Whenever grades are released, students in school communities question which scholarships they qualify for, and most students do not have the accurate answers. When they talk to others without accurate information, they are always left with more questions. In addition to scholarships, Sookmyungians lack information about other schools’ benefit programs. If Sookmyungians don’t use benefit programs, the programs become useless. To help Sookmyungians learn more about benefit programs, in this article SMT provides in depth details of various programs Sookmyungians can use.

How Much Do You Know?

According to the dictionary, a school is defined as an institute that provides education to students under specific purposes. In other words, a school provides more than just specialty knowledge to students. High schools and middle schools award scholarships to students who come from lower-income families and provide special lectures and counseling for students’ careers. Universities endeavor to provide not only this support but also opportunities for various experiences. Sookmyung Women’s University also offers a number of benefits solely for Sookmyungians. After examining all the benefit programs for Sookmyungians, the most common programs relate to study, careers, scholarships, cultural living, daily life, and student exchanges. Benefit opportunities are usually announced on the school homepage, school communities, and school bulletin boards. However, most Sookmyungians do not know well about them and seldom make full use of them. In order to learn more about Sookmyungians’ thoughts, SMT surveyed 77 Sookmyungians. According to the survey, SMT found the least known benefit programs. This article will focus on those and address how to improve the more well-known benefits.
Results showed that Sookmyungians did not know about benefit programs related to daily life (64.9%), cultural living (46.8%), careers (19.5%), study (13%), scholarships (3.9%), and student exchanges (2.6%). The benefit programs that fall under the category daily life include a discount on daily things for Sookmyung Women’s University alumni, students, and school personnel. However, alumni were excluded from benefits at educational discount store such as GS Shop, AKMALL, and educational discount store. After registering on the store’s website and identifying yourself as a Sookmyung family member, you can qualify for a discount. Another program is the delivery service for women's safety, which protects women living alone from courier crimes. It is offered by the government, so while it is not a direct benefit program offered by Sookmyung, it is available for deliveries to campus addresses. Goods will be placed in a safe delivery box next to the dormitory called Myeongjaegwan, which should be emptied within 48 hours of delivery. Otherwise, students will be charged 1,000 won per day. These benefits enable students to live more economically and enjoy their daily life near the school without worries.

Sookmyungians Need to Know

The second benefit program Sookmyungians claimed they did not know much about is cultural living. One of the programs in this category is domestic cultural exploration, and the school accepts about 20 groups twice a year for the program. Generally, groups comprise three or four students, and the money support varies according to the area. To apply, groups must submit a detailed exploration plan along with the application form. It is best to write the travel theme, purpose, region, expected activities, and estimated expenses, and to associate each of these aspects to Sookmyung Women’s University’s visions or student’s department or major. Another program is the free movie in the library. Hong Eunwon Image Center on the 2nd floor of the Main Library screens various movies at fixed times. To learn more about which films are being screened, students should check SnoWe. Showing films on campus for students saves time for Sookmyungians who live near the school. A third benefit program is career-related. It is for Sookmyungians’ examinations. On campus, classes are offered for professional qualifications such as Sookjiwon for the national diplomat exam, Sookjeongwon for the certified public accountant exam, Sujeongdang for the patent attorney exam, Myeonghwarang for the administrative exam, and Myeongeonjae for the media exam. Each class accepts only a certain number of students. To qualify for these classes, a student must have completed 7 semesters. For the Myeongeonjae class, a student need to achieve a score of at least 800 on the TOEIC test. Wise use of these career examination classes will surely help Sookmyungians in their employment endeavors.

The next benefit program category relates to study. One program in this category is the Research Information Sharing Service (RISS). Sookmyungians have access to this for free through the Main Library homepage, and they can also download and use Microsoft Office after making a Sookmyung e-mail address. In addition, there is the laptop rental service, which is frequently used by Sookmyungians. Students, however, should be careful not to exceed the 5 hours per day per person rental period and the maximum 100 hours of use per semester, or they will be charged a rental fee. The next programs about scholarships and student exchanges are fairly widely known among students. There are three kinds of scholarships, but it is important to look carefully at what you can receive and the conditions to receive the support. Although a student may have the grade point average required for a scholarship, if the student failed to complete the minimum volunteer hours, the scholarship support is unattainable. In terms of the student exchange program, which many Sookmyungians already have plenty of knowledge about, SMT will present an additional rarely known tip: attend a briefing session and choose the right country and school for you.

For the Better

Sookmyung gives back to Sookmyungians through programs like those discussed, and 89.6% of participants in the survey felt the benefit programs were satisfactory and various. In other words, most students are happy with their diversity. However, Sookmyungians think that Sookmyung needs to improve its scholarships and method of benefit program promotion. First, in terms of scholarship, Sookmyungians want changes to the way scholarships are allocated, especially the rate and qualification. For example, when the rate of allocation for a scholarship is 5% but if there are 40 students from A department and 59 students from B department applying for the same support, only two students from both departments can receive the scholarship. However, B department has more students than A department, so students in B department are actually at a disadvantage. In addition, grade point scholarships are connected to volunteer hours. Indeed, both are necessary, but some students claim that the two requirements are difficult to accomplish at the same time. Therefore, students insist that Sookmyung should lower the standards slightly or use students’ grades only as qualification for the grade point scholarship.
Also, Sookmyungians said improvement should not only be made to the scholarships but also to the way they are promoted. According to the survey, 87.1% (54 of 77) claim there is a lack of promotion in the school. Participants also said there is a lack of interest among students and a lack of contents. However, in particular, Sookmyungians would like to see the school better promote the benefit programs. They would also like to receive information other than having to search through the SnoWe pages. Because there are no bulletin boards or articles on the benefit programs for Sookmyungians, to find out details, students should search the school homepage using key words, which is timeconsuming, or ask others in the school community. As the amount of knowledge gained from exchanges of information among people is limited, it is natural for Sookmyungians to want the school to devise better ways of promoting the programs. With active promotion, the percentage of Sookmyungians applying for and receiving benefit support will increase, and at the same time, they will enjoy a more diverse college life, satisfied with Sookmyung.

By Sookmyungians → For Sookmyungians

Services or goods given for free, regardless of their quality, become useless if no one extends a hand to receive them or use them. The benefit programs at Sookmyung are falling into this unfortunate circumstance. Sookmyung offers Sookmyungians a number of benefit programs, but if students are unaware of them, the benefit support becomes useless. With better and more frequent promotion, Sookmyungians will be able to better use the benefit programs, and the benefit programs will deliver more positive energy to Sookmyungians. Sookmyungians should remember the value of the benefit programs is shaped by Sookmyung and Sookmyungians. 

Oh Kim Youbin