Message from the President about Spring 2021 Academic Operations

Dear CAU Community,
 
Happy New Year.
 
During ‘Sohan’ cold snap, the nation was hit by cold wave and heavy snow, and the cold spell is gradually easing ahead of ’Daehan’ cold snap. It’s been a long time since I asked how CAU Community is. Is CAU Community doing well through the cold winter?

As you all know, the situation of COVID-19 has been very serious since the last letter in 2020 Fall semester. The nation continuously reported over 800 confirmed cases of COVID-19 each day, and on some days reported over 1,000 cases. Currently, the number of cases has declined to about 500, but this does not warrant that we can feel reassured. As the number of confirmed cases surges across the nation, our campus is no longer immune from COVID-19 and is reporting COVID-19 cases intermittently. The university headquarters is taking thorough quarantine measures to contain the spread of the virus on our campus, but pandemic conditions are posing threat to the safety of our campus.

Under these circumstances, it was decided at the latest CAU Academic Board meeting on January 12, 2021 that in the first 8 weeks of 2021 Spring semester, classes will be offered under phase 2.5 as set out in the ‘Academic Operations Plan by Phase.’

Under phase 2.5, all classes should be offered remotely. However, some lab experiment or practice-based ones may be offered in person subject to approval of the dean as well as thorough quarantine and control, and may also be offered both in person and remotely. Midterm exams should be conducted remotely, and will be conducted at the discretion of the professor. Students will be evaluated using an absolute grading scale, which is the same as the Fall semester. In addition, students graduating in 2021 Spring semester will also be exempted from submitting their English/Chinese Characters/Korean Language exam certificates required for graduation.

The government recently announced that the entire population will be vaccinated with the COVID-19 vaccine and that it aims to form collective immunity by November. In the 2021 school year, our university will maintain the principle that the safety of CAU Community is a top priority, while responding flexibly and agilely in accordance with government policies. We will closely monitor future pandemic conditions and notify our CAU Community of any changes as soon as possible.

Dear CAU Community,

Our university is conducting quarantine for CAU Community and visitors to keep campus safe from COVID-19 and keep the health of CAU Community. Also, in the event of suspected and confirmed cases, we operate a response system to respond promptly through cooperation with the authorities. Accordingly, even at a time when a number of collective infections and asymptomatic transmissions have been reported and approximately 30,000 outside personnel visited campus for various exams including lawyer qualification exam on January 5-9 and transfer admission exam on January 9-10, the spread of infection has not occurred on our campus. We ask each and every member of CAU Community to actively cooperate with the quarantine as before and also to follow personal quarantine rules.

Dear CAU Community,

The university headquarters will be committed to realizing the CAU 2030 vision to cultivate 'creative talents contributing to mankind and society' even in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the 2021 school year, we will focus our capabilities on the AI ??field in order to prepare for the new normal of education in the post-corona era and to proactively respond to changes in the social and cultural paradigm in the era of the 4th industrial revolution.  We will accelerate the change in the constitution of Chung-Ang University by implementing a project that incorporates AI into the university education, research and administration system. We will implement education that incorporates AI into all departments to achieve the goal of growing students into 'Da Vinci-type talents.' Also, we will introduce the 'e-advisor' system so that students can get information and help on specific segments of campus life. By doing so, we will integrate AI into the overall system of Chung-Ang University and cultivate the AI literacy of CAU Community. We will take the current crisis as an opportunity to design and prepare for the distant future of Chung-Ang University. We hope that CAU Community will join our efforts.

The new year of 2021 is called the year of the cattle. The cattle walk slowly, but keep going without stopping or giving up. It is necessary to respond promptly to the rapid changes brought about by COVID-19, but we will overcome this crisis by consistently devoting ourselves to the goal, just as they don't cheat or complain and instead they just work hard.

I wish you the best of health in the New Year, and may you find whatever you are looking for in 2021. Thank you.

January 18, 2021

CAU President
Park Sang Gue