What Did You Say! Is There a University Without Grades? Sejong Su, Founding Dean of Doing College at Dongmyung University, Appears

The Nation's First 3No (No Grade Level, No Credits, No Teaching) Education

"Graduate in 3 Years, Eliminating the 'Top Frame'"

"Don't Copy the Blackboard!" Graduate by Unlocking Potential

No 'F Grade Gun' Needed, Pass/Fail System Imple

Seojongsoo, the inaugural dean of Doing College at Dongmyung University.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] A new college has been established at Dongmyung University. This university is quite ‘award-winning’.

It confuses incoming freshmen starting next year by completely changing the existing concept of higher education.

The university has no credits. There are no academic years, and no classes where you take notes on a blackboard, so one might wonder what kind of university this is.

The name of this innovative university is ‘Doing University.’ The inaugural dean is Professor Seo Jong-su of Dongmyung University.

Dean Seo explained the background of the university’s establishment.

“If we continue education that traps the remaining 99 students in a ‘number one frame’ while ignoring each individual’s talents and potential, young people will only learn frustrated dreams and fail to properly respond to the rapidly changing environment.”

Just as learned helplessness in psychology and behavioral sciences shows that if you learn helplessness, you cannot do what you are capable of, students other than the top rankers only experience frustration and become accustomed to it. This is the widely known theory of ‘learned helplessness.’

From this, Doing University was born to teach practical methods and experiences. President Jeon Ho-hwan of Dongmyung University initiated a university-driven revolution upon his appointment this year, and Dean Seo Jong-su took command as the first dean.

Dean Seo Jong-su of Dongmyung University’s Doing University emphasized, “This is an era that requires talents who not only accumulate knowledge but also fully demonstrate their capabilities in reality.”

He clearly explained the university’s philosophy and target: nurturing practical Doing talents who develop challenge and passion, communication and empathy, respect and consideration, and who have the ability to live regardless of what kind of world comes.

The newly established Doing University uses a P/NP (Pass/No Pass) system instead of A~F grades, and early graduation in three years is possible. It has the attractive feature of being ‘non-grade-based.’

Dongmyung University has moved away from knowledge acquisition-centered studies and injected motivation into the process of achievement and fruition by removing the bitterness of learning through interesting experiences.

The faculty and mentors are always by the students’ side. The innovative education of 3 No’s (No academic year - No credits - No teaching) is being implemented for the first time in Korea.

Boasting a 67.7% employment rate (2020 University Information Disclosure), 1,179 industry-academia cooperation family companies, 260 overseas exchange universities and institutions in 29 countries, and 47.3 billion KRW in government funding (as of 2021), this university known for its IT-industry cooperation-employment triple excellence is attempting another revolution.

The outcome must be left to time. The first new ‘Doing students’ will enroll next year, and early admissions have heated up for September.

President Jeon Ho-hwan raised the issue that the sinking of the ‘Korea ship’ due to ultra-low birth rates and concentration in the metropolitan area must be overcome through sufficient expansion of educational finances and an ‘education revolution’ that fosters world-class universities evenly across regions.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.