Sookmyung University (SMU) became the subject of conversation by announcing that they will manage a ‘Post-Bachelor Program’ targeting graduate students. Nowadays, many graduates have trouble finding employment and there are a number of students who delay their graduation. Under these circumstances, SMU decided to offer additional courses to graduates from 2009. This Post-Bachelor Program has three courses: an intensifying learning course, a career preparation course, and an internship course.
Korea is a relatively small country, with very limited land for farming. All the food we eat originates from soil of the land. On calculating how much surface area of the land has to be secured for feeding ourselves, you would be surprised to find that we are living in too tiny country. Only the reason we have not fallen into chaos from scarcity of foods is that we are largely importing them from abroad. The quantity of crop import is especially huge for wheat and corn. We usually consume wheat directly in the form of bread or noodle. In the case of corn, we use most of them to feed animal to obtain meat to eat.
Korea doesn't have plenty of sources for energy. Most of all, it doesn't have any significant reserve of oil, which is the most required energy source nowadays. Sustaining extremely complicated social system requires large input of energy. As Korea is getting into developed country, consumption of energy per person is rapidly increasing. We heavily rely on import more than ever to keep the supply of the energy needed to sustain our system.
Korea doesn't have enough water supplies. Not many of us realize the fact that the only one water-poor nation around Asia is Korea. All other water-poor nations are concentrated in the Middle East. We tend to misjudge ourselves of having plenty of water, because of false impression during rainy monsoon season in summer. Because of this misunderstanding, average water usage per person in Korea is at the top ranking in the world, and keeps increasing.
The intensifying learning courses provide students with the chance to take three classes for free except for the experimental class. Therefore, students can choose to take lectures which they didn’t study well enough before.
The career preparation course provides diverse education. This course is separated into four programs again: general official education, intensifying official education, concentrating on work skills education and career counseling. In the general official education course, there are workshops for future employees which teach presentation skills and solutions to problems, and special lectures are planned to be given twice in March. In the intensifying official education course, students will search for and analyze jobs, and receive education about personnel administration, marketing, finance, public relations and advertising from March to May. If students take the courses in concentrating on work skills education, they will learn about how to prepare a resume through individual counseling and attend five interview clinics. Not only that, but students are offered practical IT education such as the use of Excel and Powerpoint. Also, students can get counseling about their aptitude and skills.
The internship course is a program that provides graduates with the experience of being an intern on campus, in professors’ study rooms and business enterprises. When students do internships, they will get some payment. Whenever internship positions are available, SMU will notify students on the school homepage.
The ‘Post-Bachelor Program’ enhances the welfare of graduates. This is one of the programs that implement President Young Sil Han’s goal of providing the graduates with “after-services”, namely the Alumnae A/S Project. There has been criticism that it is impossible to execute because of the large budget required, yet President Young Sil Han’s plan that the university should take on the responsibility to care for its graduates is firm, so it has been able to be realized.
