At the 2003 national university self-development program assessment, performed by the Ministry of Education and Human Resources, CNU was ranked first among nine national universities in nation. In accordance with the assessment results, CNU will receive 3.13 billion won from the Ministry for the enhancement of the university self-development program. The second-ranking universities, Kyungpook National University and Pusan National University, will receive 2.22 billion won, which is less than CNU
s grant by 900 million won. The assessment included paper and field examinations, which focused on the accomplishments of university specialization projects, university administrative system and its management, and the achievements of university education and research projects. CNU gained good points at every evaluation area, and especially the specialization project of biotechnology was highly accepted at the assessment. CNU combined the biotechnology-related departments into one school under the direct control of university administration. The new School of Biological Sciences and Technology provides academically based professional programs for future BT specialists, and fosters BT research and public service programs to advance the promising field of science. CNU has been making efforts to prepare various plans for the development of local universities, which was initiated by the new participatory government. CNU is planning to strengthen the cooperative system of industry-academia-research institute through the close cooperation with Gwangju City for the
Bio-Regulon Valley Project for Medicinal Plants Production
. The project was inspired by Dasan Chung Yak-yong
s pragmatism. In July 2003, CNU was selected for the 2003 Local University Financial Support Program with its
Dasan Bio-Regulon Project
and received 1,839 million won from the Ministry. This project also helped CNU gain good points at the assessment. Other advantageous factors were a differential tuition increase system, the introduction of global English course as a compulsory course in cultural studies, cooperative relations with other universities, and the student exchanges with the universities in Youngnam province such as Kyungpook National University and the University of Ulsan. The government subsidies that CNU obtained in 2003 reached 4,960 million won, which would speed up the university development.