Photo Credit: George Mason Korea
On 29 March, Campus Dean Robert Matz hosted the semester Town Hall. During the Town Hall, Dean Matz as well as the rest of the leadership of George Mason University Korea provided the student body with an update regarding plans for the school moving forward. While the meeting was held in a hybrid format, a sad necessity with COVID-19 restrictions, it provided the student body a good vision of the future of Mason Korea.
Starting off the Town Hall meeting, Dean Matz comes out swinging with the question on everyone's mind: What will the rest of the semester look like? Dean Matz explained that by 2 April, the Mason Korea faculty leadership would make a decision regarding what instruction model the remainder of the semester would follow. “We see no reason to believe that the trend [COVID-19 cases] would change… So, we anticipate that we will be in the same instructional mode [primarily online classes] for the rest of the semester.” In short, Dean Matz confirmed that classes for students would essentially remain the same as they currently operate. In response to this reality, the Campus Dean outlined general policies to follow to ensure that students maximize their learning experience, including keeping cameras on during class, keeping your phone off during online classes, and attending online office hours.
Despite the limitations of online classes, Dean Matz listed off-campus activities that RSOs and other organizations on campus are participating in with the establishment of new intercampus RSOs, a program led by the Dean of Student Affairs, Yorgun Marcel. From an international dance competition to special lectures presented by ambassadors to Korea, it appears that Mason Korea students still have plenty of opportunities to engage in university life. Additionally, he noted that the campus is only continuing to grow, both in population size as well as classes with the new Computational Data Sciences (CDS) program.
Following the update on campus life, Dean Matz outlined the new three-year strategic plan for Mason Korea. This plan includes: new co-curricular experiences - such as cultural programs to connect students to the larger Korean community, increased program variety - such as more classes outside of the already established majors at Mason Korea, and additional career and research opportunities following the establishment of the new Mason Korea advisory board and industrial research center. Additionally, Dean Matz alluded to the fact that there may be more scholarship opportunities for students in the future, such as the International Bank of Korea endowment of 30,000,000 won. On a more somber note, Dean Matz announced that Mason Korea will lose all subsidies from the Korean government, meaning a substantial readjustment of the annual budget for the university. Essentially, starting next year, Mason Korea will be forced to spend more on facilities and less on long-term investments and rainy-day funds.
After Dean Matz concluded his statements, Student Council President, Suk In “Claire” Jung, presented the works of the Student Council and issues students are facing. Of these, Jung said that the interconnection between students is especially difficult because of COVID-19, a statement similar to those of her predecessors. Paired with this sentiment, Jung outlined the disconnection between the student body’s needs and the events hosted by the Student Council and Mason Korea Student Affairs going as far as to say, “If the university could be more proactive, that would be greatly appreciated.” Of these concerns, Jung said the primary concern of students is the price of tuition. In retort to this, Dean Matz responded that the university would focus on providing a higher quality of classes and a diversity of classes, than reducing the cost of tuition. Additionally, Matz pointed out that the leadership of Mason Korea is looking for more professional partnerships to provide scholarships or job opportunities to offset the cost of tuition.
However, the debate between the Student Council and the faculty leadership of Mason Korea did not end there. Instead, Jung vented student frustrations regarding the quality of online classes that “makes life nearly difficult for students… Students are not just tired and exhausted, they are concerned about their career and education.”
In response to Jung’s concerns, Associate Dean of Admissions Kelly Chung argued that issues between the student body and the university are largely caused by a lack of involvement from the student body. Chung went on to say, “I really want to challenge you as someone that enrolled at this school to take that role and rise to the challenge.” Dean Matz added to Dean Chung’s comment by acknowledging the frustration but pointed out that this is not unique to Mason Korea. Despite these statements, it was clear that the student body was not satisfied with the response from the leadership of Mason Korea.
Following presentations from both the leadership of Mason Korea and the Student Council, members of the audience were allowed to ask questions. The questions, similar to the debate between the Student Council and Mason Korea leadership, centered around tuition and scholarships. While many students asked a variety of different questions regarding access to information regarding scholarships and the number of scholarships given out, the leadership of Mason Korea gave no new insight besides what was introduced through the aforementioned presentation by Dean Matz. Instead, there appeared to be a growing frustration between the leadership of Mason Korea and the student body on the issue.
While it is yet to be seen whether or not struggles between the leadership of Mason Korea and the student body will be resolved, the Town Hall acted as a reminder that it is the responsibility of students to openly address their concerns in order for their issues to be resolved. Moving forward, it appears as if both the leadership of Mason Korea and the student body will actively seek to find a solution to issues of cost and quality of education.
Written by Matthew Mandell | Managing Editor
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