-School autonomy under way through modifications throughout various corners

Seoul National University has set up the ‘SNU Autonomy Promotion Committee’ anticipating the expansion of campus autonomy to intensify competitiveness and induce concrete plans that will lead SNU into global top ranks.

The promotion committee consists of more than 30 members in charge of promotion, advisory and practical affairs. The vice-president has been appointed chairman of the committee while many other assigned professors, in the position of directors in divisions including academic affairs, student affairs, research affairs, planning & development, general administration, facilities management and admissions, along with senior professors, who were former deans, are participating.

Nine participants have been appointed as members of the Advisory Committee whereas thirteen have been organized into the Practical Affairs Committee.

The committee scrutinizes over the length and breadth of autonomy plans, including research activities to devise ways of promoting autonomy, the collection of opinions, and the inspection of the promotion process. The field of priority in liberalizing is the overall administration of the school: the entrance selection system, school affairs, budget allocation, finance management, human resource management and the management structure.

In particular, the plan will deal with the introduction of an inclusive school affairs management system, support of administration and finance that works upon responsible operation, securing the right to freely select freshmen, intensifying the self-management system for better education and research, consolidating the evaluation system and expanding the social duties of the school towards the society.

With a view to fulfilling its social duties that follow the expansion of campus autonomy, Seoul National University aims to foster human resources with combined intelligence and noble personality and also to strengthen research abilities. It will continue to pursue autonomy under a long term plan of ranking among the global top 10 universities by the year 2025.

Hyeongjoon Kim, Director of Planning & Development, remarked, “We have come to set up this committee so that we may be able to make greater progress in visualizing detailed plans to manage general matters, like the entrance selection system, and to improve the school operation system.”

February 4th 2008
Translated by Bomi Kwon