Dear Sungkyun Family,

The year of Golden Dog has passed, and the new year of 2019 has come. This year is the year of the Golden Pig, which brings abundance to life. I sincerely hope that all SKKU members’ dreams and wishes are realized in accordance with the meaning of the year.

Despite the tough domestic and foreign environment, our university has made a great achievement by entering the list of top 100 global universities. SKKU now takes rank with many prestigious universities in the world by achieving 82nd place in THE and 100th place in QS world university rankings. This will leave a significant mark on our university’s long history.

Last year, SKKU was selected for the demonstration of university innovation project (PILOT) and has achieved 1st place in the National Customer Satisfaction Index (NCSI) for 12 consecutive years. Also, we saw great results such as recording the highest job employment rate for 5 consecutive years and producing an increasing number of successful candidates for the national exams. We have newly established prospective majors to meet the needs of the era of fusion and convergence. Academic affairs have been reorganized to a flexible and student-centered system, setting the foundation for a new takeoff.

In addition, SKKU has exhibited a high level of research power in the global academic world. In 2018, four of our researchers were selected as ‘Highly Cited Researcher’ and we have made excellent academic achievements in both quantity and quality. More than 5000 theses (SCI) were published for 2 years in a row and each piece was cited more than 10 times. Also, SKKU has gained a foothold of GT10+Convergence R&E cluster centered research by establishing the Institute of Quantum Biophysics and Institute of Art & Culture Media Convergence.

SKKU was able to maintain inner stability and move on as a global leading university by the united efforts of university, foundation and alumnus. I would like to express my sincere appreciation for all the Sungkyun members for their dedication to our university.

We should now take a powerful step toward our goal of being a ‘Global Leading University’. We should bear in mind that if we remain content of our previous achievements, we will fall behind of competition. Our university is now confronting challenges such as: the call for futuristic human resource education, decrease in number of school age population and the appearance of new form in education. SKKU will not remain content of our 600 years of history but move on by overcoming hardships with the collective wisdom of Sungkyun family.

This year, I feel a great sense of responsibility and duty as the new president of SKKU. I will do my best to make SKKU a successful model of an innovative university and a truly Global Leading University. I suggest the following policies to achieve this goal:

  First, strengthen data · convergence education

  Second, achieve Global TOP 50 researches

  Third, advance as the leading university of new industries

  Fourth, manage based on the principle of communication and participation

Again, thank you very much for all the dedication towards the development of our university. I wish each and every one of you good health and success in the year of our school’s 621st anniversary.

January 1st, 2019

Dong Ryeol SHIN, The President of SKKU