Current Ewha president Kim Sun-uk was elected on May 27, 2010 and had an inauguration ceremony on July 23, staring her official term on Aug. 1. Since then, president Kim has been putting in various efforts for the development of Ewha, ranging from supporting student activities to expanding global interactions with foreign universities. As her four-year term is coming to an end this July, the Ewha Voice will review the main works and achievements of president Kim. The four years of president Kim’s reign officially ends in July 2014, and professor Choi Kyung-hee (Science Education) will take over office on Aug. 1 as the 15th president of Ewha Womans University.
Inside changes of Ewha
As the president of Ewha, president Kim Sun-uk looked for ways to benefit Ewha students in nurturing their abilities to bring out the best.
In order to create a strong bond between students and faculty, Ewha adopted the Residential College (RC) system, which was first implemented by Western universities. Similar to the system of Ewha Hak-dang, the Ewha RC placed students and faculty together in a community setting where they will also pursue academic activities.
Starting from 2015, Ewha freshmen are required to spend one semester of their first year at the Ewha RC. It is also a response to the need to construct a new undergraduate education model according to the changing paradigm of education.
“We designed the programs in RC to be organized and evaluated by students themselves,” said Kang Min-hah, the adviser of RC. “In the process, students naturally learn leadership, planning ability and professionalism.”
The RC was recognized for its effort to further improve the system through test operations. The Ministry of Education and Council of University Education selected Ewha RC as a qualified model in “2013 The Educational Capacity Enhancement Project of Universities” which was conducted on March 3.
Ewha made efforts to support students in not only getting a job after graduation but also starting their own business. The Business Incubator was established in 2012. It recently moved to the University Industry Cooperation Building in May for a better and bigger environment to work in.
The Business Incubator provides programs for those who opened up business for no longer than three years. As a supporting institution for starting a business, it will be providing facilities, places and overall information in the field of business and technology for business starters. For prospective enterprisers and those who are in startup related clubs, rooms are provided for free.