Sookmyung Women's University has been a trailblazer in times of crisis since 1906, when it established a school site in Yongdong Palace in Hanseongbu and accepted the first five female students. As Korea's first institute of private education for women, with the founding philosophy of ‘cultivating female leaders who contribute to the development of the nation, people, and humanity,’ our university led the national movement during the Japanese colonial period. For the past 114 years, we have fulfilled our vocation of the times to lead the industrialization and democratization of the Republic of Korea by developing talented students from all walks of life.
As the 20th president of Sookmyung Women’s University, I will try my best to create a new trajectory for Sookmyung while inheriting such a pioneering spirit and proud tradition. Now, we must bring together all of its competencies to open a new era to create a ‘Global Sookmyung that Leads the World.’ First, our differentiated educational content will be built to cultivate ‘creative and convergent talents who embrace the world.’ To this end, we will establish a creative convergence education system at a ‘Sookmyung Cloud Campus.’ Second, we will identify its own specialized research areas and establish systems of support for the “Sookmyung Research Cluster.” Third, we will establish the “Global Sookmyung Campus” through active international exchange while attracting talents from all over the world to respond to the global era.
To prepare for a rapidly changing future society, we need not only expertise, but also global citizenship capabilities to nurture our students leading in the global world. Hopefully, Sookmyung TESOL will become one of the major agents to carry out such a Sookmyung mission. Our educational spirit has been truly exemplified through Sookmyung TESOL and its history. In 1997, we introduced the first TESOL program in Korea in collaboration with the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Since then, we have established collaborative partnerships with more than thirty prestigious universities in the USA, Australia, and Canada. It is also notable that Sookmyung TESOL has been the central institution for in-service teacher training, commissioned by the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology since 2007.
Looking forward to the 25th anniversary of Sookmyung TESOL in 2022, the program continues to research and embrace the latest advances in technology to include online, synchronous education components. As the Corona 19 pandemic has shown us, the internationalization of universities is now a necessity, not an option. For this reason, TESOL’s online education and learning resources have now expanded and integrated into all of its on-campus programs more than ever before, including the recent addition of a TESOL Online Teaching Endorsement (TOTE) which aims to qualify TESOL students to teach online.
I am proud of the TESOL faculty’s constant commitment to updating and renewing its education programs. Such efforts will create a new turning point in the education and research of Sookmyung to start the innovation of a “Global Sookmyung that Leads the World”.
Sookmyung TESOL looks forward to the next 20 years. Our faculty pledges to embrace and respond to the ever-changing needs of both educators and students in this time of the “new normal,” while embracing rapid changes in technology and changing multicultural contexts. We warmly welcome all of you to join us today in our continuing mission to open a new path of education to nurture future talents in English education in Korea and around the world.
President Yunkeum Chang, Ph.D.