[Globalizing universities] School widens scope through Catholic connections
Published: 09 Oct. 2009, 03:47
Pahk Yeong-sik President of the Catholic University of Korea
Pahk, or Father Johan, spent 10 years at the Vatican’s Pontifical Biblical Institute earning a master’s degree and Ph.D. in biblical studies - a rarity due to the arduous nature of the task - and has authored and translated some 60 books.
The modest university head says languages have simply been a tool for fulfilling his responsibilities. Despite his lengthy international exposure, however, he says he believes studying abroad is not necessarily the best choice for those who want to improve their language skills and obtain a “globalized mind.”
To reflect that belief, the 154-year-old CUK has implemented two strategies for globalization. Last month, it opened a center named the “International Hub,” which includes a dormitory for domestic and international students as well as an English-only speaking zone.
The other strategy is to boost ties with the Philippines, instead of Western economies such as the United States and Europe. The Philippines has some advantages - English is the main language and more than 80 percent of its population is Roman Catholic. The school plans to lure more Filipino students who are prospective leaders of the country with diverse benefits and to recruit an additional number of Filipino professors.
“I concluded we should focus on ‘inbound’ education to ease the [language training cost] burden of Korean parents,” said Pahk in a recent interview at the Bucheon campus, southwest of Seoul. “We bring foreign students and professors fluent in English here and they do language exchanges with our students.”
Since taking the helm at CUK this January, the university’s fifth president has been trying to change the school’s subdued presence through brisk media exposure and active PR. He says the efforts are meant to publicize the university’s contributions. Pahk said he hoped CUK will merge with Sogang University, another school based on Catholicism, in western Seoul, predicting that the combination could create immense synergy.
“Right now, there are no talks under way about the merger,” he said. “But who knows? There are so many things humans cannot achieve and so many things are in the hands of God.”
Under a long-term growth plan called “Vision 2015,” CUK aims to rank among the top seven of all universities in Korea. And he says a merger could achieve even more than that.
He plans to establish a pharmaceutical department, saying that biotechnology will be the next great growth engine. The school already has a strong edge in the ongoing efforts by universities to obtain approval for a pharmaceutical department, since it owns eight medical centers nationwide, Pahk said.
The school was established in 1855, when Catholic priest Father Maistre founded St. Joseph’s Seminary in Jecheon, North Chungcheong, to foster theologians and Catholic priests. Its medical school was founded in 1954 and today’s Catholic University of Korea was born in 1995 following a merger with its sister university, Songsim Women’s College.
By Seo Ji-eun [[email protected]]
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with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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