Global studios to further globalize Kyung Hee

Globalization is a catchphrase for every Korean university these days and Kyung Hee University has been leading the pack of schools in the internationalization drive.

Kyung Hee University President Choue In-won speaks during an interview with The Korea Times at his office in Seoul.
/ Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

Communications, independence of colleges key ingredients for growth

By Kang Shin-who

Globalization is a catchphrase for every Korean university these days and Kyung Hee University has been leading the pack of schools in the internationalization drive.

Its globalization has been acknowledged by a number of domestic and foreign school ranking institutes.

Now the school is gearing up to take one step further to provide a fresh impetus to its globalization campaign.

It plans to establish “global studios” in New York, London, Paris, Tokyo, Beijing and other major cities around the world where renowned scholars will provide video classes, starting from early next year.

Choue In-won, president of the university, said the studios will further accelerate the school’s globalization through online lecturing by prominent scholars all over the world.

“The number of foreign students and foreign professors is an important element to measure a school’s globalization. But what’s more important is to expand a global collaboration _ accepting good academic programs from overseas and disseminating our programs abroad,” Choue said. “We’ve been preparing for about three years for the global studio project. In these studios, a lot of prominent scholars and professors will be invited to give lectures which students can take in classrooms or at home without limitations of time and space.”

He said the projects are very cost-effective and will make a great contribution to the school’s globalization.

Choue said the first studio will be set up in New York early next year. He said not only professors but also other renowned professionals will also be invited to give lectures.

The school has been very flexible in managing faculty members.

“In the past, we regarded those who were working at our campus as our faculty members, but today, professors working in other countries are able to be our faculty members thanks to online lecturing. It is cost-saving. A staff member from our school will be stationed at each studio and they will arrange schedules with professors,” he added.

Kyung Hee is carrying out various programs in cooperation with overseas universities and organizations including diverse international academic conferences. University students also have more opportunities to participate in overseas activities.

Independent colleges

Under Choue’s leadership, Kyung Hee has steadily climbed to higher rankings assessed by domestic and overseas journals.

As one of the key reasons behind the ascent, Choue cited greater autonomy given to each college dean.

“I gave greater autonomy to each dean so that they can run their colleges more effectively. This sort of independent management has worked successfully,” he said. “In the past, the post of dean was regarded as a position which senior professors take in turns, but those in the post no longer think like that.”

He said he granted a lot of rights to each dean and enhanced communications with them.

“It has been four years since I have taken office. In the initial year, I thought what’s important to make our school a truly global one is communications and creativity,” Choue said.

He said all projects for the development of each college have been produced via communications and agreements. He said the school headquarters has tried to establish a system and environment where all participants can communicate candidly.

“We’ve unveiled all indicators and figures frankly and objectively in the process to produce agreements with professors. Based on these agreements and goals, our professors’ passion and hard work have powered our school’s growth.”

More state aids

Choue said domestic universities have limitations in raising funds to grow into world-class schools. Therefore, the government needs to provide more financial assistance to them.

“If Korea wants to see world competitive universities here like Harvard, more state funds are necessary,” he said. “Korea’s competitiveness comes from universities. If we want to catch up with other developed nations, the government needs to take a greater role in supporting schools.”

He said Korean universities rely too much on tuition revenue.

“The government is today encouraging universities to earn more money through various businesses, but I don’t think it is desirable as universities should not be operated like enterprises. There should be more incentives including tax deductions for donators to universities.”

Choue suggested that Korean universities need to be specialized in specific fields like science and technology-focused colleges in the U.S.

On the admissions officer system, he said the school will continue to expand the system to pick more talented students rather than choosing based on school grades.

“Our school is one of the universities that adopted the admissions officer system from the year it was first introduced here. Despite some problems, I think it will help admit diverse students with greater potential and creativity,” he said.

Established in 1949, Kyung Hee has a comprehensive education system covering all grades from kindergarten to graduate schools. Following the establishment of the Seoul campus, the Global campus was established in Suwon in 1979 and the Gwangnung campus in 1984.

Some 23,000 undergraduate and graduate school students are studying at 23 colleges on three campuses. Among the total of 3,140 faculty members, 224 are from overseas.

Who is Choue In-won?

Born in 1954, Choue majored in political science at Kyung Hee University. After graduating in 1977, he went to the United States to study at the University of Pennsylvania and received a doctorate. His dissertation was ``Politics of Industrial Restructuring.’’

He was a professor at the political and economics college and the Graduate Institute of Peace Studies at Kyung Hee. Later he served as the director of the Global Academy for Neo-Renaissance.

In addition to his academic work, Choue has been involved in work with nongovernmental organizations. He was a member of the steering committee of the Millennium NGO Forum in 1999, and he has served as chairman of the Global NGO Complex Establishment Committee since 2000.

Choue In-won has officially become the 13th president of Kyung Hee University (KHU), succeeding Kim Byung-mook.