GU University of Sydney Seeks Innovation
By Kang Shin-who
Staff Reporter
This is the 17th in a series of interviews with heads of the world’s top universities. ― ED.
More and more Korean universities today emphasize ethics education to create well-rounded students with integrity.
President-elect Lee Myung-bak, last Friday, also stressed the importance of education designed to cultivate students into those with ``good character’’ at a meeting with 160 presidents of major universities.
However, a prestigious Australian university head believes the university is not the place to run ethics education programs.
``I do not believe that our university students lack courtesy and basic manners although their dress sense and use of cell-phones can be annoying. I do not, however, believe that it is a university’s responsibility to train students in manners ― that is a parent’s role,’’ said Gavin Brown, Vice Chancellor and Principal Professor of the University of Sydney.
While many Korean universities take ``specialization strategies’’ to make their schools more competitive, the head of the Australia’s largest university is pursuing an ``all-round development plan.’’
Despite the school’s high achievement in the various world university rankings, the vice-chancellor was very pessimistic on the university rankings by journals.
``All current ranking systems have flaws ― the absence of any recognition of arts and humanities and the weighting given to Nobel Prizes in the Shanghai Jiao-Tong index are, perhaps, the most egregious examples, but our aim is to so improve our performance across the whole University that, by any ranking, we are seen to be first in Australia, in the top 5 of the Asia-Pacific region and in the top 40 universities in the World,’’ Gavin said. ``My role is to encourage innovation in teaching and research and to support my staff to achieve this aim.’’
At the university, one in every five students is from overseas. Out of 45,182 students in total, it has about 9,000 international students. The university also has seen a growing number of Korean students and nearly 400 Koreans last year enrolled in the school.
The vice chancellor noted that the university is the first choice not only for many foreign students but also local students. Last year 60 percent of new students were in the top 10 percent of graduates of the state-wide higher school certificate examination.
He also suggested Korean students study overseas earlier if they aim to study at overseas universities in the future. ``Inevitably, for all international students there is an initial period of `acclimatization’ to the new academic environment. I suspect that there must be some advantage in this occurring earlier rather than later,’’ Brown said.
The university does not apply quotas for any of its target equity groups such as economically disadvantaged students, like the Korean education ministry is preparing to set up a special quota for admitting student from low-income families.
But it has a special entry program, the Broadway Scheme, which acknowledges applicants who have experienced long term educational disadvantage, the vice chancellor said. In addition, the school has Australia’s largest program of scholarships and has a collaborative program with a major Australian charity, the Smith Family, to provide mentoring, support and encouragement to economically disadvantaged students through high school to university.
The largest increase in enrolments at the school over the last 10 years has been in the Faculty of Economics and Business and particularly in the School of Business and Marketing, the school head said.
``I believe that this reflects changes in the job market internationally and a perception widely held among young people that a business degree can lead to a lucrative and rewarding career. That said, we have also seen significant increases in enrolments in areas as diverse as Architecture, Health Sciences such as Physiotherapy, Law and Veterinary Science,’’ he said.
Female students outnumber men throughout the university in all faculties except engineering, agriculture, food and natural resources, architecture and dentistry.
``Female students certainly perform at least as well as men. In the conventionally “non-traditional” disciplines for women, such as Engineering, we have mentoring and support programs to encourage female applicants,’’ Brown said.
Located in Australia’s largest city, the University of Sydney has nine campuses spread throughout the Sydney area. More than 460 undergraduate and postgraduate degrees are offered in 18 faculties including agriculture; architecture; arts; dentistry; economics and business; education and social work; engineering; health sciences; law; medicine; music (Sydney Conservatorium of Music); nursing; pharmacy; science; veterinary science; and visual arts (Sydney College of the Arts).
The Graduate School of Government also offers a world-class learning environment for current and future leaders in public administration. It has almost 3,000 academic staff and more than 46,000 students, about three-quarters of them studying full time.
The school’s global network of partner institutions covers research collaboration, joint teaching projects, and staff and student exchanges across 37 countries in Europe, North America and Asia, the vice-chancellor said. ``Our school is also a key player in the Association of Pacific Rim Universities, which fosters cooperation to advance the economic, scientific and cultural wellbeing of Pacific rim economies, and is a member of Academic Consortium 21,’’ he said.
Lastly, the school head emphasized that a university education is about more than the classroom experience and the benefit of university students should be more than a qualification. ``Being at university, and especially at the University of Sydney, is the best chance you may ever have to meet new people and try new activities,’’ he said. ``The sporting, artistic, cultural and social organizations supported by the university can not only enrich your time here, they can provide life-long benefits. They can add to the joy of living and also advance your employment prospects.’’