Korean Job Discussion Forums

[gatorchick82]

I saw a posting for a position KAIST(Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology) in Daejeon. Does anyone have any info? I didn't find it on any of the blacklists. Thanks!

[willardmusa]

KAIST is a very prestigious school. For science, it is the top university in Korea, higher than SNU, Korea, Yonsei. You'll get a lot of rub-off respect from being a teacher there.

I've met some of the English teachers ( think they're called "lecturers" there ) and have heard some about the program. Overall, it seems like a pretty good program to teach in. They had some complaints, but they weren't major. Heard that the housing was pretty good; that they have long vacations winter and summer, with "camp" teaching available in those periods for those who want to earn a little more. Pay is on the higher end of uni positions, but not the highest.

Been to the campus: pretty good uni feel. It's located nicely in town, not out in the fringes. (They've also got a Seoul campus for their Graduate Management School.)

My impression was: seemed like a pretty decent place to teach.

Anyone else care to comment?

[crazy_arcade]

I used to tutor an engineer from Samsung who was about to start his PHD.

He had three choices: Kaist, SNU, Harvard, and another school in Switzerland. I believe Samsung was afraid to lose him and actually is paying him salary and tuition to do it at Harvard. Anyways, Kaist is elite.

[Bingo]

[quote="crazy_arcade"]I used to tutor an engineer from Samsung who was about to start his PHD.

He had three choices: Kaist, SNU, Harvard, and another school in Switzerland. I believe Samsung was afraid to lose him and actually is paying him salary and tuition to do it at Harvard. Anyways, Kaist is elite.[/quote]

Um, there are no elite Korean universities. They are all substandard by international standards. Korea University, (Korea's 'best), ranks at number 149. Kaist may have some prestigeous within Korea, but this is country where (as another thread points out) university presidents plagiarize students' papers. And then there was than accomplished Mr. Kwang at SNU.

Elite? Are you kidding me?

[Bingo]

I found a link to Kaist's international ranking. It's not as bad as I thought. Although Korean universities ARE substandard (and a bit of an international joke), Kaist ranks higher than I imagined. It's still not great, but better than I thought.

Here we go.
http://www.kaist.edu/as_intro/as_nt_prm/as_pr_spl/1178402_1843.html

[willardmusa]

By the way, the president of KAIST is a 70-yr old American-Korean MIT (Mass. Inst. of Tech) professor. The previous professor was an American, a "nobel laurette" from Stanford. He was too American for the faculty and maybe too Stanford, it appears, so . . they took a half step and let the twain meet by going with a "gyopo" from a revered American institution that has a mission closer to its own. (By the way, KAIST and MIT have a sister school relationship.)

Here's a Korea times cut and paste:

MIT Professor Named KAIST President

By Cho Jin-seo
Staff Reporter
The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) Friday appointed respected Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), professor, Suh Nam-pyo, as its new president.

Suh begins his four-year term at Korea�s leading technology school in Taejon on July 14. He replaces Nobel laureate Robert B. Laughlin, who was shown a vote of no-confidence by the KAIST board in March after a series of his reform policies met faculty opposition.

The KAIST board said it selected the 70-year-old professor over two other candidates _ KAIST professor, Shin Sung-chul, and Kang Sung-mo, a professor at the University of California Santa Cruz _ at its meeting held at JW Marriott Seoul Friday.

Seo, an American citizen born in Kyongju, North Kyongsang Province, is one of the world�s most respected mechanical engineering researchers and educators. He served as head of the department of mechanical engineering at MIT for 10 years from 1991 and is renowned as the founder of an engineering methodology called axiomatic design.

``Though he is a foreign-based researcher, Suh has a good understanding on the situation in South Korea since he had worked as a visiting professor in KAIST and Yonsei University,�� KAIST�s board chairman, Rim Kwan, said. ``He is an American citizen, but we decided to entrust him with the position because we valued his talent and vision.��

Suh earned his bachelor�s and master�s degree at MIT and his Ph.D at Carnegie Mellon University. He started his teaching career as a professor at the University of South Carolina in 1965 and moved to MIT in 1970. He spent three years at KAIST as a visiting professor from 2002.

Outgoing president Laughlin was reported to say he will continue to contribute as an advisor to KAIST. He was appointed to the position in 2004, becoming the first foreign president of a Korean university.

The former Stanford professor tried in vain to turn the state-funded school into a self-supporting institution by adding undergraduate courses in law, medicine and other popular departments. The plans met fierce opposition from KAIST faculty who believed they would not serve the interests of KAIST, a university focusing on high-level research.

[Bingo]

`He is an American citizen, but we decided to entrust him with the position because we valued his talent and vision.��

Yeah, right. As if his ethnicity wasn't the key factor.

[willardmusa]

But a caveat is warranted: Even at the best, most revered universities, there can be departments that leave a lot to be desired. That is, the prestige and whatever gained the university / institute the prestige does not necessarily trickle down to every department.

Also: there are different English programs at KAIST; credit and non-credit, specialized, etc.

[gatorchick82]

Thanks for all the comments. I'm probably not qualified to work there but I'll apply anyway.

[stevemcgarrett]

Elite Korean university is sometimes listed as an example of an oxymoronic phrase in glossaries of literary terms, if I'm not mistaken. But that's o.k., since the vast majority of Asian universities don't break the top 100 in the world.

KAIST is the best in Daejeon, period, but that's not saying much. Daejeon is a relatively clean, quiet big town that wants to believe it's a hip city. It isn't but that's o.k.

Know someone who just got a job there. He has a M.A. with 10 years teaching experience in Korea--and a TEFL certification. So size yourself up.

Remember: they're still science majors trying to improve their English.

[Moldy Rutabaga]

Remember that this is a technical university and humanities is probably not their priority, let alone English.

I was offered a position there once but I had a better offer and had to decline. I'm told because it's a good university they have an attitude, but the people who interviewed me were nice.

Ken:>