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Asian Universities Ascendant: Challenges and Responses 2012.12.03

December 3, 2012
 
  Good afternoon. As the President of Yonsei University, I am honored to be here today. Stanford University is a special place to me. My job is thinking about the future of my university, and I cannot think of a better model for my university than Stanford. Stanford seems to have solutions to all the problems facing universities all over the world: balance between education and research, excellence in all areas of research, cooperation with industry and the business community, and development of new standards in education and research.
 
  Recently, Asian universities have also become the talk of the town. Interest in Asian universities is growing as all major Asian countries target higher education as their next “growth industry.” The results of government investments are beginning to show. The rankings of Asian universities are rising rapidly. The story of Asian universities, however, is more than their rankings. What is less known to our friends outside of Asia is growing challenges that Asian universities face in their societies and efforts by Asian universities to deal with them.
 
  Let me begin with international rankings, as they are the most visible symbols of change in Asian universities. The two most influential global rankings, those produced by the Times Higher Education magazine and QS, have highlighted the extraordinarily rapid ascent of universities in East Asia. The leading institutions in emerging Asian countries, such as China, Singapore and South Korea, have all recently made very strong gains. Six of the leading universities in Korea were in the global top 200 in QS. Yonsei, traditionally Korea’s number one private comprehensive university, stands on the brink of entering the global top 100, being ranked now at 112 overall in the 2012 QS world university rankings. The rankings of Korea’s top universities have risen very rapidly in the last few years in both QS and Times Higher Education reports, in fact, with Yonsei as one of the most rapid climbers. I hope you will forgive my celebrating also the fact that in this year’s domestic rankings, produced by the widely read Joongang Ilbo newspaper, Yonsei University outranked Seoul National University for the first time!
 
  Yet new challenges accompany progress as Asian universities continue their ascendancy and competition within Asia is also intensifying. In my talk, I will discuss the pressures that Korean universities face and their efforts to reform and adjust to new times and new challenges. Today, all of us are faced with a rapidly changing environment and new challenges in higher education. Currently, Asian universities are actively pursuing global competitiveness, and society demands that universities produce world-class research, produce innovative leaders, and train graduates in skills that are more responsive to the labor market.
 
  Universities are pressured to achieve, and sustain, “world-class” status: the very highest international standards. This isn’t just a theoretical exercise; top universities are unique institutions that are incredibly valuable to our local, national, and global societies. They have a transformative effect on the lives of their already-talented students, challenging them to even greater heights of achievement, and sending them out into the world equipped to assume positions of academic, cultural, artistic, and political leadership. World-class universities conduct research that transforms our understanding of the world, past and present, and that cures real world problems, such as disease. They generate ideas that become businesses, creating value for our economies. Governments from Beijing to Berlin are investing billions in a bid to transform their universities in to genuinely world-class institutions. Their existence and their persistence matters enormously, then -- not only to the people who work and study in them, but to the people in the societies around them.
 
  Korean higher education institutions, particularly private universities, which make up around 85 percent of the sector, currently face a number of important and controversial policy challenges. These have to do with complicated issues related to the autonomy and accountability of Korean universities, as well as difficult decisions about resource allocation. In addition, the number of students nation-wide enrolling in universities is rapidly dropping and is expected to decrease by more than 30% in the next ten years.
 
  Among the many challenges, four recent debates in the Korean context are particularly salient. Broadly, these policies fall into one of four categories: 1) Policies supporting drastically reduced university tuition, 2) policies regarding university admissions, 3) policies prioritizing the funding of public universities rather than private universities, and 4) policies regarding university governance. In this presentation, I will briefly describe each of these policies in turn and discuss the challenges associated with them.
 
  A key debate in Korea is over proposals drastically to reduce university tuition, referred to in the Korean media as the “half-priced tuition” debate. Several factors, including government underfunding, an oversupply of private universities, and a shrinking school age population have resulted in private universities increasing tuition. If mandatory tuition cuts were implemented, they would negatively affect the competitiveness of Korea’s rising universities. If we emphasize only low-cost education, Korea’s top universities may find themselves facing a serious financial crisis. Rather than focusing on a tuition figure, we should consider how much universities are really investing in student education and how much they are providing opportunities to disadvantaged students. Yonsei currently provides both tuition for 4 years and living costs for those students who cannot afford these. Policies that would increase government regulation should be implemented only after very careful consideration of global standards and their applicability in Korea.
 
  Another policy that remains controversial has to do with university admissions procedures and their implications for greater university autonomy. The so-called “Three No’s Policy” was established to ensure equity and fairness, as well as to diversify the criteria of evaluating and selecting students for admission. The three “No’s” or bans on university admissions consisted of: (1) Not allowing particular universities to administer entrance exams, (2) Prohibiting the acceptance of private donations in exchange for admission to a university, and (3) Not allowing universities to admit students based on the rankings of high schools, that is, the difference in quality of the high school student body should not be considered in evaluating high school grade point averages. Although the efforts to increase opportunities for students with less privileged backgrounds should continue, it is Yonsei’s position that the best policies are the ones that give greater autonomy to universities so that they can build the capacity to become more globally competitive.
 
  The third issue is policies prioritizing the funding of public universities rather than private universities. Even though the vast majority of higher education institutions in Korea are private, as high as 87%, in fact, only a mere 3% of private university expenditures come from government funding. Today’s oversupply of private universities, strict government regulations over private higher education, coupled with the political pressures to halve student tuition mentioned earlier, as well as strong public demand for quality education (related to the rising unemployment rates of university graduates) have resulted in a lack of strategic diversification among higher education institutions. Whether to downsize the private sector or provide full funding to provincial private universities is a continuing debate that has yet to be resolved.
 
  Lastly, university governance has emerged as an important public policy issue. The Korean government revised the Private School Law in 2005, compelling schools to appoint outside directors and publicize board proceedings. Most private universities, including Yonsei, have been opposed to the revised law, considering it as an undue government regulation. While showing reservations on the government regulation, Yonsei has taken its own measures to improve the transparency of university governance. Recently, the university board has reduced the number of board members from church denominations to appoint more outside board members. We at Yonsei believe that self-regulations are the best means to assure transparency in university governance.
 
  As I have sought to emphasize, Korean universities, especially in the private sector, are facing multiple, conflicting demands. Whether and how current and new policies will meet these demands remains unclear. Yonsei, as the leading private university in Korea, has tended to favor policies that promote university autonomy, which we believe is essential for Korean universities in general to become globally competitive. At the same time, Yonsei administrators remain aware of the social responsibility that accompanies greater autonomy. The future of the private higher education sector in Korea, including Yonsei, remains uncertain because this will depend on how different interest groups are willing to work together to bring about positive policy changes. In fact, South Korea’s economic growth rate has not been able to exceed 2 to 3% over the last few years, and this negative consequence is mostly due to a decreasing school age population. I am very pleased to be able to say, though, as was noted by the QS Asia rankings this year, that Yonsei ranked the highest amongst all leading Korean universities for employer reputation. To address this pressure of slowing recent economic growth rates in Korea, I strongly believe that all universities, including Yonsei, should work to provide an education that raises individual productivity and lifelong learning.
 
  In 2012, as the newly appointed President of Yonsei University, I proclaimed the “Third Founding” vision for Yonsei. Our Third Founding vision seeks to address clearly the role of universities as leaders of advanced education. We realize that we must grow into a global university, perform a leading role in creating new future values, and prepare to shape the development of Northeast Asia and the world. With this in mind, I want to describe the reform efforts Yonsei University will take to address the great challenges that we face as a global community in the 21st Century.
 
  I am confident that Korean universities led by Yonsei will meet these challenges. My optimism is based on past successes of Korean universities in meeting social demands. In the early 20th century, universities in Korea worked towards the independence of the nation, and the formation and development of nationalism. Through education, universities stressed nationalistic sentiments that resisted colonial rule; they taught that nationalism is necessary for the creation of a national identity and an independent nation. Universities also maintained the existential values of Korean intellectuals to achieve true modernization. Korean universities in the 1960s and 70s focused on cultivating the administrators and technicians necessary for national development, in the belief that economic growth and development were essential for the country to overcome poverty and free itself from the restraints of being an underdeveloped country. In the 1970s and 80s, universities endeavored towards perfecting the democratization and democracy of Korea. Not only were Korean universities the cradle of pro-democracy movements; they were also used as valuable platforms for student movements related to Korean politics and wider social development.
 
  The challenges of the 21st century are equally daunting. But I assure you that Yonsei is ready. Yonsei will continue to improve itself to match and indeed go beyond the current standards of a world-class university. In particular, we will introduce a Residential College system, a central component of the education at world-class universities, at our new Yonsei International Campus next year. The Residential College will integrate living and learning, where faculty and students can interact at a deeper level, students of all social and cultural backgrounds learn to appreciate diversity, and communication and cooperation are fostered. The Residential College will become a pioneering model of university education in Korea. The establishment of our International Campus in Incheon is fulfilling the purpose of the Memorandum of Understanding for the Songdo Global Academic Complex signed between the university and the City of Incheon in 2006 and it will further enable Yonsei to foster global talents and young leaders possessing a holistic and creative vision.
 
  The varied holistic education programs that are being implemented as a central component of the RC system will cultivate Yonsei graduates who are equipped with multidisciplinary insights, service leadership, and the ability to make logical and analytical judgments. We hope and believe that Yonsei graduates nurtured through the RC system of integrating living and learning will become a superior advanced workforce. With upright character as their foundation, they will participate in the development of new and advanced science and technology.
 
  Yonsei is the first major Korean university to operate a genuine multi-campus system. Yonsei's newest stage at Incheon will have completed 60 acres of buildings by the end of this year. By next year, its library and second residence building will be in place to complete the first phase of construction of a total of 76 acres. Yonsei’s competitiveness will depend on how effectively the campuses at Sinchon, Wonju and Incheon, as well as the Yonsei University Health System, will operate under a multi-campus system. I will seek to enhance the distinctive characteristics of each campus whilst generating cross-campus synergies in education and research. I believe that Yonsei’s cherished principle of autonomy as well as integration for our multiple campuses will set a model example for other universities.
 
  Our university's mission must to be nurture students who are considerate and respectful of differences, who bring light to the darkest corners of society, and who can promote social cooperation. The holistic education of a Residential College integrates the intellectual, moral, and spiritual aspects of a true community of learning, providing a new model for internationalized higher education in Korea.
 
  Meanwhile, during my time as President, I would like to improve our position as a university by a “Back to the Basics” focus on the highest-quality education for all students at Yonsei University. We hope to become recognized internationally as having the absolute best caliber education in Korea, in Asia, and in the world.
 
  My focus on education means that we must devote all our energies, here at Yonsei, on cultivating global leaders. I believe that this involves four key elements: Communication, Creativity, Convergence, and Cultural Diversity.
 
  Communication involves not only language and the ability to listen to and speak with others but also the empathy and strong personal qualities that enable a person to be a good communicator. In order to communicate well, a person needs to be able to truly understand and connect with others, even with those who hold very different views.
 
  Creativity is the ability to think in new and innovative ways - a skill that is critical in all fields today. New and creative ideas give color, depth and dimension to everyday, mundane things. Creativity drives inventions and positive change, and permits us to grow in new directions. Without new ideas, the world would be a dull and static place, a place without change or invention. Creativity does not come easily to all of us, but it is very rewarding when it does. Creativity is inherent in all of us, and it holds the power to unleash new growth, new fields, and new development in ways we have yet to imagine.
 
  The dynamic convergence of disciplines, the striking growth in inter-disciplinarity and integration, is a notable trend in higher education and research today. Such convergence in academic fields requires at the same time a “Back to the Basics” emphasis on General Education and the traditional core disciplines of Literature, History, and Philosophy. We need to remain true to the fundamentals of higher education whilst accepting and adapting to change. Convergence allows us to remain true to our original ideals while also adapting to the fast-paced changes of the world around us.
 
  We live in an era of globalization in which cultural diversity in our societies is now the norm. We need to recognize and acknowledge that we are different from each other, and yet have the insight to see the similarities deep inside us. On the outside, we may seem to be different in appearance, culture, beliefs, and history, and yet inside we all share the dream of a better world and a better tomorrow. We need to embrace and reconcile diverse and seemingly incompatible characteristics.
 
  We at Yonsei University are focusing also on innovative research and education that will support the development of future technology. Yonsei University is focusing on new medical technology, as well as the development of biomedical technology, in order to improve the quality of life and the prosperity of future generations. Development of these technologies will be essential in creating future values in Northeast Asia, the Asian continent, and indeed across the globe.
 
  In light of these key priorities, Yonsei University is continually setting up schools for advanced research in our Sinchon campus, our Wonju campus, and our new International campus. We are encouraging research and development in advanced science and technology, the development of new medicines, and also new biomedical technology through expansion of the engineering school and the establishment of the School of Biomedical Science & Technology and the new School of Pharmacy. It is true that there is already considerable anticipation for the advanced research being performed at the International campus; there are also international partner research teams participating in this cutting-edge research.
 
  The crucial aspect of this future focus and strategy of Yonsei University is that the innovative science and technology and new technologies in the biomedical field will be developed and thought of as public goods. We want these to be of practical help in forming future values and improving the quality of life in Northeast Asia, the Asian continent, and, by extension, the citizens of the world. Therefore, we do not believe in any specific group or nation monopolizing advanced technology and information, or selfishly using these new concepts with a claimed exclusive power to dominate others. We are rather focusing on and working towards altruism: supporting the development and comfort of mankind as a whole, improving the quality of life and providing benefits to everyone across our diverse world. Through these initiatives that I have outlined briefly today, it is my sincere hope and commitment that Yonsei University will be reformed as a leading internationally oriented educational institution to pioneer changes in the global research and education system.
 
  In an age of globalization, we at Yonsei recognize that we cannot achieve our Third Founding objectives by ourselves. Strong partnerships with the world's leading universities such as Stanford University and world-class business communities like Silicon Valley are essential to the growth of Yonsei University and the fulfillment of its role in a rising Asia. The first step toward a true partnership is dialogue. I have shared my thoughts and look forward to continuing our conversations in the coming years.
 
  Thank you again for the opportunity to speak to you today.