SeoulTech Holds “2023 Academic Department Evaluation Awards” Ceremony

- Engineering/Natural Sciences: Dept. of Civil Engineering (1st), Dept. of Smart ICT Convergence Engineering (2nd), Dept. of Safety Engineering (3rd)
- Humanities/Social Sciences/Physical Education: Sports Sciences (1st)
- Arts: Dept. of Ceramics (1st)

SeoulTech held the “2023 Academic Department Evaluation Awards” ceremony on Wednesday, May 29. The event took place during the general faculty meeting in the  auditorium of The 100th Memorial Hall.

SeoulTech conducts annual departmental evaluations, which helps the university respond proactively to changes in the higher education environment. The aim is to improve overall competitiveness through constructive competition among departments.
Starting in 2023, SeoulTech began awarding departments that contribute significantly to university policy and achieve outstanding results. These awards consider the unique characteristics of each major field.

The excellent departments were selected considering the scale of each field with a total of five departments awarded: three in Engineering/Natural Sciences; one in Humanities/Social Sciences/Physical Education; and one in Arts. The awarded heads of department are as follows: Jun Hwan-don (Dept. of Civil Engineering), Lee Won-young (Dept. of Smart ICT Convergence Engineering), and Song Hyung-jun (Dept. of Safety Engineering) in Engineering/Natural Sciences; Shin Kyu-lee (Dept. of Sports Sciences) in Humanities/Social Sciences/Physical Education; and Yoo Eui-jeong (Dept. of Ceramics) in Arts.

The department evaluations are divided into three areas: contribution to research output; contribution to financial income; and contribution to university policies. They are assessed using 11 indicators, which include: international papers per faculty; external research funds per faculty; management of students on academic probation; and the ratio of students participating in field training.
Additionally, the scoring for each indicator varies by department to reflect the characteristics of each major. Rankings are also announced by the department.

Each winning department received a plaque and prize money at the awards ceremony.
The prize money includes awards based on rank (1st place: KRW 5 million, 2nd place: KRW 3 million, 3rd place: KRW 2 million) and additional incentives based on department size. This money is allocated to the department's operational budget.
It is intended to be used for the department's autonomous development in the future.

Right after the awards ceremony, there was a presentation of best practices to share and spread the achievements. As representatives of the ceremony, the Dept. of Smart ICT Convergence Engineering (Engineering/Natural Sciences) and the Dept. of Ceramics (Arts) presented their best practices to share with other departments.