As the competitiveness of local universities weakens due to the decrease in the school age population and the concentration of population in the metropolitan areas, the need for university innovation is emerging. Accordingly, the government plans to select 30 universities in non-metropolitan areas with the will and capabilities of innovation through the Glocal University 30 project and provide KRW 100 billion to each university over a period of five years to grow them into world-class universities. CBNU applied for this project as a team on the premise of integrating with KNUT (Korea National University of Transportation), and was selected as one of the 15 universities that received the first preliminary designation on June 20. Then, how is the discussion on integrating CBNU and KNUT going? CBT reporters covered the discussion on integration, which is currently the biggest issue in CBNU.

  According to a report titled “The Present and Future of University Restructuring” by the Korea Higher Education Research Institute, it was analyzed that only universities in the metropolitan area and national universities in the non-metropolitan area could accommodate all students who want to go to university in 2040 due to a decrease in the school age population. As the number of students who wish to attend universities in the metropolitan area increases, innovation at CBNU is essential to strengthen competitiveness and survive. Currently, CBNU has chosen innovation through integration with KNUT rather than internal innovation. Is there a limit to CBNU’s own internal innovation? CBNU President Koh Chang-seop said, “As a national university, CBNU needs to train a lot of manpower in the main specialized fields of Chungcheongbuk-do. Otherwise, CBNU cannot receive any support from the central and local governments. CBNU needs specialization. However, it is very difficult to do with Gaesin campus. Since all departments are important, it is impossible to create a specialized university by subtracting the number of people in a specific department. In the process of integrating with KNUT, we will use professors and students T/O to specialize.” This means that there is a limit to internal innovation because it is difficult to adjust personnel between departments without integration.

  Therefore, why did CBNU determine to integrate with KNUT? Other national and public universities in Chungcheongbuk-do include KNUE (Korea National University of Education) and CNUE (Cheongju National University of Education), as well as KNUT. President Koh said, “CNUE has 60 to 70 professors, so if CBNU merges with CNUE, there will be no big difference compared to the current size of CBNU. KNUE is the best teacher training university in the country, and it will naturally promote to teachers across the country when integrated. Therefore, it is attractive as a target for integration into CBNU. However, it is difficult to expand the financial scale due to the small number of students.” Considering the size, number of students, and finances of the university, President Koh decided that KNUT was the most suitable for integration. This is not the opinion of the president alone. According to CBNU Faculty Assembly’s “Study for Future Development Plans of CBNU,” 52.2% of general professors at CBNU chose KNUT when asked, “If CBNU integrates with other national or public universities in Chungcheongbuk-do, which national or public university do you think is most appropriate?” Next, 24.6% of professors chose KNUE, and 19.6% chose CNUE. Looking at the admission quota for freshman in 2022 at flagship national universities, CBNU ranks eighth with 2,806 students among nine flagship national universities. Kyungpook National University, which has the largest number of admissions, has 4,629 students. In case of integration with KNUT, CBNU’s admission quota will be 4,717, which can be expanded to a level similar to other large flagship national universities.

  Therefore, do universities really develop when they increase their size? Not necessarily. According to a report titled “The Light and Darkness of the ten Years of Integration, the Past and Future of the Samcheok Campus” by the Samcheok branch of the 15th Kangwon National University council in 2017, it was analyzed that “After integration, the external size was improved. However, the designation of restructuring-focused universities and the D grade in the university education competency evaluation over the past ten years prove the negative effects of integration.”

  According to the Ministry of Education’s Higher Education in Korea service official notification, the size of UOS (University of Seoul) is between 10,000 and 15,000 and the size of CBNU is between 15,000 and 20,000. CBNU is larger than UOS. On the other hand, in the QS World University Rankings, UOS ranks in the top 800 and CBNU ranks in the top 1,200. That is, UOS is rated better than CBNU. This is another case in which the expansion of scale does not necessarily lead to the improvement of university competitiveness.

  CBNU acknowledged its lack of research ability by writing in the Glocal University 30 innovation proposal that the international research performance per full-time faculty member was insufficient compared to the average of other national universities. Regarding the reason why CBNU’s research performance is lower than the average of other national universities, President Koh said, “It is not because our professors’ research capabilities are low. There are many cases where people who have fallen from the flagship national universities are appointed as professors at Seoul National University. However, the reason why the research performance is declining is because it is not easy to secure graduate freshman, so professors cannot properly utilize their research competencies.” He continued, “In CBNU’s budget of about KRW 320 billion, the president can spend about KRW four billion for the development of the university, excluding professors and staff personnel costs. Developing internal stability is important, but it is realistically difficult to develop internal stability with KRW four billion” emphasizing financial hardship. Regarding the plan to increase research competency, President Koh said, “One of the goals of the glocal university project is to go together with the community. Apart from the KRW 100 billion received from the selection of the Glocal University, about KRW 15 billion a year is received from Chungcheongbuk-do and Cheongju-si, and a part of this budget is used to support professors’ research expenses and provide incentives to professors who have written excellent theses to improve the CBNU’s research performance. For example, Kyungpook National University can receive up to KRW 30 million in incentives for excellent theses per professor. Incentives are the driving force that encourages professors to write many excellent papers.” He continued, “CBNU will strive to attract graduate students by providing full scholarships to full-time graduate students as well as incentives for excellent theses, and activating the support system.” Since the local government provides additional financial support for the Glocal 30 project, it means that the local government will use the subsidy to prepare a system to improve research capabilities.

  However, there are voices of concern that CBNU is having difficulties with the help of the local government, with the governor of Chungbuk province currently dealing with the Goesan land issue, and the mayor of Cheongju having been accused of a serious civil mismanagement due to the Osong flooding disaster. Regarding this, President Koh said, “The province and city are having difficulties now, but I contacted them before and they promised to support CBNU. There will be no problem getting help from the local government.”