In an interview with UNN, Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) President Chung Kyu Sang talks about SKKU.

The joining of Samsung foundation has propelled SKKU from its’ recessive period and became the core for its rapid ascent.
 
SKKU's recent ascension is remarkable. The university ranked 17 in the QS Asian university rankings, 16 in the Times Higher Education (THE) Asian rankings, putting it one step closer to its goal of being a top 10  asian university. The newly added goal is world top 50 research capacity. The newly appointed president obviously takes on a great burden. However, he is not rushing. Instead he is gathering his strength to rise to a more higher ground.

< SKKU President Chung Kyu Sang >

Q] It’s been half a year since you took office, how was it?
“Its very different from my days as the Executive vice-president. Having schedules being allocated in time blocks and duties having no fixed form, it wasn’t easy to adjust. While I was having working nights, occasionally breakfast meetings had to met. It was very hard.  I needed my mind and body to adjust, and now its more balanced. I thinks it’s all a matter of adjusting.”

Q] In recent years SKKU turned out great results in various evaluations. Some relate it to Samsung being the foundation
“In reality Samsung joining us as our foundation definitely brought results. With Samsung joining, people in the university gained morale. The university started to adopt a proactive mind set that were urging to hire more good professors and wanting to get a better global ranking. Before the company joined SKKU, we were in a recessive period. Buildings can be made a new quickly but gathering talent is not easy. Only from 2005, 10 years after we were receiving help did the talents start to come.”

Q] What do you think is needed to sustain SKKU’s progress?
“Members in our university have to do their utmost for the common goal. Constant communication and cooperations is needed. The objective way to gauge the development of a university is looking at the research capability, procuring quality professors and the satisfaction level of the members in the university. On the research side, SKKU has already expanded its international academic papers turn out from 2,780 papers in 2010 to 4,420 papers presently, and in research funds  it has grown from 220 billion won to 296 billion won. In terms of competitiveness in the fields of study, there are 17 majors listed in the top 100 of the world. Faculty was also strengthened from 1,220 professors in 2010 to 1396 in 2014. The satisfactory level which can be observed through the National Customer Satisfactory Index (NCSI) has been number one for the last 8 years. This progress will not stop.”

Q] In your inaugural address you stated that SKKU will be a global leading university. How would you rate SKKU’s international competitiveness?
“First off, we do have a certain level of international competitiveness. Last May I went to visit US and Mexico universities for 2 weeks. We talked with various deans and chairs of departments for the entire day at PENN State University (PSU), to find specific ways to enhance the development of both our universities. University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) which is considered to have great potential, we made an agreement to establish a joint research in the field of natural science. These activities are what defines SKKU’s international stature. Now is the time for qualitative excellence than quantitative growth, and a competitive shift from hardware to software. The most important is procuring remarkable professors. Greatly expanding the ‘Core faculty’, top 1%, to 10% of the entire faculty will bring about the rise in the quality of education.”

Q] Recently Korean universities have a tendency of concentrating their global policies on China and the US. In the midst of this, there are talks on the need to diversify the education market to Europe and Africa.
“SKKU has an active relationship with schools in Brazil. Every year students are coming to SKKU. We will also have 10 government funded students coming from Columbia. We are expanding with schools in central Asia and Europe. Actual diversification of the education market is being achieved. The relationship with US schools have also changed from the one sided relation in the past to a mutually beneficial one. This is a positive turn.”

Q] SKKU Natural Science Campus is in Suwon
“I believe the Natural Science Campus can’t be situated any better than where it is now. That region is where the industrial belt lies and companies like Samsung Electronics and other are situated. We’re right in the middle of that. The location cant be any better. It is ideal for industry & university collaboration. World renown research institutes have joined us, creating synergy and greatly contributed to our universities’ ascension in the world rankings. Two of the five Institutes for Basic Science (IBS) that receive funding in the amount of 100 billion won for 10 years, 10 billion won per year, by the Korean Basic Science Institute (KBSI) are there. I  take a day to visit the campus every week, and I can definitely feel the good atmosphere.”

Q] Coincidentally after your inauguration SKKU graduates have been appointed consecutively as prime minister
“I don’t think the president has SKKU in consideration when the appointment was made. Obviously it's was made in consideration of the person. However, there can be a common denominator in that, like abilities in their duties. That is fundamental. And  that aspect could have taken part in the decision. SKKU graduates who have learned the four virtues of confucius, are people who are transparent and hard at work. My guess is that after spending time and seeing that these attributes  coincide with our president’s delicate character, a trust was formed with the appointees based on those attributes.”
 

 
Q] After graduating from the Judicial Research and Training Institute you came back to the university
“For that, first having a good academic advisor and second, good parents are the reason. My father who was a forest manager said, ‘I will grow trees and you should grow people.’ With an exception of being a house wife everyone in my family are university professors. After graduating from the Judicial Research and Training institute I came straight back to school, the first ever in the law community. I believe that when your aptitude merges with passion people can succeed. I’m sad when I see students selecting their universities for universities' sake. Selecting the right major is the answer. Life is a marathon. When you have passion you don’t need notoriety to succeed.”

Q] What is your opinion on the present higher education policies
“There have been a lot of policies on higher education. However, we need to take a good look and find out if having bad policies are the reason behind the  discontent in our education. I think that the problem lies not in the policy but with the people who run and follow it. It’s a problem of character building. Higher education should be conducted by the government and the universities should take on the more fundamental part. After taking office the first thing I wanted to do is to meet the parents. Even now the parents dictate their children’s lives. A healthy view on raising children needs to be imbued.”

Q] There is talk about a crisis of the Korea universities. Where do we stand and what do you think?
“The need for restructuring can be found externally. With highschool graduate numbers becoming less then the university entrance quota, the university inevitably faces restructuring when they lack a high level research capacity. In order for the university to excel they must first contemplate what field of study can retain the competitiveness and progress. Restructuring of universities should be conducted fairly and with objective standards. It is also important that it be conducted carefully and continuously. In the absence of consistency social cost will occur, therefore an unbias evaluation is a necessity.”

Q] What would the role for the university be in the future
“There are people saying that universities may disappear in the future, but I think there are many roles for the university. However, we need a situation where the university is the focal point. In forming the Gyunggi-do(province) Creative  Economic Innovation Center the universities were exempted. In business creating innovation, universities where the actual research is done, are imperative. If we connect technology transfer and industry & university collaboration, the idea of universities becoming non-existent is unthinkable. Regardless the focal point for the center is business. Creating jobs took priority. It should be the university creating the source technology with the government and having the industry participating but the university is not there. If we are weighing the need for industry tailored talent, this needs to be reconsidered. Online platforms like MOOC are becoming an issue but the basis should be face to face communication. That is why K-MOOC will have its limitations. Both off-line as well as on-line should be considered.”
 
Q] Is there anything else you would like to add?
“ In my new year’s address, I said to be patient for an year. After an year I will be proceeding according to new plans that will take us to our goal. My predecessor brought  expedient growth. It’s like driving in fourth gear. So there needs to be a moment where we recuperate and gather our strength. We will be on our way after an year, and I wish your support.”

 
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