President Dong Ryeol SHIN received an email from a student soon after his inauguration last January. It was a request by Humanities and Social Sciences students who were studying AI (Artificial Intelligence) through Stanford University’s MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses) program. Students were requesting the president to open an intensive course during the regular semester for students interested in AI. President SHIN, who is a software expert and an educator with huge interest in AI education, has immediately met with the Dean of Software College to discuss this issue.
As a result, a course titled “Application of AI 1” has been established. The school has also introduced a demonstrative MOOC lecture earlier than the original plan. MOOC works like this: students first watch the lecture online and attend the offline session to discuss with other students and their professors. President SHIN argued, “University must transform into an active supporter of students and the society in order to survive in the future.”
Reporters met with President SHIN on April 4th for an interview session.
Q: April 10th is the 100th day of your presidency.
A: “The role of universities is very important at this point. Universities that fail to change are likely to fall behind in the future. During the era of democratic movements, there were many university presidents with majors in philosophy and humanities. In the era of economic development, most of the presidents were business and economics majors. Now in the era of the 4th Industrial Revolution, there is a call for leaders from the Natural Sciences and Engineering majors.”
Q: You’ve stressed the importance of “Student Success” and contribution to the society.
A: “There are two important roles of universities that will never change; nurturing talents who will lead the future society and creating knowledge and technologies that will positively change the society. However, many students today think of the university just as a means of employment. The definition of “Student Success” does not only mean getting into global companies. It means that students find their value within their community and live autonomously. Also, professors must contribute to the development of the society even if it means writing one piece of thesis.”
Q: The university opened Student Success Center last month.
A: “It has systematically combined various student services within the university. Many students are anxious with their future due to the erupt change and competition within the society. In contrast to the Career Center, Student Success Center provides information in all areas such as academics, career path, school activities and exchange program. The center will consult and recommend career designing programs and arrange mentoring program with alumni. It will also run psychological counseling service for students who are suffering from mental stress.”
Q: You are leading the software education in university.
A: Since 2016, all students are required to take “Problem Solving-Algorithm” and “Computer Logic-Software Coding” courses. Some students oppose to this policy because they are also required to take courses in art discipline. However, I am certain that in the future one cannot survive without software skills. Moving forward from teaching basic software, we are preparing a program that will teach students application skills to apply software to their majors.”
Q: I heard that your plan is to teach AI application skills to even Confucian scholars.
A: Universities like Stanford and MIT are already teaching AI to Humanities & Social Sciences students. We are currently in the process of reforming the curriculum so that Confucian majors can take AI courses. 20 years after the dissemination of internet, anyone can use smartphones and computers to access the internet. Like this, we need to prepare for a future where everyone can access AI regardless of their majors. Language skills alone is not competitive in the future. One must be equipped with AI application skills along with language skills to survive in the global market.”
Q: You are also working hard to remove the barriers between disciplines.
A: We are living in an era where a person needs to change their jobs at least 4~5 times during their lifetime. Students must be trained to accept and apply new knowledge and technologies. “C-School” is a good example of this. Students get to creatively solve problems in the society by forming a team with group of students from different backgrounds. They get a chance to learn different knowledge outside of their discipline. The result of this is the creation of lens case that notifies the period of expiration and a smart doorknob that vibrates when a person leaves the house without taking their phone. The number of student patent application has exceeded 50 cases. We have also established Data Science-Informatics and global convergence departments in March.”
Q: You’ve spent a long time working at different corporate research institutions. You seem to have interest in Research and Business cooperation.
A: “Universities should no longer remain distant from the society. It must communicate and cooperate with the government, district and companies to produce solutions to the society’s problems. It means that the university will commercialize its technologies. We have recently recruited a researcher from Stanford SRI International to search for research areas with potential for commercialization. As a result, 5 enterprises have been founded just in 2019. These enterprises include a company that develops medicine by using neural stem cells.”
Original Article (Korean): https://news.joins.com/article/23436372
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