POSTECH ranked 28th globally according to the 2010-11 world university ranking conducted by The Times Higher Education of Britain. This was the first time for a Korean university to rank within the top 30 in a world university ranking surveyed by global authorities. It was a great opportunity to introduce the excellence of POSTECH to the whole world; however, this opportunity doesn’t come around very often. POSTECH holds a natural handicap since it is located in Pohang which is far away from the capital area. The fact that it is a very small university specialized in science and technology makes it even harder for the school to appeal to high school students and the general population. Overseas promotion is even harder. Although difficult, it is absolutely necessary to continue to make efforts in overseas promotion. It is also in collusion with the school’s globalization and international student attraction policy. Let us take a look at how international publicities are run.
In summary, international publicities of POSTECH have not been so effective. International countries are so varied that exposure of POSTECH’s central policies and excellence in scientific research were top priorities through international media. In addition, as international press in Korea is usually interested in political issues rather than higher education, most requests for coverage on the news or interviews were a necessity. As a result, POSTECH was only introduced on the educational documentary twice a year only.
However, POSTECH endeavored to let the entire world know its existence. The efforts were for great international students, not the general public.
First, POSTECH established overseas offices that aimed to strengthen research collaboration with institutes in the region and to attract excellent students from there. POSTECH Beijing Office in China was first founded in October 2009, and the second one was POSTECH Hanoi Office in Vietnam launched in May 2010. Even though the office in Beijing would be closed because of inefficiency, the overseas offices are making efforts to improve the reputation of POSTECH and to maintain strong relationships and develop exchange and cooperative programs with local universities.
Second, POSTECH gradually became a global campus. During the past five years, the number of international students and visitors increased by seven folds. The reason for such high global turnout was that the staff of the international relations office informed foreign students of exchange programs by participating in a council for international exchange and publishing leaflets and posters. These leaflets were distributed to four partner universities, such as California Institute of Technology and University of Tokyo. In addition, as POSTECH declared to be bilingual campus in 2010, the staff emphasizes this fact to the international students.
Lastly, overseas information activities progressed in POSTECH. It seemed unfamiliar and strange but it proved to be an effective method. POSTECH supports international members in POSTECH to promote a pleasant environment so that they could adjust well. Therefore, POSTECH established International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS) in 2010. During their stay in Korea, POSTECH provids much information to international students and scholars from guidance of POSTECH to social activities, including experience of Korean culture. If they return to their native countries, they are willing to be honorary ambassadors by themselves.
As mentioned above, overseas information activities of POSTECH have been focused mainly on international students and scholars, not the public, just like domestic information activities. That means that only those who are interested in POSTECH know about it well. However, in today? global age, the public perception about POSTECH is important as well. As POSTECH has once ranked 28th in the world wide academic standards, further endeavor for globalization of POSTECH is a must in order to raise the bar of excellence. The real globalization can be realized in combination of the recognition from the public and the academia.