Do you think POSTECH is contributing to our local society? Universities can make contribution to society in a variety of ways, such as voluntary services, talent donation, and making great research outputs. By comparing it with other universities in Korea and abroad, POSTECH’s impact on the community can be reasonably assessed.
Other universities provide an example of how universities can contribute to the community. Suwon Women’s University not only does an international voluntary service, but also offers a variety of services using their utilizing the majors it offers in the local community. For example, those who are in a medical related major offer people in rural areas simple medical treatment services.
In foreign countries, community colleges provide an example of contributing to society. Community colleges were first founded to offer courses for job education and evening classes for adults. Although some students recently transfer to 4 year universities after 2 year courses in a community college, most people take job courses related to the local businesses and work for local companies or counseling services.
Considering the characteristics of our university, POSTECH usually makes contributions to society by researching the subject which would be helpful and profitable for human beings. As an example, several persons from the Advance Pohang  Forum (AP Forum) visited the United States last year to benchmark great university contributions to society. The AP Forum was created to plan the future of Pohang, and President Yongmin Kim and Choi Byung Gon, the chairman of the Pohang Chamber of Commerce and Industry, are members. After visiting some world-class universities, they said that POSTECH should also not only function as the place of education and research, but also establish a close relationship with the local society, which would encourage great individuals to stay in the local community.
Also, Postechians annually participate in a number of voluntary services to help the disadvantaged. Last year, Postechians and students from HanDong University went to a farm village to lend their hands. Another group of Postechians and UNIST students went to a rural area to help the people with their chores. This year, Postechians visited Ethiopia with students from the Korea National University of Arts for voluntary services.
Postechian also help local society. RC voluntary service team visits a number of local areas to offer education services to children. Every year, many of freshmen, sophomores and RAs apply for this voluntary service, and all of them are divided into several teams. There also exist student group called GaChiBaeUm which works for other people, and students can earn the credit by taking the course “Social Voluntary Service”, in which they find the place for service they want voluntarily and actually offer their abilities.
Even though students pay for what they get in college, without society, it could never happen. Getting this high quality of education, students should be willing to pay back what they receive from the society.