[Editorial] Seoul National University, Wake up from Your Illusions

The fact that Seoul National, the symbol of our college education, the hope every student and parent, received a ranking comparable to an American mid-rank state university is an enormously embarrassing thing. The Seoul National University top advisory committee, the Blue Ribbon, made up of renowned scholars from different parts of the world, gave a score to SNU based on professor research, quality of scholarship, education, and finances. The score reflects the fact that the school has shut itself in a narrow well and reveals in detail the school`s deluded reliance on its reputation and laughable pride.

The primary reason why SNU got such a horrible review is the culture of lazy scholarship among its professors. Almost no SNU professor has published an article in this year`s nature or science journals, and the number of pages published by SNU professors in internationally renowned academic journals on economic issues comes out to be one-ninth of those published by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Furthermore, the fact that SNU dropped to 13th place among Korean schools in number of foreign scholars employed (from year 1994 to 1998) comes as a disappointment to the public whose tax money support the school.

The reason why the level of research is so low is the basic absence of a system that rigorously reviews the professors and the lack of pressure that pushes for scholarly research. Besides, in a system where the president is elected by the professors, popularity is the most important factor. It will be obviously difficult to appoint a professor according to actual merit.

The more shocking thing is that the rate of full retirement for these lazy professors is one of the best in the world. 100 percent of new professors at SNU reach full retirement age in contrast to Harvard (30 percent) and Stanford (40 percent). This means that a professor is guaranteed his or her position once he or she enters SNU, regardless of research activity or level of scholarship. Even the exclusive Tokyo University has over 100 foreign professors whereas SNU only has three. How will SNU progress if this inside breeding continues? On top of this, some of the professors in the school are saying that they are going to form a union.

It is only natural that students under professors who do not pursue research will not be productive either. They may have had to work so hard as to ruin their health during high school. College, however, is a place to begin one’s study in earnest and it is very embarrassing to compare the 69 percent of the student body`s average 1 to 2 hours of daily study (McKinsey report) to that of foreign students in major universities abroad. At this level, SNU may become the number one school for students who study the least. If SNU does not make some major changes, not only will it fall behind other top universities in advanced industrial nations, but may even drop below average universities.