On May 27th, Campus Operations presented a plan to incorporate the university at the Woori Chungdae Forum held in Jeongsimhwa international hall. it was composed of the preparatory committee, a study on incorporation and a work schedule. A briefing on incorporation was also held at each college in early June.
However, dissenting voices are growing louder. A council of professors said officially that a survey (397 out of 830 professors participated in their survey) showed 22.7 percent of those questioned were in favor, 66.7 percent against, and 10.6 percent reserved their judgment. One professors' association even issued an opposing statement about the plan. There was criticism that it was hard for students to participate in the forum and briefing because the forum was announced the day before and the briefing was held during the final exam period. Also some people worried about pursuing incorporation with more haste than caution.
The administration modified the plan, which was to make the first draft of a bill on incorporation by the end of August and delayed the project. The project is planned to restart at the beginning of the second semester.
* Why is the incorporation of the University an issue?
In a knowledge based society, universities demand productive management policies, but the administrative policy planted in the current national university system has revealed that it lacks flexibility. When it is incorporated, the university will be free from government intervention and can cake the initiative in personnel management, organization and budget allocations, individual universities were required to establish a board of trustees, composed of university officials and some People from outside of the university. Under the new governing system management accountability should be improved and the head of the university can exercise his or her leadership.
On the other hand, opponents say that the university may have difficulty in securing governmental subsidies and a lack of commitment to financial support. People are also apprehensive about the ranking among universities across the country and the downgrading of research in traditional "non-income-generating" fields such as humanities and bask sciences, in addition, many people are expressing concern about increases in tuition fees.
* The Weak Local Support Foundation of Daejeon,
Seoul National University currently seeks to become incorporated by as early as March 2011 in a bid to enhance autonomy in school management and global competitiveness, If its incorporation is approved by the National Assembly, it plans to change the electoral systems to an indirect one. Pusan National University and Kyungpook National University are also pursuing incorporation now. However, unlike those three universities, many specialists said that CNU will have a relatively weak local support foundation. There are not many corporations based in Daejeon, and Daegeon has a weak cohesive group compared to Daegu and Pusan.
* The Administration Should Collect Extensive Opinions,
A recent survey by The Chungdae Post was conducted from july 1st to 7th at every student hall and dorm by attaching stickers and it showed there are more cons than pros in the students' opinion*. Many students still don't know about incorporation. The administration should fry to consider a variety of voices.
* students' stance on the incorporation
- Agree: 80 - Disagree: 717 - No interest: 76 / Total:873
1,2 Those pictures were provises by Mim Ji-hye
passion@cnu.ac.kr
diana@cnu.ac.kr