Chungnam National University and Hanbat National University Establish Integration Discussion Table... Challenge to Alleviate Concerns of Members

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Chungnam National University and Hanbat National University will sit at the table to discuss university integration. However, concerns and opposition from each university's members will be challenges to overcome during the integration process between the universities.

According to Chungnam National University and Hanbat National University on the 21st, the two universities will hold a "proclamation ceremony" on the 28th of this month to mark the beginning of integration discussions.

They also plan to officially start working meetings to form the "(tentative name) Joint Committee for University Integration Promotion."

The discussion table for integration between the two universities became possible recently after Hanbat National University's University Council approved the original plan to start integration discussions. Prior to Hanbat National University, Chungnam National University had been waiting for Hanbat National University's decision after passing the University Council review in October.

With the discussion table for integration prepared, it is expected that the integration between the two universities will gain momentum.

To this end, the two universities will form an integration promotion committee in the first half of next year. Then, through working meetings between the universities, joint research projects, and public discussions targeting internal members, they plan to derive the final integration plan.

However, considerable difficulties are expected during the integration process of the two universities. The biggest hurdle is alleviating the concerns of each university's members.

In fact, members such as the student councils of each university had been raising voices opposing the integration itself even before the integration discussions began.

In October, the Chungnam National University Student Council conducted a survey on the "Chungnam National University-Hanbat National University integration discussion" targeting 8,129 undergraduate, master's, and doctoral students, and as a result, 7,831 (96.3%) opposed the start of integration discussions.

On the other hand, only 159 students (2.0%) supported the integration, and 139 students (1.7%) did not express an opinion, showing that the majority voice was against integration.

At that time, the Student Council also installed and operated a "memorial altar" in front of the university headquarters to oppose the start of integration discussions.

The situation at Hanbat National University was not much different. After collecting opinions from its members, the majority of alumni expressed opposition to the start of integration discussions, particularly showing dissatisfaction that the university was proceeding with integration discussions without sufficiently listening to internal members' opinions.

The Hanbat National University Alumni Association also expressed concerns about the start of integration discussions of their alma mater through a statement and demanded a halt to the integration discussions.

Regarding this, a Chungnam National University official said, "There are many hurdles to overcome before the two universities actually integrate, and the biggest issue among them will be the process of obtaining consent from members," adding, "The university will strive to derive the optimal plan through thorough discussions and to ensure that the integration of the two universities is perceived positively by the members."

A Hanbat National University official said, "The proclamation ceremony to be held on the 28th only means that the integration discussion table is set," adding, "To achieve actual integration, it is expected that several rounds of opinion gathering from internal members will be necessary afterward."

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