President Namkoong signs exchange accord with Chinese universities
President Namkoong Keun of Seoul National University of Technology and Science (SeoulTech) is very active in the promotion of exchange and cooperation with prestigious universities in other countries of the world, including China and Uzbekistan.
President Namkoong visited Xi'an, Nanjing and Dalian cities in China on Nov. 24-28, 2014, and concluded academic exchange agreements with Northwest University, Xi'an Fanyi University and Southeast University.
In Dalian, President Namkoong met with Chairman of the University Council Dr. Wei Xiaopeng and other leaders of the Dalian University of Technology, and made a verbal agreement on the future development of exchange and cooperation between the two universities.
On the first leg of his official tour of China on Nov. 24, President Namkoong visited the Northwest University in Xi'an, a national university with a history and tradition of 113 years, and signed an agreement that provided for exemption of tuition for up to ten exchange students between the two universities. The two schools also agreed to broaden the scale of their exchanges, which included a short-term exchange program of students (four to six weeks) during the vacation periods.
On the following day, President Namkoong concluded a student exchange accord with the Xi'an Fanyi University that pays keen attention to foreign language education. This shows that SeoulTech now has an exchange agreement with all three universities in Xi'an City, including the Northwest University that is ranked 37th in China.
On Nov. 26, President Namkoong visited Southeast University located in the heart of the Nanjing City which ranks 25th among universities in China in 2014. SeoulTech and Southeast University are expected to increase their exchange program.
At a recent meeting with The Korea Post, President Namkoong said, “The Chinese universities with whom we have concluded exchange agreements are all prestigious universities in China with a long history and tradition and I would say that they all favorably compare with any prestigious university in Korea,” said President Namkoong. “I am sure that we will be able to further increase our exchanges because Seoul and these Chinese cities are geographically close to each other.”
On the mission of his University, President Namkoong said, “Our mission is to educate the best and brightest students that Korea has to offer, and we welcome those from abroad who want to join in and experience all (SeoulTech) has to offer as well,” He said. “At 13,000 students, SeoulTech is just the right size: large enough to provide comprehensive programs and small enough to support a students individual needs.”
On the different colleges of SeoulTech he explained: While we are recognized for our renowned Engineering, Science, and Technology programs, we also have a College of Business and Technology, a College of Humanities and Social Sciences, and a College of Arts and Design, which has just moved into its brand new, state-of-the-art building.”
“To match these high quality programs,” he said, “we are blessed with outstanding students. The resulting combination sets SeoulTech apart from other major universities because for 5 consecutive years, 2009 ? 2013, we consistently ranked at the top level in full-time employment of graduates.”
Here are other details on Seoul-Tech introduced by President Namkoong:
The underlying foundation which makes this all possible is our premier research and instructional faculty. Our Professors rank 6th among around 200 Korean universities, in terms of articles published per capita in 2013, according to the National Research Foundation of Korea. They also rank 15th in terms of articles published and research fund received per capital in 2013, according to the JoongAng Daily Newspaper.
SeoulTech is more than just academics, though. Our large, beautifully landscaped campus has hundreds of trees for spring time green and autumn colors. There are also a couple of streams, one of which flows into a pond right across from our student union building, which has been lovingly nicknamed the “goldfish bowl.” As a pedestrian friendly environment, walking and biking are easy, and we have an incredibly convenient public bus service, which connects three different subway lines to several locations on campus.
SeoulTech's vision is to establish itself as a top-tier university with improved quality and growth to realize its “SeoulTech Dream 2020” initiative. Our aim is to become ranked among the top ten universities nationally, the top 50 universities in Asia, and the top 300 universities internationally, by 2020. I invite you to be part of that dream.