[Interview] Dr. S. Ghon Rhee, Dean of SKKU Business School
- 관리자
- Hit346
- 2013-11-25
Promoting an innovative and global education curriculum
Providing incentives for encouraging research
Inviting foreign scholars for practical lectures
Cooperative MOU with European universities
Stated goal of becoming a world top 100 business school before 2015
Listed above are the ambitious plans of the dean of
To achieve his aims, Dean Rhee is strongly promoting globalization, reinforcing research competence, and innovating with the education system. In particular, Dean Rhee is encouraging School members by taking initiative and setting a good example.
While juggling the duties of his position, Dean Rhee has been on 9 overseas business trips for the School and has also published 11 papers in academic journals registered by SSCI. With his valuable experiences at the IMF and ADB and wide personal connections, Dean Rhee has managed to invite foreign scholars to provide practical lectures.
Dean Rhee has emphasized that “competition among national universities that are bound to government regulations and governance is of no use.” He also mentioned that “competing with Asia’s top business schools like Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, National University of Singapore, and
- What are some recent changes in education?
In order to expand student experiences beyond textbook-focused classes, Dean Rhee is reinforcing practice-based lectures. He invited David Day, an expert in negotiations and conflict resolution, from
”Students negotiated with a specific topic during the class. OECD Senior Economist Hans Blumenstein, Latin America expert Fausto Lopez and M&A expert Jerry Bauman from
-What are the curriculum changes you are planning?
“The Committee for Development was founded and is starting to revitalize and improve the curriculum. There is less reliance on old standards like Introduction to Business or Introduction to Accounting in American business schools today. Students complain that courses are too segmented. In keeping with these trends, curriculums and courses that are needed for students’ careers are being created with other than strictly mandatory courses.”
- What support are you developing to reinforce professors’ research capability?
”Korean professors face challenges with research because salaries often are low and there are few incentives. Thus, professors resort to other jobs like corporate consulting. Lectures are a large burden as well. Although the trend is to conduct more research not less, there is insufficient time. To address this, Dean Rhee has strengthened the incentive system to encourage more research. When a paper is published in a top journal, 30 million won is provided and this amount will rise to 40 million won from next year. When published in an A-level journal, 15 million won will be given. This will motivate professors.
“I myself have published 11 papers since I came to
- Are the number of professors likely to increase?
”Faculty competence equals the university’s competence. There are 41 professors in the Business department. There will be 30 more in 5 years and by 2020, the number will reach 120.
”SKK GSB will increase the number of professors from 17 to 50. Professors for Global Business Administration, which gives all lectures in English, may be changed to all foreign professors. In the Business department, 20% of the lectures are given in English at present. In 2~3 years, we are planning to increase it to 50%.”
-How are you promoting globalization?
”Recently MOUs for cooperation with University of Cambridge, University of Manchester, and Lancaster University from England, Erasmus University and Tilburg University from the Netherlands were signed or pushed ahead.
”Business Schools from these universities are in
-What differentiates SKKU MBA from others and what makes it competitive?
”SKKU MBA is the only MBA course with an online-based IMBA course among all domestic MBAs. This is for those business people who are too busy to attend afternoon classes. The quality is very high.
”We are planning to reach an agreement for a dual degree with universities with well-established online-based MBA courses like University of Florida, Syracuse University or Pennsylvania State University.
”The Asia MBA is literally a program to nurture
”The school is mapping an MBA program that connects the 4 continents of Asia, North America, Europe, and
”There will be same courses and will meet once in three months for 2 weeks of lectures. It is very meaningful in that 4 continents will be represented in the network”
-What should be improved for domestic business schools to develop?
”The centralized governance system should be changed. Professor recruitment, promotion, retirement age and research decisions and many others should be authorized by a school not by headquarters.
”Even though professors achieve outstanding research performance, some of them cannot be promoted just because they did not complete enough of the work terms. In other countries, it is the dean’s authority to employee professor, set retirement age and to promote. The deans should be entitled and evaluate based on performance.
”The government that regulates universities under the name of financial support is also a problem. If these problems are not to be solved, the future of domestic universities is dark.
◇ Dean S.Ghon Rhee is a graduate of Seoul National University and he received his doctorate in finance at Ohio State University. He became a professor at the
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