Fulbright U.S. Education Center

As reported in the Joongang Daily today, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology has announced that applicants to foreign language high schools who say they received private education or tutoring will be disadvantaged.  This is the Ministry’s latest effort to address concerns that changes in the foreign language high school’s admission process will further overheat the private education market.   The Ministry had earlier announced that foreign language high schools would introduce an admission process that emphasized “self-study” in 2011.

Admissions officers will measure “self study” in various ways, including interviews, examination of study plans and letters of recommendation.  English listening tests, written exams and interviews asking about applicant’s knowledge of specific subjects will be banned.  The Ministry also said that applicants who report their scores for foreign language aptitude tests, such as TOEFL, will lose points.

Another visitor to Fulbright’s U.S. Education Center on September 28, 2009 was Ms. Katie McCarney, Assistant Director of International Admission at the College of Saint Benedict, Saint John’s University.    She is pictured below (click to see larger version) with Fulbright Deputy Director Jim Larson (left) and Fulbright Network Administrator John Phillips on the right.

On September 28, 2009 Leslie Peters Aest, Director of International Marketing for Seattle Central Community College visited Fulbright’s U.S. Education Center.  She met with staff to discuss her college’s recruitment efforts and developments in Korea’s education market.  Pictured below, from left to right are Jim Larson, Fulbright Korea’s Deputy Director, Leslie Peters Aest, and Mrs. Yu, Munkyeong, Fulbright Senior Education Advisor. (click on the photo to see a larger version)

On September 28, Jonathon Neeley, International Student Advisor at Columbus College of Art and Design visited Fulbright’s U.S. Education Center.  He is pictured below with James Larson, Fulbright’s Deputy Director and John Phillips, Network Administrator. (click on photo to see a larger version)

Earlier this Fall on October 30 Kari K. Gazdich, Director of Admissions for the Information Networking Institute at Carnegie Mellon University visited Fulbright and held an information session for prospective students in our 6th floor conference room.  (pictured in the photo above.  Click on the photo to see a larger version)

She was accompanied on her visit by Mr. Jong Woo KWAK, Consultant with the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry.   He is pictured with her during in the photography below which was taken during discussions in the U.S. Education Center.

On September 29 of this year, Donald R. Back, Director of the Language and Culture Institute, which is part of Outreach and International Affairs at Virginia Tech University visited Fulbright’s U.S. Education Center.  We apologize for this delayed post regarding his visit.  His visit included a broad and useful discussion of trends in the Korean education market, student recruitment, and digital media developments.   Pictured in the photo above, from left to right are Fulbright Deputy Director James Larson, Donald Back, and Fulbright Executive Director Shim Jai Ok. (click on the photo to see a full-size version)

On December 9th, three representatives from the University of New Hampshire visited Fulbright.   They were Christine M. Shea, Associate Dean of Graduate Programs and Research, Craig H. Wood, Associate Professor of Operations Management, and Andrew T. Sharp, Program Coordinator for the Masters of Science in the Management of Technology (MOT) program.  All three are involved with the M.S. program in Management of Technology, which has been offered in Korea for three years now.  The program is offered through the Whittemore School of Business and Economics.

The picture above (click to see a full-size version) shows Fulbright Executive Director Shim Jai Ok, seated at the left, talking with (clockwise) Christine Shea, Andrew Sharp, Craig Wood and Jim Larson, Fulbright Deputy Director.

Larry J. Musick, Director of Alumni Relations and University Events, and Buck James, Associate Vice Presidetn for Enrollment at Abilene Christian University (ACU), visited Fulbright’s U.S. Education Center on December 9.   They briefed Center staff on Abilene Christian University’s mobile learning program, an innovative approach to the use of mobile technology in education. (see the recent article in Wired Magazine)  They also discussed Abilene Christian University’s programs of interest to Korean students, with special emphasis on the new Global IT Leadership M.S. program

Pictured in the photograph (click on the photo to access a full-size version of the jpeg file) are (left to right) Larry J. Musick, Buck James, and Jim Larson, Fulbright Commission Deputy Director.

On November 4, Thomas Underwood, Regional Program Officer in the U.S. Embassy’s Public Affairs Section, and An, Sun Nam, Regional Program Assistant, visited the Fulbright Commission.   They discussed American Corners, English Education, Fulbright’s English Teaching Assistant Program and other common areas of interest.  Mr. Underwood and Ms. An are pictured in the photo below with Fulbright Korea’s Executive Director, Shim, Jai Ok.

On November 3 Fulbright’s U.S. Education Center received a visit from Joseph MacAde, Director of the English Language Institute at Texas A&M University Commerce.  He discussed student recruitment, trends in Korea’s education sector and related issues in international education with staff of the Center.  Pictured in the photo below are Director MacAde and Jim Larson, Deputy Director of Fulbright.