The College of Information Technology, Soongsil University, is in the vanguard of pioneering IT differentiation projects among the Metropolitan area colleges. Its goal is to become an IT hub college in Northeast Asia.
Soongsil's IT College launched anew on March, 2006 with three schools such as school of computing, school of electronic engineering, and school of media. It is pursuing the objective of fostering talented citizens who will make valuable contributions to information- oriented society with Soongsil's founding ideas of Truth and Service.
What is noteworthy in Soongsil IT College is that the College is to contribute to the future cutting-edge IT industry rehabilitation of the Metropolitan area by securing IT core technology as a growth engine. It plans to accomplish this through an educational-industrial model, tailor-made and convergence model education system innovation in the interests of architect manpower nurturing.
The Dean of the College of Information Technology, Soongsil University, Professor Yang Seung-min, PhD, epitomizes concerning the College's goal in a new year interview with The Korea IT Times: "Soongsil IT College is to spring into an IT industry cluster hub by devising education, research, and administration's innovation for the sake of an educational- industrial collaboration so that our College can possess proactive competitiveness in the Metropolitan area IT field."
Tailor-made education and research
To actualize this, the Dean said: "Soongsil IT College wants to concentrate on tailor-made education and research by analyzing IT industry as well as each college within the Metropolitan area for the purpose of nurturing international architect-model high-grade manpower. It also wants to possess new growth engine technology by constructing a state-of-the-art IT education system and a cutting-edge research system."
Soongsil IT College has a significant budget for projects in order to implement the industrial-educational system. It has a budget of 2.45 billion won (US$2.63 million) for construction of an IT convergence technology cluster. It is planning to spend 1.65 billion won (US$1.78 million) to develop a tailor-made IT education program. Setting up an internationalization education program will cost approximately 2.28 billion won (US$2.45 million). Setting up a specialized IT manpower creation system will cost 1.26 billion won (US$1.35 million). A system to set up new IT technology possession and exchange will cost 2.28 billion won (US$2.45 million). The school has been creating these programs from August 2006, according to Yang.
In conjunction with Soongsil IT College's IT differentiation, Yang emphasizes: "The College aims to nurture a collective international IT research body which can attain comparative superiority in comparison with other colleges within the Metropolitan area by doubling professor and student abilities."
Yang adds that Soongsil IT College's research aims to secure core technology in order to create a new national growth engine IT industry. By carrying out such synthetic and convergent educational-industrial model research, based on such human infrastructure, the Dean hoped to be able to secure important IT industry's core base technologies nationally.
Research and globalization
Dean Yang recalls: "Its symposium as well as vision announcement ceremony to commemorate IT College's establishment held on April 7, 2006 at Soongsil University, was an outcome of will, which is eager to differentiate the IT College as a spearheading college to usher Soongsil University into the years to come."
To meet various circles' expectation about IT College, Yang committed himself to nurture talent who can contribute to the future's IT industry with detailed plan of 4 fields such as good education, research's activation, Soongsil IT network construction, and globalization.
First as for good education, the Dean stressed: "To nurture talent who will contribute to the IT field, the IT College must enhance learning effects by improving curriculum and education environment and through exchange between professor and student."
Soongsil IT College will allow students to have many on-the-scene experience opportunities through a company intern system during their school days, graduation project, and competition rally participation at home and abroad, he said.
The IT College moreover plans to gradually raise English lectures and English authentication standards plus attracting foreign professors and students aggressively. Regarding research activation plans, Yang said that Soongsil IT College would introduce a diverse incentive system such as promotions for professors who carry out large-sized projects or announce excellent papers in large numbers.
Already many external projects are under way. There are several kinds of large-sized national policy projects like the Brain Korea 21 project, but to activate and support this even more systematically Soongsil IT College is preparing to launch the most cutting-edge IT educational-industrial joint business corp., he said. This joint business corp., according to him, aims to become the core research institution of the Metropolitan area IT cluster by constructing an educational- industrial collaboration network and by nurturing IT innovation technology cluster.
Korean IT Belt Construction
Thirdly, with regard to Soongsil IT network's construction, the Dean explains: "IT College is a huge IT manpower pool which contains approximately 10,000 graduates and 3,000 undergraduates." He added that Soongsil IT College wants to provide them with facilities as well as programs for continuous re-education and with an environment through which they can cooperate with each other."
To this end, the IT College has construction of the Soongsil IT Ability Development Center under way, according to Yang.
Staple projects through this Center include practical education program operation, language as well as education program for overseas employment, diverse educational-industrial internship program development, IT service activity support, undergraduate incubation support, and communication ability strengthening program operation. Through this, Yang said that the IT College would attain a 100% graduate employment rate.
Fourthly for globalization, Soongsil IT College plans to let its undergraduates to hear lectures abroad as part of exchange program by utilizing foreign sisterhood universities, Dean Yang said. He explained that the first stage for globalization is the brisk exchange with foreign universities.
As the second stage for globalization, the Dean said that he will attract foreign professors and students aggressively, seeking to ultimately transform them into a completely international university.
One ambitious project that the IT College pursues in relation to globalization is the Korean IT Belt construction. It aims to maximize Korea's capacity by educating Koreans scattered all over the world with the IT College's excellent IT technology. Its objective countries include Mongolia, Vietnam, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Brazil, Argentina and Mexico.
This Korean IT Belt project, according to Yang, will allow Korea to usher in a world IT market ultimately through economic development and exchange by encouraging IT education in those countries and by nurturing IT experts.
He asked that the active cooperation of IT College alumni is indispensable, adding that how IT College develops with which features in the years to come depends on the will of all constituents.
