SNU’s establishment of the “Advanced Convergence Department” —Concerns within the campus
Seoul National University (SNU) has announced the establishment of a new department, the Advanced Convergence Department, to cultivate advanced interdisciplinary talents from those enrolling in the 2024 academic year. The department consists of five majors: Next-Generation Intelligent Semiconductor, Sustainable Technology, Innovative New Medicine, Digital Healthcare and Data Science. This move will result in an increase in student enrollment by 218 starting next year, according to a 2023 interview with the College of Engineering Student Council. The adjustment to the enrollment quota was made possible by the South Korean government’s decision in August 2022 to lift quota regulations for universities to foster independent innovation and train talents in crucial domestic industries like semiconductors. According to SNU, this is the first undergraduate quota expansion since the early 1990s. SNU’s enrollment initially almost doubled from 3,300 to 6,500 students in 1981 after the introduction of the graduation quota system, but has since steadily decreased to 3,233 this year, except for a small increase in 1992. As such, this increase in the admission quota is quite an unusual event. Background of the establishmentSo why is the university establishing this new department? In the past few years, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have repeatedly approached SNU with the proposal to create a “contract department for semiconductors,” and the parties involved have had numerous discussions on this matter. Here, a “contract department” refers to a department in which students are guaranteed employment at a specific company after graduation and receive full tuition and financial assistance while in school, but in return, they must follow an educational program to develop the skills desired by the sponsored company. SNU was the first to receive this request for the establishment of a semiconductor contract department, in line with the government’s initiative to cultivate non-memory semiconductor chips. However, this talk was met with opposition from within the university as some believed that training talents for specific fields and companies go against the spirit of a national university like SNU. Nonetheless, on the back of constant requests, SNU submitted a proposal in January to establish a System Semiconductor Engineering major, with an enrollment quota of 57, within the Department of Electrical and Information Engineering in the College of Engineering. Eventually, SNU decided on the establishment of the Advanced Convergence Department, after the Ministry of Education requested revisions to the proposal. Thus, on 27 April, the Ministry of Education announced the allocation of enrollment quotas for general universities in advanced fields and healthcare fields for the 2024 academic year, including the establishment of the “Advanced Convergence Department” at SNU and the aforesaid five majors of the department. The specific plans for each department's educational program are yet to be determined. Interview with the PresidentPresident of Seoul National University Ryu Hong-lim told SNU Quill that the establishment of this new department represents the development of national-level initiatives to foster future convergent talent and create a model for talent education. According to Yoo, “Humanities and social science professors will also participate in education for the Advanced Convergence Department, beyond sharing the College of Engineering, and the major will be jointly developed by several colleges. ”Mixed Reaction from within the campusHowever, SNU’s announcement of its plan to establish a new department called “Advanced Convergence Department” has been met with mixed reactions from within the campus. While some faculty members and students have welcomed the move, others have expressed concerns about the potential impact on existing departments and programs. Those who support the establishment of the new department argue that it is a necessary response to the changing needs of the workforce and the increasing importance of interdisciplinary collaboration in the era of rapid technological advancements. They also point out that the department could serve as a platform for the university to strengthen its research capabilities and compete with other leading universities in the world. However, some faculty members and students have raised concerns about the potential repercussions. They worry that the new department may attract funding and resources that could have been allocated to other departments, potentially weakening their research capabilities and educational quality. Additionally, some have expressed skepticism about the effectiveness of the new department in achieving its stated goals, citing the challenges of truly integrating disparate fields into a cohesive educational program. Looking deep into students’ concernEven though more than 200 undergraduate freshmen will take the entrance exam later this year and enter the university’s program next year, the specific plan for operating the undergraduate program has not been finalized, raising concerns within the university that other departments may be affected. There are concerns about how to coordinate with the College of Engineering and the College of Natural Sciences, which have similar educational programs, over the allocation of personnel and facilities for education. For instance, the “Next-generation Intelligent Semiconductor” major may overlap with the curriculum of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering; the “Sustainable Technology” major may overlap with the curriculum of the College of Engineering; the “Innovative New Medicine” major may overlap with the curriculum of the Department of Life Sciences, and there is a possibility that the “Digital Healthcare” major may overlap with the curricula of both the Department of Electrical and Information Engineering and the Department of Life Sciences. As a result of this overlap in educational programs, there are issues that need to be addressed quickly before the establishment of the college, such as the lack of of professors and staff to be assigned to the Department of Advanced Convergence, the scarcity of classroom space and infrastructure, and a consideration for existing departments in the College of Engineering. Consequently, many students at SNU, including those in the College of Engineering, have raised questions concerning the dearth of specific discussions and explanations regarding these matters. As a response, the Student Council of the College of Engineering has held talks with SNU’s Academic Support team. The university has responded that “the Department of Advanced Convergence is not being created within the College of Engineering or as a part of the College of Education” and that “there are no plans to use facilities in the College of Engineering. ” Despite this, no clarification has been provided regarding the size of the faculty or staff, classroom space, or detailed plans. However, due to the lack of time and the nature of the program, people predict that current professors in College in Engineering may be required to open additional courses or to be transferred to the Department of Advanced Convergence. As such, the atmosphere within the university remains uncertain, and concerns among its members continue to be expressed. Is expanding the quota and making a new department the best solution?Seoul National University’s expansion of its enrollment capacity is in line with the government’s commitment to fostering talent in advanced fields. However, is expanding enrollment capacity the best solution for addressing the shortage of personnel in advanced engineering fields? If the enrollment quotas for related departments are expanded, will there be enough research personnel in advanced engineering fields?(1) Creating a new departmentAs a student who has studied Biosystem Engineering and Electrical & Computer Engineering for 5 years, I think the research areas under the proposed majors can be covered and researched sufficiently in pre-existing majors. If there is a high demand for a particular field, I believe the priority should be to expand support and recruitment for existing departments and to increase support for research labs related to the field. Existing majors have been developing their curriculum for decades, and professors have been working hard on research. Therefore, I think that progress in the relevant field can be achieved by supporting existing departments rather than creating a new major which has the potential to bring a conflict of interest. In addition, I think that sufficient domain knowledge is necessary for the field of “convergence”, and that convergence without substance is nothing more than superficial learning. For that reason, I believe that traditional subjects should remain as they are in undergraduate courses, and that convergence studies are more suited to graduate-level programs. Thus, it remains to be seen whether the newly established “convergence” majors can provide education that truly enhances students' skills. (2) Expanding the quotaBefore creating the new department at SNU, the government has created semiconductor contract departments in 10 other universities—including Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology and Yonsei University—to train talents in the semiconductor field. However, in the last year, the dropout rate for registered students in the semiconductor contract department was 155. 3% higher than the number of students recruited. Most of these students ended up pursuing medical studies such as medicine or pharmacy. In addition, 28. 8% of students who were admitted this year to SNU ultimately gave up their spots, and many of them also chose to pursue medicine. This means that top-performing students are no longer as interested in pursuing engineering careers as they are in becoming doctors. Moreover, the increasingly severe concentration of medical students indicates that beyond the issue of imbalanced human resources, the vitality of society has declined because people have become reluctant to take on challenges and fear failure. In other words, even if new departments such as the Advanced Convergence Sciences Department are established, if students lack internal motivation to work in engineering fields, external rewards to support that motivation, and a social atmosphere that fosters challenges, improving engineering talent will remain a distant dream. The establishment of relevant departments is an abstract and localized solution, and it is difficult to consider it a fundamental solution, as it alone cannot change the career choices of students who are making life-changing decisions. The admissions process for the new department will begin this September. Since the establishment of the department has already been decided, it is necessary to thoroughly prepare facilities and educational programs within the school so that newly admitted students can receive good education and to prevent chaos due to the increasing capacity. In addition, to ensure that the establishment of a new department has the desired effect of fostering talent in the Science, Technology Engineering and Mathematics(STEM) field, fundamental solutions such as providing appropriate and sufficient rewards for students in the STEM field to maintain their passion for research are needed.