Vacancy of SNU head to affect operations
Seoul National University to search for new president as Kang Dae-hee resigns from post after sexual harassment allegations surfaced. Courtesy of SNU
By Kim Hyun-bin
Seoul National University (SNU) is looking to appoint a new president after the recent appointee Kang Dae-hee became embroiled in allegations of sexual harassment and other unethical issues.
Kang, who was a professor at SNU's School of Medicine for 38 years has voluntarily resigned from the post of president last week.
The move could leave the position vacant for the first time in the university's history as Park's official appointment was scheduled for July 20.
“As of yet, the process to select a new president has not been set, the presidential recommendation committee will decide if they will start the selection process from scratch, or select from the remaining final four candidates who competed with Kang,” said an official at SNU. “Under the regulations, the recommendation committee could appoint an acting president if the post of president is vacant, which can hinder the operation of the university.”
The post of president of the institution could be vacant for months if the committee decides to start the nomination process from scratch as it needs to choose final candidates from a pool of around 30 prospects. It took Kang nearly four months to be named president of SNU since the committee held its first recommendation meeting.
Since its incorporation in 2012, 15 members of the board of directors includes Education Vice Minister Park Chun-ran, Deputy Finance Minister Kim Yong-jin and the current university president Sung Nak-in. The group has the authority to make final decisions on policies without considering the opinions from the student body and faculty.
“After its incorporation the board of directors has been secretive when deciding on polices,” said the SNU student body at a press conference on Monday. “We need a re-evaluation of the candidates and the institution needs to consider student opinions when deciding on its policies.”
The incorporation is deemed controversial as high ranking government officials are on the board of directors of the university as SNU receives 400 billion won ($359 million) annually in government contributions.
Over half of the board of directors consists of SNU officials making it difficult to take an independent stance against the government's views.
The committee also failed to address Kang's sexual harassment allegations, even though Park Chun-ran, vice education minister, was reportedly briefed about Kang's case.
Many point out that if the university went through a direct election system which most national universities have started to adapt, Kang would not have been able to list his name among the final five candidates as the accusations would have surfaced during the nomination process.