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Dong-A University President Shim Bong-gun |
By Kang Shin-who
Staff Reporter
PUSAN _ Dong-A University, a prominent private school, will offer three semesters a year next year to push students to work harder, Shim Bong-gun, the 12th Dong-A president, said in an interview with The Korea Times.
Shim plans devote himself to providing student-friendly programs so that students will want to study harder.
``It is our fault that the Korean education system allows many college students not to study, especially with a vacation that goes for two and half months, which is too long,’’ Shim said.
``Students have a three-and-a-half month spring semester and two and half months of holidays. Hence Dong-A will introduce a three-semester school year,’’ he said.
If Dong-A adopts the three-semester system, the school will have only a summer vacation of 20 days and no winter break.
``The system will be helpful for both students and professors. Professors currently have three courses for two semesters but under the new system, they can teach two courses for three semesters. This will be better for professors since they can take time to prepare better lectures.’’
Under the system students can gain a degree in only three years and study abroad if they need to. ``We should run the school properly for the year and remove time for students to be negligent. Also, students who need to major in other studies can take time for further studies, said Shim. ``Dong-A will not be a school where students neglect their studies _ as happens at many universities now.’’
Shim said that he agrees with Education Minister Kim Shin-il in that the poor graduate education of universities weakens their global competitiveness.
``Kim said if colleges produce excellent theses and papers for famous journals, it would be good only for the school itself. However students should be the beneficiaries of the education system,’’ he said.
Hence the school will focus on strengthening both education and research together. According to the school’s plan, the professors will be divided into two groups; one to educate students well and the other to specialize in research.
Dong-A University Pumin Campus in Pusan |
Severe Structural Renovation
Shim, who took the presidential office last February, worries that colleges outside Seoul have difficulties as the number of new students continues to decrease and many students favor schools in the capital.
``Although our school situation is better than other schools that are outside Seoul, we have seen many excellent students in South Kyongsang Province going to universities in Seoul,’’ Shim said.
Therefore, Dong-A will push to attract high-quality students by developing its educational environment. This is why the school will go through a serious structural reform, and an audit company will evaluate each department.
Dong-A has four campuses now. Shim revealed his plan to integrate each campus according to its role.
The Seunghak Campus that houses colleges of engineering and natural sciences including the university’s administrative center will become a specialized science campus.
The Gudeok Campus that has college of social sciences and medicine will be run independently from the main school. The rest of the departments in the campus will move to the Bumin Campus that has a law school and will become a specialized humanities campus.
Also dormitories and an international learning center will be placed there. In the long run the campus will have a university center.
Lastly the school’s campus in Chinhae City, South Kyongsang Province, will invite students and professors for specialized research and studies.
Dong-A Brand Business
The school needs a large amount of funding for its dramatic reform, Shim said, but it has to rely heavily on tuition as do other schools.
This is why the president developed a brand business using the school’s name. ``For example, our school professor invented an alcohol named `millennium promise.’ We can sell products such as drinks, milk, or crops using our school name in cooperation with companies,’’ Shim said.
The school has already started this business and expects its alumni to buy more and more products to help it grow. The 64-year-old president aims to raise more than 20 billion won during his presidency.
In addition, the school will strengthen ties with overseas colleges for its brand business. ``We will exchange information on businesses and sell our products to sister schools.’’
Fully Ready for Law School
The school is proud of its college of law, from which many judicial officials graduated. However, many excellent students favor colleges in Seoul and as a result not many students from the school have passed the bar examination over the last few years.
Shim sees the school’s plan for a law school as critical to recover the fame of the college. ``The recovery of the college of law relies on setting up a law school. We are fully ready to operate a law school now with great professors,’’ he said.
Dong-A has a plan to specialize in Marine Law such as marine insurance and sea law due to its location in the country’s largest port city.
``I believe if we establish a law school at our school, it will be helpful for the balanced development of Korea, Shim said. ``It is nonsense to try to spread out Seoul’s population without dispersing important education institutions.’’
Future- Oriented President
Asked what advantage a president who majored in history has, Shim said historians have eyes that look forward. ``It is impossible to study history without looking into the future. Historians can anticipate future trends.’’
He also described himself as an aggressive president. ``It is impossible to change and reform schools with just logic. Renovation sometimes needs an aggressive president who does not base everything on logical processes,’’ he said.
``Many of our professors believe that Dong-A will never fail because of our long history but I try to instill a crisis mind. They don’t like to change and want to stay where they are,’’ Shim lamented. ``I am willing to change everything except the name of our school based on the results of the evaluation by the audit company.’’
The school will continue to pursue a foreigner-friendly education environment with an increasing number of English-language lectures.
The school has about 180 foreigners in its undergraduate school and 40 to 50 foreign graduate students. Foreign students pay only half the normal tuition fee, while those from developing countries pay a third.
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