Criteria for evaluating universities’ systems and programs for international students
The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology started evaluating universities’ systems to attract and manage international students last December.
After the first assessment by the government, 10 universities were announced as institutions of high quality, with Ewha as fourth place.
The assessment aimed at strengthening qualitative management programs for international students, whose density is approaching 90,000 in Korea.
The ministry gave certifications to several universities that may set a good example in order for other schools to benchmark successful cases. This year’s certification validity lasts just one year, since it was a trial evaluation.
The evaluation mainly consisted of two parts: quantitative and qualitative research. The quantitative research, or an assessment done through written inquiries, measured the degree of internationalization of each university by using eight main questionnaires.
Qualitative research, with which researchers find information that is undiscovered in a quantitative approach, consisted of four main categories that were wholly related to international students: Registration and selection of new students, Management of campus life, Management of academic affairs, and Programs supporting international students.
The ministry conducted the quantitative research from September to October of last year. Based on the results, it evaluated certain universities with high ranks through on-site inspections from October to December.
Both the quantitative and the qualitative research were reflected in the total score of each university.
The top 10 selected universities received more than 75 points out of 100, and they proved to have stable foundations for inviting and managing international students and maintaining student drop-out rates of less than 5 percent.
The evaluation performed by the ministry will be conducted again this year after refining relevant questionnaires. The second round of certifications will be valid for three years.
* Reporter: Kim Jin-ah & Chung Yoon-young & Lee Hea-won
* E-mail: jakim90@ewhain.net & yychung@ewhain.net &heawon_lee@ewhain.net