How do you perceive Ewha’s “globalization education”? Are there any improvements to be made, and if so, what?

1. Kim Hei-sook

Ewha’s globalization has long been a topic for discussion. Even in 2007, when I became the first dean of Scranton College, Ewha’s globalization was the main topic. While some major universities focused on the quantity of foreign student who are linked with tuition revenue by commissioning agencies, Ewha has been progressing through a balanced growth of both quantity and quality.

Despite this, the necessary system for foreign professors and students are not properly equipped. Globalization will be properly achieved when school statutes, personnel provisions, official documents are provided in English and flexibility of academic affairs are required to smoothly connect with foreign university systems.

For the past couple of years, globalization education had indexcentered plans and management. Now is not the time to focus solely on increasing index, but to strive for true globalization. The reason we seek globalization is to help students to survive in the globalized world. Over 1000 foreign students are enrolled in and more than 900 exchange/visiting students study at Ewha every year. During summer vacation, over 300 students from universities around the world come to study at International Co-ed Summer College, the oldest in Korea.

There must be a way that will create and manage an independent academic system for international students without plummeting foreign students’ education to a low-level, poor English education. Ewha now needs to jump as an international university. Through establishing a system where talented foreign students come and share Ewha’s education, I will enable the globalization for both students and the university.

2. Kang Hye-ryun

Ewha’s ‘globalization education’ is showing a substantial growth in quantity; it also has a high reputation in Asia, including China, and thus its potential in growth is also deemed high. However, the biggest problem in realizing this potential opportunity is the absence of a consensus viewpoint on international students of this school.

There is a lack of concern and shared understanding about why international students should be a part of Ewha. The central administration focuses on the extra revenue, colleges and departments calculate the additional costs and endeavors for managing these students, and some Korean students and professors regard internationals as roadblocks in proceeding class. The view toward international students is being interpreted according to each party’s interest. In this process many international students are left out, and this makes it difficult for them to settle as a member of the school.

To overcome these problems, we must think and make an agreement by focusing on the value of international students in an academic and educational, rather than economic perspective.

Furthermore, we must invest in international students by thinking how to provide them opportunities in and out of class instead of squeezing them into the existing system. We must also think of how the exchange between Korean students and international students will be a help in an academic, educational perspective.

3. Lee Kong-joo

For the internalization of Ewha, it is important to extend global capacity of the school. The most important factor in international education is the acceptance of diversity, and learning from such diversity may become an important virtue for Ewha students. I wish for Ewha students to get along well with international students in dormitory.

Partnering countries are U.S, Europe, China, Southeast Asia and Africa to name a few. To accommodate students from these countries, various contents needs to be ready.

For instance, contents related to Korean, culture, philosophy, and others related to Korean study are necessary. Although english lectures for international students are important, I wish for their Korean language skills to grow so that they are able to take lectures in Korean as well. For this, lectures from Ewha Language Center should be strengthened so international students have adequate Korean skills before attending Ewha. Scholarship for international students such as the EGPP scholarship and support from Office of International Affairs to help them adapt also serves importance.

4. Kim Gyeung-min

Ewha definitely has its edge when it comes to internalization. However, expansion in quantity led to a lack of management in quality. This resulted in some professors refusing to accept exchange students in their lectures, due to the difference in academic ability of exchange students and students in Ewha. Such phenomenon negatively affects the reputation of Ewha, and should be improved.

5. Kim Sung-jin

Currently, Ewha has entered into MOU and is proceeding various exchange programs with many foreign universities. Ewha’s exchange student program is excellent enough to be acknowledged by other universities. I believe that the globalization education is well stabilized and successfully managed.

Ewha is a globally well-known university. Due to this, I believe it is the time to change perspective on globalization education. Whilst prior globalization focused on Ewha students going abroad, Ewha should now attract foreign students and equip systems to provide superior quality education.

College of Natural Sciences, where I am affiliated with, has been holding numerous interviews abroad, such as with China, Vietnam, Nepal, and Malaysia, to recruit researchers for the past ten years. Also, I have heard that departments such as Communication and Media have many Chinese students. The important thing here is with what purpose these students enrolled at Ewha. Based on their purpose, I believe we need to approach differently in regards to foreign students’ colleges and departments. In the case of College of Natural Sciences, there are many Southeast Asian students, some who are married, coming to Ewha for their Ph.D, and staying for more than four years. For such instances, securing a long-term, stable living space is the most important issue. Also, foreign Master’s students’ main interest would be professional knowledge acquirement and Korean education. I believe that rather than creating a single system, managing with flexibility is more important.

Thus, it will be best to create a department in the Office on International Affairs solely for foreign students so that students can question and solve difficult problems they are faced with.

6. Choi Won-ja

In this globalizing era where the cooperation between countries are becoming increasingly important, the various programs at Ewha aiming to nurture global talents with global capacities are necessary. To do this I will place professionals to manage MOU and graduate school double degrees in the Office of International Affairs, make the paperwork in English for the convenience of visiting scholars when doing research exchange, and make the manual for accommodation/research lecture in English.

The first improvement to be made is to strengthen the programs for internationalization education.

Especially for the exchange student program, there must be a system to check the advancement in the educational quality of students who completed the program. We need a system that could effectively check what the academic gains were and what students learned besides academics, in addition to experiencing university life abroad.

For managing international students, I will examine the standards for selecting international students and expand the mentoring system for international students. I will systematically supervise international students for their adjustment and reexamine the development situation of the courses they take.

Therefore, instead of solely focusing on expanding the variety of programs, I will assist students who completed internationalization education to help them develop their global capacities.

7. Kim Eun-mee

With the rapid increase in international students at Ewha, the priority for international education at Ewha is to better assist the degree-seeking international students so that they are fully prepared to take advantage of the Ewha experience in both inside and outside classes. There should be a centralized office to assist them so that individual departments are not overwhelmed with the new added responsibility to assist international students. This in turn, would make the classroom much more exciting for the Korean students as well. Second, I would like to introduce a global citizenship training for all so that all of us would enjoy the diversity of international and domestic students. Finally, I would like to help design and expand international programs for Ewha students so that they can go abroad for not only learning programs, but also for global internships and other exciting opportunities. I would like Ewha students to dream big, and I would like to be the “wind beneath their wings!”

8. Lee Hyang-sook

I will answer this question in threefold. First, Ewha’s 131 history, is the history of globalization. As it was the beginning of contemporary education based on devotion of a missionary, Ewha has the inherent characteristic of globalization. Thus, globalization education can be said it is the center of Ewha’s identity.

Second, Ewha's current globalization education ranks highest in the nation. For all index (foreign students, exchange students, etc.), excluding number of foreign teachers, Ewha is able to compete well with other competing universities. In recent years, especially, the number of foreign students enrolled at Ewha has increased by a large portion. Although I acknowledge that couple of departments where foreign students are concentrated have concerns, I predict that ultimately, foreign students will take up 10 percent of the student population.

Third, it is true that further improvements need to be made in the globalization education aspect. There needs to be globalization of internal infrastructure such as increase in English-based lectures, English versions for various school materials, and increase in foreign teachers. The Ewha campus needs to be a global experience space. Not only that, but the increasing foreign students are also members of the Ewha family. I believe student services (career management, employment advisement, etc.) for such students need to be reinforced.

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