On Friday, June 15 in Room 230 of the Asia Center, the Diversity Council held a forum to present the interim results of its 2018 research project “SNU International Survey” (principal researcher: Professor Yi Okyeon of the Department of Political Science and International Relations).

In the forum’s opening remarks, Diversity Council Vice Chair Charles Lee described the council’s consistent efforts to further internationalization at SNU and the current research project’s meaning in that context. Dean of Student Affairs Chun Changhoo then gave a congratulatory address in which he outlined the new systems that the university had recently introduced for international students. 

Next, Professor Yi and four other members of the research team (professors Kwak Duck Joo, Cho Hae-Sug, Noh Yoo-sun, and Jeong Hyeok) took the stage. They explained that the survey had been conducted during the one-week period from May 28 to June 3, and that 432 people, a relatively high 33% of eligible participants, had taken part in it.  They presented its initial results divided into several major categories, such as university support provided pre- and post-admission, satisfaction with university facilities and the ease of obtaining information, financial aid, academic difficulties, problem resolution processes, and graduation and jobseeking assistance. As these interim results were based on relative frequency analyses of answers to each survey question, the rest of the study period will likely be spent on analyses of meaningful differences between groups and correlations between variables. The completed results are expected to become useful resources for the development and expansion of support programs for international students.

The SNU International Students Association (SISA) also presented the results of its own survey of its members, which boasted 191 participants. The survey was composed of questions on language barriers, food issues, mental health, etc.

In her critique after the presentations ended, Professor Song Jiewuh (Department of Political Science and International Relations) said that the problems that international students face at the university can be seen as alarm bells warning of larger problems with campus life at SNU and that language-related problems, in particular, must be addressed with a variety of efforts. During the question-and-answer period, it was suggested that, while the introduction of a proposed one-stop administrative service for international students is important, it is also necessary to resolve underlying problems at the university.