Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Tuesday, February 24, 2009 – Korea Nazarene and Hannam Universities

What a pleasure it was to enjoy the guest suite they had prepared. I have noticed that I get terribly sleepy around 5pm…and if I push through it…alternatives are usually not an option!....I am then fine until midnight. So last night I told Daniel I really was more tired than hungry and he dropped me off. But then I saw some of the food in the suite and ate cereal and chocolate and Pringles….great diet right! One thing led to another so I got past the “sleepies” and stayed up until 1am washing clothes and updating the blog and notes. Probably not smart, because today I paid the piper. I ate a pretty good breakfast in my suite, even ironed a few things. Mi Ja picked me up at 7:50 sharp and President Im and several of his cabinet were waiting for me in the hallway of his office. How honored I felt. We ate a graciously served breakfast with croissants and small sandwiches in a small room off his office. Following breakfast Mi Ja took me on a tour of the campus.....the two central buildings are huge....each of them the size of and reminding me of the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton. The rehabilitation department was like nothing I've ever seen with equipment I didn't even know existed. The teleconference room with voice tracking cameras and the "laptop" simulator that speaks everything you type and reads whatever digital files it finds gives the blind a great boost. The support staff of several secretaries are amazing! I was then invited to wait in his office….the standard Korean (and African!) office with several chairs (in Africa they would be sofas) with the President’s chair at one end. I read the English paper…noting that “Threats of war” by North Korea didn’t even make the front page. He joined me and walked through the headlines of 4 Korean language papers, showing the stories relevant to KNU. One village was celebrating the birthday of a 4yr old girl…the first child born in that entire village for 18 years! As I have perhaps said before, population is declining. This is a GREAT concern to every school I visit….since from 2000 to 2014 the college age cohort will drop by 40-50%! I learned too that there is a quota system whereby each Korean institution private or public is given a maximum number of students they can enroll annually. For KNU this year it was 1340 incoming. If they go over by even one, their quota for the next year is reduced by the corresponding number! It sounds like Westmont in Santa Barbara!
I was then ushered into the President’s conference room where there were 13 of his staff waiting for a two hour time together. Considering this is just a few days before the beginning of their academic year (March 1!) I was honored by the gift of their time. Seungam welcomed me and introduced his staff. I was invited to explain CCCU’s purposes and my visit. Then he made a presentation of nearly an hour explaining the mission and priorities of KNU. Their previous two presidents were Americans, they have grown from 500 to 5500 in 10 years. This is his 2nd year as president. Their campus has exploded with buildings (more later). He used the same point from Jim Collins (Good to Great) that he had used with the freshmen students in Everland last night. He wants KNU to be GREAT…not just good. I notice this theme that there is strong competition, even among the CCCU schools to establish a reputation and by that attract more students. It may sometimes restrict the open exchange and fellowship between even the CCCU schools. The government asks each school to state its intended distinctive. Seungam said he first thought Theology, but then knew many would say that. He next thought English, but new many would also say that. Finally he said Rehabilitation. That has been their distinctive. He broadens it to include not just physical rehabilitation….more (and pictures) below on their amazing programs for the handicapped…..but also mental and spiritual rehabilitation. “Rehab” is a good theme for Christians I think. Like Greenville’s “Transformation” this squares with our Christian understanding of the need for restoration to God’s intended purposes. He also stated his personal desire that KNU would above all be known as a place that HELPS others. That is highest desire for grads. He used an acronym to describe their overall goals: HELPING (H=Healthy physically, mentally, spiritually, E=Education, L=Leadership (He used the idea of “Great Christian Leader” many times…and wants to invite leaders to campus for visits to help his students. ) P=Passion for compassionate Ministry, I=Innovative creative breaking from old ways…new wine!, N=Never giving up, G=Glorifying God. He also used an interesting expression “GLOCAL” instead of “GLOBAL”. He believes we must be global AND local. I pointed out that this surely squares with Wesley’s (?) statement that we must think globally and act locally.
Among the basic things they will need in the future are facilities (Gymanasium eg.) and faculty. The government requires them to have 152 faculty for their enrollment. They also want 52 international faculty and 52 adjunct…so they need 250 faculty! They want teachers of English language, Christian leadership and Practioners of social service projects. For this they want to SEND as many of their students and faculty overseas as they can, INVITE as many faculty and students as they can to KNU (for fellowship (mutual cultural understanding) and English language learning…more in my comments from Hannam).
They have a newly formed OIC (Owens International College). (This seems the exact parallel to Hannam’s Linton Global College) It is a “college” within the University in which courses are taught entirely in English. They promote it so that outsiders can come and study here…overcoming what they perceive as huge resistance to studying in Korea. (I think if more American students knew how much they are welcomed here….often with free RT air, they and their faculty would take more advantage….so the idea of an expanded/new CCCU web site can be very useful) KNU seems to be providing RT air+1 semester tuition free to students coming! The program, in English, includes leadership courses, tour elements in Korea, China, and Japan, learning Korean, TaeKwonDo, and Christian fellowship. It sounds too good to be true. I may have misunderstood and it may be limited to the students from 8 Nazarene schools in the US. But I don’t think so. With 15 KNU students it is a group now of about 25…but they seem to want it to grow fast. They seem very serious about this international appeal….a buzzword here just as it is the US. They have 80 chinese students (as a way of impacting the future of china….and want to grow that number to 1000 chinese students at KNU.
Then the floor was opened for ideas from those present. Tho we didn’t get around the circle here are some of their thoughts:
Prof S: OIC (he’s the head) needs faculty…their current sole major is Intl Business, but will soon add Intl Culture. (Malone already has promised 15 students. Go Gary Streit!
Pres Im: They will provide 1 semester overseas for their students. An amazing opportunity for US CCCU schools to recruit some Koreans for their campuses!!
David: (Facilities manager): Does the tuition waiver program apply to them? I said probably not unless they were “Members” instead of “Affiliates” But this is something needing attention
In perhaps the most welcome but surprising part of the conversation, Pres. Im committed to the CCCU that he would send 1-3 of his staff to CCCU offices in Washington to work for 3-4 months as interns and do so at KNU expense. This could be an amazing help to the CCCU in pursuing this international priority. Pres. Im said Mi Ja Wi would be the first to go. She would be a big help and I hope this can be done within the next few months. He also mentioned Sang-Hun (who had driven me to Everland) and Elijah (woman in the office with Sang-Hun). He also wants to join CCCU as a full member. He wants CCCU students as teachers of English for the KNU-Cheonan City English Summer Camp….they provide RT airfare and housing and meals! He wants 100 BA level teachers of English for the Cheonan City public schools (they have a 4yr contract) and tho the city doesn’t stipulate this KNU wants them all to be Christians. RT air is provided plus $1500-2000/month in stipend for living. He wants MA/Ph.D who can teach their disciplines in English for the KNU program….up to 50 of these! And he wants visits from Christian leaders…coming at KNU expense. Finally, he’d love to find someone who can offer an MA in Christian leadership on their campus. If they offer it, it must reduce their quota from the government. But if someone else offers it then it does not impact their quota at all.

KNU was very gracious…and these tangible offers of help to CCCU will no doubt be welcome. I walked with Pres. Im to a waiting car, but not before he asked his wife to walk over from where she worked to greet me. She is suffering third stage lung cancer, but God is working. We prayed on the open plaza in front of their main building, and Pres Im and Mi Ja personally escorted me to the KTX station, onto the platform and waved goodby as the train pulled away. I was very tired but felt very grateful for these dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

When I arrived at Daejeon only 20 minutes later, I was impressed by the quality of the KTX train..and happy to see Nam waiting. He drove me to the Hannam University……17,000 students. The orientation of the new freshman class was going on….3000 new students! Of these only 900 live on campus. I’m told 30% are Christians, but 100% of the faculty are. However, once again the definition is harder to nail down. Apparently they are required to document their Christianity by producing a baptismal certificate. There are no further expectations, and Chapel Dal says many of them “change” under the cover of “academic freedom” while at Hannam. There are 300 FT faculty, but with PT included it is 900 faculty. This is perhaps the largest of all CCCU universities anywhere…unless Handong tomorrow turns out to be larger. I met first with Won Bae Lee (Dean of International Affairs) and Todd Terhune the Acting Dean of the Linton Global College. This college like the OIC at KNU is designed to teach courses entirely in English. (I am told that some major universities in Seoul offer 40% of ALL their courses in English! This drive to learn English is just absolutely everywhere.) Todd is American, an Assistant professor in Sociology I think. We had a great conversation about WHY this drive for English seems to be so consuming. At first it seemed they were arguing for both a practical reason (to help with getting ahead in business in a shrinking world) AND an intrinsic reason (to broaden their perspective). But it seems the second reason is also practical because the broadened perspective also helps them get jobs and succeed. Again I am reminded how isolated the schools seem to be here. Todd was unaware of the OIC at KNU, anEnglish “college” at a sister CCCU school 20 minutes away. When asked, they said it’s because the Korean way is push hard for your own personal or institutional success and prestige. So cooperation is not common. Todd reports that older school teachers will not share with their new colleagues for fear it help them go ahead of them.

I met with President Hungtae Kim briefly with Won Bae Lee and Professor Byung Chul Lee also there. Prof. Lee is taking over the Deanship of the International Affairs, coming from his role as Professor of Nano-Bio Technology. Hannam U is well known for this…and have as second campus nearby in the high tech center. Our CCCU schools in the US might find student exchange very valuable in this hi-tech area. President Kim answered my question about his major challenge by saying it is to “rebuild the identity of the college.” He wants to reaffirm the founding principles and determine how to apply them in a modern day. He also worries about how to secure jobs for his graduates. (In asking others, I am told that students here worry about jobs and dating….in THAT order.) President Kim said the idea of CCCU helping to identify retired faculty and sabbatical faculty to come and teach for one year and also give workshops would be very helpful. He seemed to indicate that Hannam would provide salary, RT air and housing for them! Sounds like a great opportunity, since they could teach in their discipline and in English! He wants to recruit at least one English speaking professor in EACH department…there are 60 departments.

After my time with the President I was taken to the Global House residence….adjacent to the old Presbyterian mission station where it all started 1952, and next to the International School that will be moving next year. I rested, changed into jeans, and went for dinner…pizza in downtown Daejeon…I was exhausted and we had to drive in traffic an hour….but the intentions were good and it WAS nice to see the city. I collapsed in bed at 8pm and slept until 4am… Something has shifted since until now I’ve gotten tired at 7pm but stayed up until 1 then slept until 7. I guess I was just free tonight for the first time to actually sleep when I was sleepy! Full day tomorrow…..but my room is comfortable…..with an interesting shower right in the middle of the bathroom!

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