President Chung Kyu-sang of SKKU and three Brain City project officials signed the ‘Brain City Business Agreement’ on May 16th. The Brain City project is a plan to make a knowledge-based, self-supporting city in Pyeongtaek. In the city, SKKU Science Park Campus will be expected to play a leading role in the future fourth industrial revolution by pursuing seven strategic projects of the future revolution such as smart cars, smart factories, smart cities, the Internet of Things (IoT), and artificial intelligence (AI). This project was proposed in 2010, but for various reasons, it was delayed until now.
Some Kingos were opposed to the establishment of the Science Park Campus, concerned that some departments might be moved to the new campus and that tuition fees could be used in establishing the new campus. Representing the worries of Kingos, the Sungkeum student council held a meeting with students and the Office of Strategy, Planning and Public Relations on May 18th and 19th. Sungkeum pointed out that the school unilaterally signed the ‘Brain City Business Agreement’ without having enough communication with the students. Sungkeum also emphasized that the school should reflect the opinions of students on all important decisions that the school makes.
To resolve the misunderstanding among the students related to the new campus, the Office of Strategy, Planning and Public Relations explained the three main characteristics of the Science Park Campus: ‘building a R&BD (research and business development) platform that focuses on a business and academic cooperation system’, ‘building a business and academic cooperation system without moving any department from the Humanities and Social Science Campus and Natural Science Campus’, and ‘building a self-supporting campus that does not use any tuition fees.’ Additionally, the Office of Strategy, Planning and Public Relations requested some media to revise articles spreading false reports and promised students that it would continuously inform them about the progress while establishing a new campus.