A COMPARISON BETWEEN UNIVERSITIES IN KOREA AND IN THE PHILIPPINES

A COMPARISON BETWEEN UNIVERSITIES IN KOREA AND IN THE PHILIPPINES LIMITED TO CHONNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY AND IFUGAO STATE UNIVERSITY

A TERM PAPER

SUBJECT: 조직설계론 (ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN)

DEPARTMENT: PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

UNIVERSITY: CHONNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

SUBMITTED BY: J. B. NANGPUHAN II

Master's Degree
 

SUBMITTED TO: DR. S. K. KIM

DATE SUBMITTED: 24 December 2010

FALL SEMESTER

 

Synopsis: This term paper presents a comparison between universities in Korea and in the Philippines. Specifically, the comparison is limited only to government universities as one university in each country will be cited to represent a typical view of how government universities carry out their functions as mandated by existing laws. Chonnam National University in Korea and Ifugao State University in the Philippines will be taken into consideration as both belong to the management of the national government of each country. The measure of comparison will be based on existing documents the writer presently have at hand. This term paper discusses three areas of comparison: administration, instruction, and research.

 

Introduction:

There are many universities in Korea in so far as there are also several established universities in the Philippines.  Each university has different structure and management style and comparing them would be difficult. To narrow-down the perspective of comparison, the Republic of Korea will be represented by Chonnam National University and the Republic of the Philippines will be represented by Ifugao State University.

Chonnam National University (CNU) was founded on June 09, 1952. Starting its formal operation in 1952, CNU continuously improved its services and facilities, enhanced its faculty and staff profile, and expanded its relations to other organizations locally and internationally.  CNU is composed of two campuses strategically located in Jeolla-do province, South Korea: the Gwangju campus and Yeosu campus. Today, CNU has now grown to a big university with 17 colleges and 10 graduate schools. For 2010, there are approximately 35,000 enrolled students from across the nation and over 200 students from around the world excluding those who are taking Korean language classes. It also has 1,478 faculty members and 594 staff members. It has a total land area of approximately 11 hectares. Recently, CNU is now one of the top universities in Korea.

In terms of administration, CNU’s organizational structure is composed of the office of the president, office of the vice president, the university administration (with 9 attached offices), the graduate school (with three components), the colleges (with 17 components), the academic divisions governed by university administration (with  two components), university attached facilities (with twelve components), affiliated schools (with two components), research organizations (with three components), and other extension services ( with eight components). Figure 1 on page 4 presents a clearer organizational structure of CNU.

In terms of instruction, CNU is maintaining a perspective in which professors are given the responsibility to deliver the best learning for the students. Not only do students learn inside the classroom but there are also several extra-curricular activities organized by CNU and its partners to promote learning and camaraderie outside the classroom like outreach programs and field trips. Some student clubs are established in the university to develop leaders who will be of service to the country in the future. CNU’s motto is to foster future leaders of noble character as well as profound knowledge in professional fields and who will be able to contribute to the development of the nation and the world.

In terms of research, CNU is presently engaged with many research projects, local and abroad. Part of its ongoing research projects includes BK 21 in which CNU is one of the top 10 largest participants for this project. CNU is also conducting vocational training programs in the community to foster friendly environment. CNU also commits to improving national competitiveness by playing a critical role in government-led research activities: SRC, NURI (New University for Regional Innovation) program, NRL (National Research Lab) program, Korea Research Foundation-supported research activities, the program to foster research-centered local universities and e-learning support center. These research programs of CNU could attest its great role here and abroad.

 

Figure 1. Organizational structure of Chonnam National University

 

On the other hand, Ifugao State University (IFSU) was founded in 1920 by American soldiers who, during those times, colonized the Philippines. IFSU’s main campus is located at Nayon, Lamut, Ifugao, Philippines with its other 5 campuses strategically located within the province of Ifugao. It is the only tertiary educational institution in this province. IFSU has a total land area of 516 hectares. Today, IFSU is now one of the active state universities in the Cordillera Administrative Region and in the country. It has total enrolled students of about 5,000. It has 226 faculty members and 166 staff members. It is composed of 8 colleges in which both undergraduate and graduate schools are combined in one college.

In terms of its administration, IFSU’s organizational structure is composed of the office of the president, office of the vice president for academic & related affairs, office of the vice president for administration & finance, office of the vice president for research, development, extension & training, office of the vice president for planning & resource generation, office of campus directors, and office of college deans. Figure 2 on page 6 presents a clearer organizational structure of IFSU.

In terms of instruction, IFSU educates its students through professors and instructors. In this case, it accepts MA graduates to teach the students aside from the fulltime professors. The reason here is because there is no enough professors to teach the increasing number of students so the option is to employ even those who finished MA to teach the students. There are also existing student organizations within the university to promote leadership, cooperation, and sports. In this way, the students will have more exposure for learning not only inside the classroom. Aside from that, there is an agreed norm in IFSU wherein each class will have an annual educational tour to visit other schools and agencies in the country.

In terms of research, IFSU is presently the lead agency in the State Universities and Colleges of Cordillera Administrative Region Research, Development and Extension Consortium (SUCCARRDEC). This research program aims to improve agricultural productivity and enhanced natural resources development in the Cordillera region. IFSU is also actively participating in other research undertakings promoted by the Philippine government and other institutions.

 

Figure 2. Organizational structure of Ifugao State University

 

To see the difference of both universities, let us differentiate both in terms of administration, instruction and research. As perceived in the organizational structure of both universities, CNU is more decentralized than IFSU because most of the line agencies are located and stretched out below the strategic apex. For IFSU, it is decentralized but in the end, the control is at the top of the organization. This is because, all information are relayed to the strategic apex through the intervention of the department of public assistance & information services. Some factors why this is the organizational set up of both universities is because of its size, environment, and external interventions.

In terms of instruction, CNU professors have more freedom to do whatever they want in their teaching because they are not being controlled by the administration. In the case of IFSU, instructors and professors are being monitored by the administration through the human resources & development office who evaluates performance of instructors and professors. However, professors of both universities are practicing performance controls by external agencies. For the students of IFSU and CNU, they also do evaluations to their professors at the end of the semester which will become part of performance monitoring.

In terms of research, both universities are engaged in research however, CNU is more advance in research because of the existence of new technologies that the university can avail. IFSU could also function actively in research however, limited resources hinders greater expansion. IFSU has limited resources aside from its limited government funding every year.

In general, CNU and IFSU are similarly funded by their own governments, the Republic of Korea and the Republic of the Philippines respectively. However, CNU’s funding is too high compared to IFSU. IFSU is a small university and if we look into the general perspective of the Philippines, we can understand that most universities are striving to better improve their services despite limited funding assistance from the government. In Korea, government-funded universities are well supported because the country has the capability to do so. Comparison between agencies in two countries is always reflected to areas concerning politics, economy, environment, social factors, cultures and traditions. In terms of corruption rates, Philippines still have more corrupt officials compared to Korea. These are some factors that would give great difference when one is asked to compare two agencies with the same function and scope.

 

REFERENCES:

1.       Mintzberg, H. (1983). Structures in Five: Designing Effective Organizations. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education Company.

2.       The Official Website of Chonnam National University: www.jnu.ac.kr

3.       The Official Website of Ifugao State University: www.ifsu.edu.ph

4.       The Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines: www.gov.ph

5.       Politics of the Philippines: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_the_Philippines