Caption1: The Office of International Affairs Photo by Cho Su-hui。

 

2020 Spring semester brought many difficulties for students who had their exchange programs planned. There were students who were notified of the cancellation ahead of their departure, and there were some who had to return to Korea in a hurry due to the cancellation of the programs.


Accordingly, the school’s Office of International Affairs (OIA) has made a few important changes to their program in case of Ewha re-opening the campus next fall semester. Significant changes included simplifying the application process, offering more choice on countries besides the five main language speaking countries set by OIA, and opening free online summer exchange programs.


Recruitment of exchange students is to occur twice in August and February as some students gave up the program due to the spread of the coronavirus. Besides the five major languages set by the school which are Chinese, French, German, Japanese, and Spanish, extra options of diverse options such as Italian will also be offered for students with relevant language skills.


The application process also went over a major change and now students may be accepted without any additional evaluation process once the basic qualifications such as average GPA, and the language requirements of the exchange schools are met. OIA will also offer extended stay for students already dispatched to Europe, Asia, Australia, and other countries with exception to popular regions such as the United Kingdom, and the United States. Students who applied to English speaking universities that do not require written interviews can also now complete all of their application procedures online.


OIA strengthens its online service


The online services provided by OIA were also renewed to enable easier access to information in early May. From 2021, the schools available for exchange will be notified in advance and will be updated constantly until the deadline of the application. By referring to the reports of those who have been abroad as an exchange student, students will have access to practical information about the schools they are willing to apply for. The reports of the former exchange students in the past 10 years since 2010 are available in OIA website and the search function has been modified so that students can find the place and university more efficiently.


Through announcements on the OIA homepage, students may also find other global programs. This year, OIA introduced the short-term online programs in the University of Tubingen and Beijing Institute of Technology, which are both free of charge. The University of Tubingen will deal with the topic ‘Divided in Diversity- The European Union in Crisis?’ in IES Online Summer School 2020 and the Beijing Institute of Technology will provide the International Summer Program Cloud Lessons. Due to travel restrictions and concerns over the spread of the coronavirus, taking classes at other prestigious schools online is gaining attention. Students will have the chance to experience other cultures and also transfer credits needed to graduate.


“There are many schools canceling the exchange student programs for the second semester due to the coronavirus,” the office explained. “We are paying close attention to this change and are doing our best to cope with these issues. Furthermore, we hope to offer better opportunities for students to have global experiences by simplifying the application processes.”
 

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