A banner displaying the results of the appraisal is hanging on the Gaesin Cultural Center.

  Many people say that one of the most important problems Korea has is the low birthrate average. Because of it, the population in Korea will decrease continuously, and then Korea may have trouble in retaining its economic wealth. Not surprisingly, Korea is already suffering from a decreasing population, and universities in Korea are no exception because the government has required universities to decrease their maximum number of students. The Ministry of Education insists that universities should decrease the maximum number of students to prepare for the decreasing population and to improve the quality of high-class education, so the Appraisal of the University Structural Reform is the government policy to cut the student capacity of universities.
  This appraisal will be conducted three times until 2023, and the result of the first appraisal was announced on the 31st of August, and it required universities to decrease about 5,400 students by 2016. The subjects of the appraisal were all universities including general universities, industrial universities, and junior colleges. Moreover, if a university has a branch, it was appraised respectively. By using a standard grading system, every university got a grade from A to E. The standard grading system was largely divided into an educational condition, an education manage system, supporting students and the results of education. If a university received a low grade, it has to decrease more students than a highly graded university. Decreasing student capacity is a very sensitive problem for universities in Korea because their budget highly depends on tuition from students. Also, a lowly graded university will be restricted from government policies. The Appraisal of the University Structural Reform became more important among Chungbuk National University students because it got an ‘A’ grade and 2nd place on the first appraisal. Students’ responses to the result are generally positive. Baek Sang-hyeop(’11, Dept. of Economics) said, “When I heard about the result, I was very surprised that CBNU got an ‘A’ grade from the appraisal. Moreover, I am very proud that CBNU placed 2nd.”
  Although CBNU got a great appraisal, there is no special reason for the result. CBNU’s Support Division for Appraisal team leader Lee Cheol-woo said, “There are two simple reasons why CBNU got a great appraisal.” The first reason is that CBNU was more active than other universities in participating in the government presentation conducted before the appraisal. Thanks to that, CBNU received more information than other universities and prepared for the appraisal more leisurely. The other reason is that many related people, including President Yun Yeo-pyo, considered the appraisal as a very important thing. Therefore, university’s administrative aids for the appraisal progressed with no obstacles.
  CBNU can spontaneously decrease the capacity because decreasing is not compulsory for a university which got an ‘A’ grade. It is very generous because the main reason of the Appraisal of the University Structural Reform is to make universities decrease their capacity. For example, a university receiving below a ‘B’ grade must decrease the capacity from a minimum of 3% to a maximum of 15%. Decreasing is very crucial to the future of a university, but it doesn’t appeal to students. Government aid policies are more important to them. For example, there are national budget aids, national scholarships and national student loans. ‘D’ graded universities will be excluded from national budget aids next year, and even ‘E’ graded universities will be excluded from it within this year. Also, ‘D’ graded universities’ students will receive restricted benefits from national scholarships and national student loans. In addition, ‘E’ graded universities’ students totally can’t receive benefits from national scholarships and national student loans. However, CBNU has none of these problems.
  The government aimed to decrease 160,000 university students. Therefore, two more appraisals will be conducted by 2023. The other two appraisals are more important than the first because the decreasing capacity will be larger than the first appraisal. The Support Division for Appraisal team leader Lee Cheol-woo said, “The other appraisals will likely be conducted just like the first one, so we just need to improve upon where we were lacking from the first one to prepare for the others. This way, we will receive great results from the other appraisals.” The University Structural Reform is very crucial to the future of CBNU. Therefore, it is under scrutiny by the public whether CBNU can get good results or not.

By Yoo Han-bin
hb36@cbnu.ac.kr