An interview with Kang Jung-chae, 17th CNU President

●●● Question: How do you feel about your inauguration as the 17th President of CNU?

Answer: I am grateful to all of the university members. It is with a great sense of anticipation and a feeling of responsibility that I undertake the Presidency of CNU. I pay honor to all of the people who have given assistance for the development of CNU for the last fifty years. I assume new responsibilities in an office where so much has been accomplished with such great success in recent years. We all have a firm determination to come to grips with the needs of the times on the basis of the splendid tradition that our seniors have established. CNU is now ready to take a flight into the world on the basis of economic growth and democratization, given in return for the past suffering. For the flight we will make every possible effort to create pioneering knowledge that is essential to lead the future. I will devote myself to make CNU succeed in becoming a world-class university. I look forward to close collaborations with any members of the university as I become a new member of the University's top administrative office. I will exert all-out efforts to make CNU loved by everyone in the region including residents, entrepreneurs, intellectuals, public officials, and university members as well.

●●● Q: You set the new slogan of 'the first-rate university embracing the region and the world as a whole.' What does this slogan signify?

A: The slogan embraces CNU heritage, CNU vision, and my perspectives to make CNU become a world's top-tier university, staying on the firm foundation of expanded networks with the community, domestic universities, and research institutions. I will make efforts to enhance CNU's competitiveness in the fields of education, research, administration and culture to the same level as prestigious international universities under the slogan of 'the first-rate university embracing the region and the world.' Through mid- and long-term collaboration plans with prestigious universities, CNU will accomplish its target to become a world class university, keeping abreast of the globalization era and leading the regional community as well.
As a stronghold university focusing on its renewed commitment to developing 'regionalization' and 'globalization', CNU will be dedicated to the pursuit of truth, learning and the dissemination and development of knowledge, and service to the regional community. The university will also contribute to the educational, research, and cultural needs of its community which centers on Gwangju and Jeonnam province and extends to the world beyond. I will push ahead with a strategy to actively foster study in some specific sectors related to the government's top strategic industries including photonic industry, bio-industry, and information technology. The university will be intensively bringing up a project for creating Gwangju as the Cultural Capital of Korea. CNU will actively take part in the government's long-standing strategies for regional development and balanced national development plans. In order to accelerate the implementation of the goals, CNU will endeavor to strengthen the academy-industry collaboration and step up its efforts to arm itself with production facilities. I plan to organize a council to set out concrete plans for the envisaged university development plans. The organization, tentatively named 'The Council for the Development of CNU', will be composed of many experts from private and public sectors, including related government offices, industrial entities, and regional civic bodies.

●●● Q: What is your plan for the enhancement of research and education?

A: The core mission of the university is to contribute to society through the pursuit of education and research at the highest international levels of excellence. We strive to create an academic environment in which outstanding students and scholars are continually challenged and inspired to do their best possible work. The University will distinguish itself as a diverse, socially responsible learning community of high quality scholarship and academic rigor sustained by a faith that does justice. The University will draw from the cultural, intellectual and economic resources of the Gwangju-Jeonnam Region to enrich and strengthen its educational programs. I will map out a long-term development plan to become a world class university with strong competitiveness in the fields of education and research, and to build future-oriented educational environments. To accomplish these targets, a variety of strategic approaches will be made such as setting up a close network of exchange and cooperation with central and local governments, building a system to support research projects, developing international programs, and expanding related facilities. University-industry research collaboration is becoming more frequent and extensive, with growing complexity in individual partnerships. In order to link the research accomplishments with the industrial development of the region, CNU will endeavor to strengthen the academy-industry collaboration and step up its efforts to arm itself with advanced research facilities. It is obvious that research conducted at universities is directly connected with the industrial power of the region.
I am planning to push ahead with a strategy to actively foster study in some specific sectors related to the government's top strategic industries including photonic industry, bio-industry, and information technology. The university will intensively bring up a project for creating Gwangju as the Cultural Capital of Korea. CNU will actively take part in the government's long-standing strategies for regional development and balanced national development plans.
We aim to attract, nurture and inspire students and faculty who are aspiring national and global leaders across the spectrum of human endeavor and whose pursuit of knowledge and understanding will be infused with faith. This is a large and ambitious undertaking that, above all, requires recruiting and retaining truly exceptional people to serve in many different roles throughout the University. It also requires that we continue to enhance the solid financial backing currently provided by our endowment and operating funds; make available world-class educational resources to our undergraduate and graduate students-both on campus and abroad; build a superb teaching and research infrastructure for our faculty; and enhance the quality of the working environment for our faculty and staff. Through the academic exchange pacts, I plan to dispatch 2,000 CNU students to foreign universities every year in a bid to help them improve their ability to communicate in the international society smoothly and adapt themselves to foreign cultures easily. CNU already signed an academic exchange pact with 71 foreign universities. Based on these sisterhood relationships, we are planning to make our University a global campus. To effectively carry out this project, the University will establish an Office in charge of management and operation of globalization-related matters. Students can be offered one-stop services regarding to international affairs.

●●● Q: Tell me your plans for the university reorganization and administration.

A: I will observe the principle in every moment dealing with university affairs. Just as the level of transparency is determined by the amount of light, transparency of the University is determined by the openness of information. It is my basic principle to ensure transparency and fairness by promptly providing accurate information to those in need.
For the development of the university administration, we are planning to operate a new administrative system of global standards. Despite complex information management needs, universities often lack effective, centralized systems where students and other university members can quickly and easily find answers to administrative questions. To tide over this administrative inefficiency, CNU will introduce a new system designed to optimize customer service operations for the university administration. The university will expand the educational programs for administrative staff members to settle down a student-center, user-friendly administrative and service infrastructure on the CNU campus. CNU has experienced rapid growth in virtually every facet of university operations: student enrollment, breadth of academic programs, research programs, and community outreach activities. Improved support services and expanded infrastructure is necessary to sustain the activities of CNU's current faculty, staff, and students as well as to address future growth and development.
The University pledges to meet the challenges of the new era by continuing to adhere to the basic principles and values of the academy. The University will continue to foster an intellectual climate that values productivity, performance and accountability in teaching and learning; inspires excellence and creativity; celebrates the free and open exchange of ideas; and that honors critical thinking, intellectual curiosity and integrity. The University also will encourage faculty to explore new ways for them to teach and for students to learn, to enhance research and creative endeavors, to build programs of excellence, and to enrich and develop the people and communities that surround us and support us. The enhancement of the university administration system will improve the efficiency and effectiveness across all functional areas of the university while supporting the teaching, research and service missions.

●●● Q: Solution for the high unemployment rate?

A: Low employment rate among university graduates has become a serious social problem in the country. The youth unemployment problem should be solved through joint efforts by the government, businesses and universities. The development of university curriculum and education programs can be possible approaches to solve the problem. Under a plan to raise 10 percent rate over the year before, we will concentrate our efforts on developing effective policies to reduce the unemployment rate. The university education should have creative competitiveness to effectively cope with the rapidly changing industrial structure and lead the creation of knowledge and technology.
Our university will reinforce education for practical use and strengthen our cooperative system with regional enterprises. The Employment Information Center and Career Center will be much of help to increase students' employment rate.

●●● Q: You are planning to start a project of 'Love CNU' that will further the university development. Tell us about it.

A: The 'Alumni Networking' is one of my envisaged plans to be implemented during my tenure. CNU will enhance alumni relations by cultivating alumni interests, increasing communication, and involving alumni and patrons in University programs and with students and faculty. The movement named 'Love CNU' will be launched in order to develop a spirit of loyalty to and pride in the University among the alumni, and to promote communication and good fellowship among alumni, students, faculty and administration of the University.

●●● Q: Plans for the Gwangju-Jeonnam University Consortium?

A: A qualitative change in the university's education program is a prerequisite to bolster international competitiveness. Higher education reform in the nation is geared mainly towards stimulating competition, assuring accountability, and globalization. Perhaps the number one priority of the higher education sector in Korea today is to educate and train highly qualified people who will become leaders in an increasingly globalized information society. To help achieve this objective, the five universities in Gwangju and Jeonnam agreed to work closely with each other. In line with this, I will exert efforts to search for the best way which will greatly contribute to the development of participating universities.

●●● Q: Presidential actions to secure funds for the university development?

A: It is critical for the president to guide an aggressive institutional effort to raise funds for the university development. In addition to maximizing resources from the government, I will ensure that funds raised benefit students and faculty across the colleges. I will enlist the support of all community residents and senior administrators in fund raising.

●●● Q: What do you think is the solution to resolve the conflicts among the university members?

A: Conflicts often arise in any organizations because people are set in their ways. The best way to approach conflict resolution is to address the issue head on and work directly with the individuals in conflict. Early intervention and direct mediation will take the tension out of the air and quickly bring the relationships among university members back on track. One method of conflict resolution includes having members participate in discussing with other individuals who have the disagreement. We can share our views and identify our own roles for the development of the university. To help avoid any types of conflicts, I will collect every opinion of the members and make the policy decision process disclosed. I will promote openness and trust in all relationships.

Experience

- 1971. 3 Present Member of the Korean Medical Association
- 1979. 5 Present Faculty of the College of Medicine, CNU (Full-time Instructor, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, and Professor)
- 1979. 3 Present Member of the Korean Association of Internal Medicine
- 1080. 12 1981. 12 Stayed at Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany as a Visiting Scholar
- 1986. 6 1992. 6 Chief Director, Honam Society of Circulation
- 1993. 11 1996. 10 Chair of the Academic Committee, Korean Society of Circulation
- 1993. 3 1995. 9 Director, Clinical Research Center of the CNU Hospital
- 1994. 10 Present Director, Korean Society of Hypertension
- 1996. 3 1998. 4 Director of Hwasoon Hospital Establishment Committee
- 1997. 10 1998. 10 Director of the Interventional Procedure Committee, Korean Society of Circulation
- 1998. 10 2000. 10 Chair of the Research Committee, Korean Society of Circulation
- 2001. 8 2002. 8 Dean of Education & Research Affairs

Commitment to Community

- 1992. 10 Present Director, Gwangju-Jeonnam Office of the Organ Donation Center
- 1998. 10 Present Lifelong Member of Gwangju YMCA
- 1998. 10 2001. 10 Director, Gwangju Camp of Korea Boy Scout Association
- 2001. 3 Present Director of Gwangju YMCA

Inaugural Address
Kang Jung Chaee, 17th President of Chonnam National University

Following is the complete text of President Kang's inaugural address, delivered on August 20.

CNU Will Go Global with Its Community

CNU faculty, staff, students, alumni, distinguished guests, and delegates, please know that I am honored by your presence. It is a great honor to stand before you today as the seventeenth President of Chonnam National University. I would like to begin my remarks by expressing my deepest feelings of appreciation to so many of you who have allowed and encouraged me toward this moment of service. I give my thanks to all of you who honor this University by your presence and bring the warmth of fellowship to this new President.

Today we certainly live in an age of rapid transformation. Spurred by the information revolution based on digital technology, vast knowledge assets are flowing across national borders. Universities are academic groups of intellectuals and a place for pursuing, creating and processing knowledge. Knowledge is a tool of self-realization in the information age. We look upon the immense challenges and opportunities which lie before all of us fortunate enough to have been given this mission in higher education. Higher education institutions should face tremendous challenges because of the requirements of an emerging knowledge-based society, which lead to changes in education and society.

In view of the needs of this information age, I want to look back the paths CNU has taken as a leading institution in Gwangju and Jeonnam Province.
- Has CNU kept abreast of the times and strived to lead the changes?
- Has CNU kept building and creating new knowledge and succeeded in realizing its value through education?
- Has CNU kept doing its duty for the regional and national developments as a national university with the government's supports and stronghold university in Honam area?

The CNU community has made tremendous progress so far. However, we cannot deny that the University sometimes stepped back from the demands of the times and dwelled on the given conditions.

CNU faculty, staff, and students!

We are now standing at a new starting point. I view the process of developing a coherent vision for the University as one that is incremental, participative, and subject to constant revision and adjustment. We need to encourage ourselves to engage in a serious dialogue over the future of the University and the community. We should not be rendered helpless from leading the changes of the times. Through incessant self-innovations, all of us need to stay abreast of rapidly changing trends. Please join me to create a new history of the flight for the future. The responsibility of making the university's mission into reality lies on all of you.

As President, I will make utmost efforts to improve educational resources to enhance student learning in all relevant disciplines. CNU will cultivate a pioneering spirit among young students and prepare them to face the new challenges that lie ahead. I will devote to the development of CNU as a global and dynamic institution and embrace society at large and the world as a whole. In regards of education, research, administration, and commitment to the community, the University will give primary values on these things.

Education
The future of a nation and its society relies on the efforts of universities to produce highly qualified, competent graduates. The core mission of the university is to contribute to society through the pursuit of education and research at the highest international levels of excellence. We strive to create an academic environment in which outstanding students and scholars are continually challenged and inspired to do their best possible work. Therefore, we need to give much importance for the development in education. We will revise our core curriculum to align it even more closely with the broad needs of society and our technologically based mission. This review is based on setting skill and knowledge objectives for our students, measuring how well we succeed and continuously revising our process to accomplish our objectives. While many institutions and accreditation agencies advocate this approach, few have tackled the problem comprehensively and I expect CNU to be a leader in this endeavor.
Following this revision, mastery of fundamentals will continue to distinguish our graduates, but we expect students to also develop personal, societal, and professional ethics; to understand the relationship of science and technology to society, and to value diversity. Our campus must value and reflect the needs of the nation for globalization and the local community, or we will have failed in creating the best educational environment possible. We will not back away from our commitment to providing our students with a broad education and a specific field of expertise; we need to recognize our responsibility to help them develop the skills necessary for success.

Research
I aim to attract, nurture and inspire students and faculty who are aspiring national and global leaders across the spectrum of human endeavor and whose pursuit of knowledge and understanding will be infused with faith. This is a large and ambitious undertaking that, above all, requires recruiting and retaining truly exceptional people to serve in many different roles throughout the University. It also requires that we continue to enhance the solid financial backing currently provided by our endowment and operating funds; make available world-class educational resources to our undergraduate and graduate students-both on campus and abroad; build a superb teaching and research infrastructure for our faculty; and enhance the quality of the working environment for our faculty and staff.

As a stronghold university focusing on its renewed commitment to developing 'regionalization' and 'globalization', CNU will be dedicated to the research and cultural needs of its community which centers on Gwangju and Jeonnam province and extends to the world beyond. I will push ahead with a strategy to actively foster study in some specific sectors related to the government's top strategic industries including photonic industry, bio-industry, and information technology. The university will intensively bring up a project for creating Gwangju as the Cultural Capital of Korea, the J-project, and the development of the Gwangyang Gulf area. CNU will actively take part in the government's long-standing strategies for regional development and balanced national development plans. In order to accelerate the implementation of the goals, CNU will endeavor to strengthen the academy-industry collaboration and step up its efforts to arm itself with production facilities. All this continues our evolution toward a leadership role in higher education.

Administration
For the development of the university administration, a key axis fundamental for the education and research at universities, CNU will provide and maintain a program of equal opportunity and fairness in all personnel matters and all aspects of employment relationships. It is the intent of this policy to safeguard against unsound and illegal personnel practices. CNU will also introduce a new administrative system of global standards. Despite complex information management needs, universities often lack effective, centralized systems where students and other university members can quickly and easily find answers to administrative questions. To tide over this administrative inefficiency, CNU will introduce a new system designed to optimize customer service operations for the university administration. The university will expand the educational programs for administrative staff members to settle down a student-center, user-friendly administrative and service infrastructure on the CNU campus. CNU has experienced rapid growth in virtually every facet of university operations: student enrollment, breadth of academic programs, research programs, and community outreach activities. Improved support services and expanded infrastructure is necessary to sustain the activities of CNU's current faculty, staff, and students as well as to address future growth and development. The enhancement of the university administration system will improve the efficiency and effectiveness across all functional areas of the university while supporting the teaching, research and service missions.

Distinguished guests, notables representing various social circles, and citizens who love justice and long for the regional development!
The University and the local community are inseparably related to each other. They are one. Without the regional development, we cannot expect the university development and vice versa. CNU's future and the future of the Gwangju-Jeonnam Region are interwined. CNU will approach closer to the community and encourage new and creative initiatives linking CNU and the community. It will create and strengthen local, national and international networks of institutions of higher education committed to engagement with the local community. To those of you here today representing other institutions of higher education and learned societies, I hope that CNU will grow in its reputation and in its contributions to our system of education and learning in the world.

160,000 Yongbongians!
You are the power of our University and the pride of CNU. CNU has grown up with you for the last fifty-two years and it will also continue to grow. CNU has relied on your assistance to meet the challenges of change and growth. Today, as President of the University, I would like to ask you to continue to serve as strong supporters for the university development. I pledge that I will exert all-out efforts to make you feel proud of the University and willing to visit the campus at any time you want.

In closing, allow me to tell you again the values CNU will seek during my presidency.
- The University harmonized with research, education, and administration!
- The University with its faculty, staff, students, and alumni in efficient teamwork to make the future bright!
- The University taking a flight towards the world with its community!
CNU will make the fullest and most significant contribution to the world that its collective talents, resources and aspirations can achieve and that its history, character and people deserve. I come before you today to pledge my commitment to expand the excellence of all the endeavors of this magnificent University. I will strive to be a good steward of our resources; to listen to you and ultimately make decisions based on data and sound judgment; to serve as an ambassador as well as a leader and to represent you and your interests as best I can. Thank you for all of your support and expressions of good will. I wish you all the same as you change the world and have a good time doing it. Thank you.