News Taffy

Officials from Arkansas State University and Hannam University in South Korea joined Thursday morning to sign agreements that will establish a foundation for the leadership of both institutions to search for collaborative opportunities that will mutually benefit both schools. The ceremony took place in the lobby of the ASU Administration Building.

The documents were in both English and Korean and signed by ASU representatives Dr. Robert L. Potts, chancellor, and Dr. Dan Howard, executive vice chancellor and provost, and the South Korean delegation which included Dr. Hyungtae Kim, president of Hannam University; Dr. Young Sung Suh, dean of the Office of Global Relations and professor of the Department of Mechanical Engineering; and Wonbae Kim, director of the Center for International Relations. "It's particularly touching to have a delegation from a wonderful university from South Korea on our campus today," said Chancellor Potts. "These are an optimistic, wonderful people and South Korea has one of the strongest economies in the world.

ASU is involved in a process of internationalizing our campus--taking ASU to the world and bringing the world to ASU--and we have done that through the support of our faculty, staff and administration." Potts commended Dr. Howard, Director of International Student Services Tugrul Polat and the staff in International Programs for their work in helping to build academic relationships through ASU's international programs. He also pointed out that, economically, ASU's international program is very important to the university's budget, and he cited the professional operation by the program's staff and the support of ASU's faculty and students.

Arkansas State University has previously entered into globalization agreements with universities in China, Japan, Kuwait and Turkey. During the 2009-10 academic year, 456 international students in the degree program and 330 in the English as a Second Language (ESL) program representing nearly 65 countries attended Arkansas State. The three agreements between ASU and Hannam University will allow the exchange of academic courses and programs and for ASU to offer English as a Second Language on the Hannam University campus.

University officials anticipate future ASU students can begin their academic careers at Hannam University where they can study on the undergraduate level for two to three years. Most of the courses taken will transfer to Arkansas State. The second arrangement calls for spending two academic years at Hannam University and two calendar years at ASU to pursue a degree in a specific discipline.

If a student studies three calendar years at Hannam, he or she can receive two degrees-one at HU and the other at ASU. All courses taken at ASU will transfer to Hannam and students have the opportunity to earn two baccalaureate degrees from the two universities in a four-year academic career. The third portion of the agreement states that ASU will deliver English as second language at Hannam University.

Instructors from the two institutions will join forces to present the courses. "It has been our dream to create a global community which brings Arkansas State University to the world and the world to Arkansas State University," said Dr. Howard. "It provides a much more diverse and much more enriched community at our university." Hannam University, which just celebrated its 50th anniversary, was founded in March, 1956, through the efforts of Dr. William A. Linton, chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the American Southern Presbyterian Mission in Korea. Hannam University is located in Daejeon in the center of South Korea. It is the fifth largest city in South Korea, with a population of approximately 1.5 million.