From university entrance to graduation
Korea University introduces KUchive, a data-driven curricular and extracurricular integrated management program that provides analysis and feedback to foster students’ core competencies.
Renowned for being at the forefront of fostering human-oriented, future-driven intellectuals, Korea University (hereafter KU) has introduced another innovation. On Monday, June 15, KU launched an open beta of KUchive, a curricular and extracurricular integrated management program.
KUchive, a portmanteau of “KU” and “Archive”, manages students’ activities and achievements in all areas from their university entrance to graduation. By adopting this system, KU expects to advance the operations of its core competency-oriented curriculum.
Through the open beta, KU will receive feedback from its members and ultimately inspect the system prior to its actual launch this fall.
The competencies required in the 21st century have been the subject of much speculation. The OECD Education 2030 Project, for instance, aims at establishing a common understanding of fostering students’ necessary future competencies as well as developing and disseminating a learning model based on the 21st century competency framework. Recognizing the need to hold global discussion, education institutions around the globe have been focusing on cultivating learners’ competencies. Prestigious higher education institutions such as Stanford University, Minerva School, and The University of Sydney, have already established their core competencies and introduced innovative educational models linked to their curriculum. This trend has brought about changes in existing education frameworks, necessitating new macro standards and support in the South Korean education system.
In response to this movement, KU with its aim to foster human-oriented, creative intellectuals, is proposing a new curriculum-linked education model that introduces six core competencies: empathy and communication; a sense of social responsibility; multi-disciplinary thinking; creative problem-solving; global mindset; and proactive leadership skills.
In a bid to foster students’ core competencies, KU’s curriculum will incorporate not only curricular but also extracurricular programs. In a future society where new technologies will rapidly emerge and develop, the importance of moral values will become even more pronounced as the agents and recipients of those new technologies will, in fact, be humans. In order to generate such moral values, a holistic approach to education that can foster creative global intellectuals who can pursue collaborative growth and create shared values is urgently required. Therefore, the importance of extracurricular programs that can provide a comprehensive education framework in line with this recent social trend is garnering more attention.
* Extracurricular Programs: Non-credit educational programs other than regular courses held on campus, which includes various projects, practica, internships, workshops, seminars, special lectures, consulting, counseling, coaching, contests, and competitions.
With the introduction of KUchive, KU expects to see an array of changes to the students’ activities. Not only will students check their basic curricular and extracurricular activities, they will also be able to diagnose and check their own competencies through a newly developed core competency diagnostic tool. Based on the results, the comprehensive management program will suggest a set of systematic, customized guidelines, allowing students to detect and address their weaknesses and eventually enhance their core competencies.
Once they have established areas for self-improvement, students will be able to easily register and take courses recommended by the program. Just by taking part in the extracurricular programs, students will also earn mileage points that they can use on campus. Before the KUchive program launch in the fall semester, students will be invited to participate in a naming contest for the mileage point system.
Integrated counseling will also be available. Accessibility will ensure that all students, including the disabled, can receive online academic coaching that provides various psychological tests and customized support as well as student-adviser consultations.
Recruiting information and training educational programs will also be easily accessible. Through a platform integrated with the existing campus career development center information website, students will be better able to identify and set their goals and receive specialized, systematic education support.
All of this process will be accessible through the KUchive system. The certificate issuance process will also become hassle-free. KUchive will allow easy print-out of documents that students need without a visit to the issuance center.
Faculty members will also experience differences in their way of guiding and instructing students. Based on the diagnostic results regarding core competencies, faculty members will be able to receive customized guidance which can be used as basic materials for enhancing learner-centered instruction and student guidance. Moreover, the system will allow them to easily upload consultation records and teaching materials as well as coordinate their schedule through the calendar function.
Administrators will also experience a positive change in their administrative work. They can unify and manage various extracurricular programs from the initial stages of advertising and recruiting to the final stages of implementing satisfaction surveys through KUchive, which will eventually elevate their administrative efficiency. In addition, it will be possible for them to establish strategies that can help foster intellectuals through various education programs related to major, general education, and extracurricular courses. Having access to various types of data, including but not limited to students’ core competencies and their achievements, administrators will be able to construct customized services, thereby enhancing KU’s education quality.
As KU President Chung Jin-Taek has noted, “The era of post-COVID-19 and the Fourth Industrial Revolution will require intellectuals to think critically and create new values from various perspectives. We, therefore, need to come up with an education system that will allow students to identify their own strengths and further hone their competitiveness. There will also be a need to construct a clear, solid education philosophy in accordance with the changes in education contents, methods, and programs.” Emphasizing the importance of extracurricular programs, he further stated that “KU will constantly analyze and manage the progress and changes in students’ core competencies through KUchive and propose an exemplar education model in terms of operating the extracurricular programs in Korean universities.”