conduct lectures in English. ``English skills will be the most important yardstick to select professors for our school,’’ Oh said.
In addition, Dongguk aims to increase the number of English-only lectures to 30 percent of the total from the current 4.5 percent, as well as the number of foreign professors. It has 32 foreign full-time professors out of 457.
Dongguk also aims to further its ``globalization project.’’ So far the school has been working with overseas universities mainly in Asia, but it will expand its scope to Europe and America. It has recently signed with University of Texas at Dallas in the United States for dual degrees MBA courses and plans to send about 10 students there for the fall semester this year.
`CS Education’
Founded in 1906 by the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, Dongguk has campuses in Seoul and Gyeongju. Oh said that he wants to focus school management on meeting the needs of its ``customers.’’
Oh set up a ``Custom Satisfaction (CS)’’ management department at the school last year as soon as he became president. ``I think universities are the worst organizations in terms of productivity in Korea. Universities should put more effort into meeting the needs of customers or students. For this, they need a well-organized evaluation system. Our school’s CS team will be a unique department.’’
Oh served as president of the Korea Trade Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) between 2001 and 2005 and a minister in the Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs from 2005 to 2006.
When Oh presided over the two organizations, he implemented ``CS’’ management in the evaluation system. He is confident that he is the leading expert in developing assessment system in Korea.
The school already ranked all departments according to professors’ research achievements, landing job rates, funding raising and assessments on lectures. Departments with poor scores will face financial and administrative disadvantages, the head said.