Pusan National University (PNU) is making every effort to designate the “Glocal University 30” project (Glocal University) on the premise of integration with Busan National University of Education (BNUE). In this context, PNU made it clear that there will be no radical changes, such as the relocation of the College of Education. This strategy aims to minimize unnecessary internal resistance within the university, as the designation is the top priority.

On September 6, the Office of Strategic Planning held the “PNU-BNUE Integration Promotion Briefing” in the conference room of PNU main administration building. The session began with an opening greeting from Hong Chang-Nam (Vice President, Academic Affairs). It continued with a presentation by Jang Deok-Hyeon (Dean, Office of Strategic Planning), and a question-and-answer session. About 100 faculty members and students attended the briefing session, and about 100 people also connected to the YouTube livestream.

In summary, PNU plans to establish the "Comprehensive Teacher Training System" by integrating with BNUE. This system will encompass early childhood, elementary, middle, special, and lifelong education, and PNU will leap forward as an educational specialized university that meets the needs of the new era. In this case, PNU will be the only university in Korea that trains all teachers in such areas for early childhood, elementary, middle, special, and lifelong education. To achieve this, PNU has established four strategies: building a comprehensive system for fostering future convergence teachers, setting an advanced digital campus specializing in education, creating a platform for solving local education issues, and promoting a global Edu-Tech hub. Dean Jang said, "When we discuss the future of education in Korea, we will achieve education specialization to the extent that people will say, 'Look at what PNU is doing.'"

The BNUE campus will be renamed the Yeonje campus and transformed into a “community cooperation campus." PNU will conduct lifelong education for citizens through cooperation with Busan City Hall, and the Research and Business Development Foundation will be operated as an industry-academic cooperation research cluster through relocation. Dean Jang said, "Yeonje campus will be a campus where citizens seeking lifelong education and those aspiring to start a business can come and blend in with the local community."

As a result, the initially discussed relocation of the College of Education has been completely canceled. Unlike what was announced at the "Glocal University Project Promotion Briefing'' hosted by the Office of Strategic Planning in May, the plan to relocate some parts of the College of Education to BNUE and transform the BNUE campus into a comprehensive teacher training campus was withdrawn. On the same day, Dean Jang explained that, after conducting several briefing sessions and individual consultations with the members of the College of Education during August, he judged that other measures were more appropriate than relocating the College of Education.

Furthermore, double majors between the College of Education and BNUE were restricted. BNUE has consistently opposed double majors for PNU students. According to the explanation of Vice President Hong, the pass rate for elementary school teacher appointments is higher than that for middle school teacher appointments. Vice President Hong said, "There is a significant gap in pass rates between appointments for elementary and middle school teachers, which led to a backlash from BNUE during the integration decision. BNUE and the College of Education plan to operate double majors that both sides prohibit, following the principle of mutual benefit. However, double majors in colleges other than the College of Education will be operated by PNU regulations.

Measures have also been prepared for the practical integration of the two universities. A shuttle bus service will be established between campuses to enhance interaction. Opportunities for student interaction will be provided, such as BNUE first-year students taking general elective courses at the PNU Busan campus or participating in practical training or special classes for students of the College of Education at the Yeonje campus.

Meanwhile, this briefing session has somewhat eased backlash from university members, which was shown at the briefing session in May. At the last briefing session, the audience continued to ask questions, far exceeding the initially expected end time. But this time, only about four questions were raised, and there were no additional questions or refutations to the answer. Choi Yong-Kwon (Dept. of Korean Language Education, 21), president of the Students' Association at the College of Education, said, “This is the fifth briefing session, and through this briefing session, I was able to confirm that the university tried to understand the interests of students of the College of Education.” PNU Student A (Dept. of Media and Communication), who attended the briefing session, said, “I thought the atmosphere would be as aggressive as the previous briefing session, but it was not, and there seemed to be consideration for the opinions of the university members. Given that it was selected as a preliminary candidate for Glocal University, despite the high competition, it now seems there is a supportive atmosphere where everyone is cheering for it.”

PNU Office of Strategic Planning emphasized that only some information shared during the briefing session has been finalized. An Office of Strategic Planning official explained, “As there is still time until the official designation, detailed plans may be subject to change. The overall context and direction shared during the briefing session are not expected to change, but not everything has been finalized.”

PNU conducted a two-day "BNUE Integrated Survey" from September 7 to 8 to reflect the opinions of the university community in the detailed plans for the BNUE integration. Based on the survey results, a proposal for evaluating the primary designation of Glocal University on October 6 will be submitted. PNU Office of Strategic Planning held a briefing session chaired by PNU President Cha Jeong-In on the three core strategies of Glocal University: education innovation, development research of the Yangsan campus, and consultation with local governments for industry-academic cooperation.

Reporter Jeong Da-Min

Translated by Kim Tae-Yi