2015 was a year of reform for Korea University (KU). Yeom Jae Ho, who finally rose to the post of the president after three failures, has launched various measures to change KU. Starting with the three-no policy which caused a large ripple inside and outside of KU, the new policies received much applause and criticism.

 

It is undeniable that the new projects astonished many KU students and Korean society who had been disappointed at the inflexible system of college education in Korea. After all, the government has taken initiatives in college education, using financial pressures. However, some of KU’s new projects were breaking the frames made by the government, proactively seeking new paths for universities. Furthermore, projects like the reform on the school administration system showed why Yeom was a veteran public administration scholar and school administrator.
 
Nevertheless, the school authorities’ new attempts were not without limitations. In June, the controversy on educatees became a topic of many wall posters of the west gate (jeonghoo). The word educatee came out when Yeom rebutted a student representative’s argument that students’ voices should be reflected in school policies. Yeom’s assumption that students are educatees who cannot take part in the decision-making process of the university triggered dissatisfactions among students who emphasized students’ rights. In fact, students were excluded from the procedure of some remarkable reforms such as the scholarship issue.
 
No matter whether students are educatees or not, there seems to be a consensus that the school authorities’ unilateral attitude has baffled many students. In particular, students had to unquestioningly accept the revised policies without any opportunities to express their opinions about significant issues such as scholarships or grading. Those issues are closely related to students’ career planning and budgetary problems, but attempts to collect students’ opinions did not exist.
 
Furthermore, in the case of administrative system reform, even employees of KU did not know the details of the reform before the execution of the actual reform. Reporters covering the issue tried to hear from the KU labor union, but could only receive an answer that it did not have an official opinion because it also did not know the exact details.
 
School authorities have stated that they had tried to minimize expected confusions during the reform procedures. However, confusions caused by notifying students beforehand would have been smaller than that caused by the lack of communication between members of the KU community. It is true that university officials and the president have expertise in designing optimal policies for KU and its students. However, it should not be overlooked that students, who should hopefully be the beneficiaries of the policies, know the actual needs and wants in the university. They know who desperately needs scholarships, and how students can receive efficient and convenient service.
 
The relationship between the university headquarters and students does not have to be completely horizontal. Most students do not think that Yeom should discuss all core issues with the president of Korea University Student Association (KUSA). Nevertheless, school authorities should at least attempt to listen to students. Students do not want KU “by students.” Still, KU should be a university for students, and of students.
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