At SNU, more say for foreign professors

Seoul National University (SNU) will give foreign professors a voice in its major decision-making body in an effort to reflect the needs of its growing number of expatriate faculty, university officials said yesterday.

The state-run university recently passed a bill to include a foreign professor who speaks fluent Korean on the school council and to provide an English translation of council minutes to all faculty members from abroad, the officials said.

“There are more than 200 foreign professors on campus,” said Park Sam-ok, president of the council. “In accordance with the trend toward globalization, we need to reflect their opinions to the council and announce the matters for decision to the university’s foreign professors.”

Seoul National University’s move, the first of its kind in the nation, is likely to be followed by other local universities, which have shown a steady surge of foreign professors in recent years.

Yonhap