Leading innovation and globalization…Never ending challenge

Heui-eun Jung (Class of 2006) recently described the classroom atmosphere at KUBS, “I feel like an exchange student in another country.” She went on to add “In most of the classes at least 10% of the students are from other countries. In some of the courses that require team projects, there are more foreign students than Korean students. Furthermore, the classes are taught completely in English so I feel like I’m in another country.”

Coming in at 1st place in an evaluation of Korean business schools by HR personnel in top 200 Korean companies, Korea University is leading the innovation and globalization trend which is taking place among Korean universities. KUBS is leading drastic changes in the three key areas of education; student selection, faculty and infrastructure and fully unleashing its prowess as ‘global KUBS’.

When visiting KUBS anyone can easily see the many differences between KUBS and other business schools. The school is one step ahead in the area of globalization. KUBS is providing extensive support to its students so that they can grow into global leaders. For example, it has increased the percentage of courses in English each year. In addition, the school is actively sending students abroad through its international internship program and attracting foreign students to the school. About a quarter of the students in the classroom are foreign students.

Lectures in English account for over 60% of all classes

Courses in English account for 60% of the total courses established for the 2nd semester of 2009. Martin Hemmert, a faculty of KUBS said “With over half of the courses in English, students are not only able to learn English but they can also learn a great deal about international culture.”

‘Business English’ which was established in the 1st semester of last year is a course taught completely in English. In the course, students take oral tests to determine their level and take classes accordingly. Students play out real business situations and learn conversational English and reading used in actual business situations through discussions and presentations.

Sun-hae Kim (Class of 2009) said “Unlike students who went to school in Seoul, students from the provincial areas never really had a chance to take classes taught by foreigners. I am very happy that I can converse with foreigners through the classes at KUBS. You can feel your English improving just by taking the classes.”

There was high level of satisfaction with classes. KUBS asked 320 students who took ‘Business English’ in the 1stand 2nd semester of 2008 and the summer session to evaluate the course. Results showed students were satisfied with the class giving the course 4.27 points out of 5.0 points. ‘Classroom atmosphere’ and ‘enthusiasm of lecturer’ was given 4.46 and 4.44 points respectively. When asked about the benefits of ‘Business English’ students responded in the following order; ‘enhancing English proficiency through increased English usage’ ‘learning business related expressions and knowledge’, ‘gaining confidence when using English’, ‘an environment that facilitates free talking’, ‘ passionate attitude of lecturer’ and ‘ improving English debating skills.

Foreign lecturer Rob Ward said “I expected poor participation because the class started early in the morning. But the students didn’t miss class and I was very surprised by their enthusiasm. ” KU plans to increase the percentage of lectures in English from the current 60% to 75% by 2015.

The school provides groundbreaking support for exchange students. Any KUBS student, who wishes to study abroad as an exchange student can receive credit recognition and study at a foreign university with almost no limitations. KUBS has signed exchange agreements with prestigious universities from around the world such as the Wharton School in the US, known to be the birthplace of modern business studies. Students spend one year at these schools as an exchange student. In addition, the business school has independently signed academic exchange agreements with 75 universities from 25 countries and is actively promoting cooperation.

Partner universities such as University of Pennsylvania, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, University of Mannheim, Waseda University and National University of Singapore are key business schools in their respective countries.

A KUBS official said “We have adjusted the selection criteria so that many more students can apply. In order to find excellent students, we have reduced the proportion of language test scores and school grades and increased the importance of interviews and reasons for application.”

KUBS outshines the other schools in the area of faculty as well. The school’s faculty is made up of world-class scholars who have received their doctorate degrees from the world’s top universities such as Harvard University, Wharton School of Pennsylvania University, Stanford University, MIT, Oxford and Cambridge University and have experience teaching at prestigious US universities. In 2009 the total number of full time faculty increased to 84 with 11 new faculty members (as of November, 2009). The number reaches 103 when taking into account the nine visiting and ten adjunct professors. The faculty size is similar to that of UCLA in the US and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (KHUST)

Construction for another landmark ‘The 3rd Business Building’ begins early next year

Hoping to go beyond being the best in just Korea, for several years now, KUBS has established ‘Global 50’ (becoming one of the world’s top 50 schools) as its vision. Against this background, the school plans to focus on securing excellent faculty members and will increase the number of full time faculty to 130 by 2015.

Ha-sung Jang, Dean of KUBS said “ Most of the famous overseas business schools such as Wharton, Yale and INSEAD have over 100 faculty members with excellent research capabilities. In order to become a global school, we will provide high-quality lectures to our students by recruiting faculty with diverse background and experiences.”

Another feature of KUBS is that CEOs and senior management of famous companies are teaching as adjunct professors. They include Jong-yong Yun,Chief executive officer, Samsung Electronics, Shin-Bae Kim, Vice Chairman of SK C&C, Byung-yeop Park, Vice Chairman of Pantech, Bill Hwang, founder and CEO of Tiger Asia Management, Sung-hwan Choi, executive director of Korea Life Insurance and Soo-Ryong Kim, Chairman and Chief Country Officer of Deutsche Bank Korea.

As such, students not only attain professional business knowledge but also learn about real-life business situations through the classes. KUBS will continue to appoint businessmen respected for their exceptional business achievements as lecturers so that students can learn more about the various business situations.

KUBS plans to become one of the world’s top 50 business schools by 2015. As part of these efforts, KUBS will build the ‘New Business Building (the 3rd Business Building)’, the world’s most advanced education facility. Through the new building, the school plans to maximize the quality of classes by providing state-of-the-art educational space and facilities. The new building will cover 14978m² with four stories underground and five above. It will house multi-function classrooms, research labs and various amenities for students. The construction will begin in early 2010 and end by December 2011.

KUBS which possesses the Main Business Building and the LG-POSCO Business Building which has been recognized as one of the world’s top ten state-of-the-art education facility a, plans to further upgrade the level of Korean universities by building the world’s most advanced building in both design and function. A KUBS official said “The new business building will mark the highlight of the Global 50 project. We hope that students will be able to maximize learning effects in the best facility and grow into global leaders.”

/ Reporter: Sun-Myung Kim kim069@kbizweek.com