Students studying information technology at two South Korean universities will soon spend an academic year at Middle Georgia State College, and faculty members at all three institutions will begin collaborating on research projects.

An agreement made formal on June 12 also opens the door to other collaborations between Middle Georgia State and Mokwon University and Woosuk University, both in central South Korea. The specific collaborative projects will focus on IT. In addition to students at the South Korean universities coming here, Middle Georgia State students could spend time studying abroad at the two universities.  

Student exchanges could begin as early as spring semester 2015. The South Korean students will complete certificate programs in IT at Middle Georgia State that will be transferrable to their home universities and apply towards the equivalent of a bachelor’s degree. 

“Exposure to International education is vital in many fields, particularly information technology,” said Dr. Alex Koohang, dean of Middle Georgia State’s School of IT. “It’s important to learn about different cultures and educational systems. Our collaborative efforts with these universities should be very productive.”

Mokwon is a Christian-based university founded in 1954. It has eight colleges, a division of TV and film and a graduate school. Woosuk was founded in 1979 and consists of eight colleges and three graduate schools.  Woosuk was selected as a regional innovation center by the Ministry of Knowledge and Economy of South Korea.

The formal agreements between the two universities and Middle Georgia State create opportunities for collaborative research; faculty training; faculty and student exchange and curricula development.  The partnerships originated with Dr. Myungjae Kwak, a Middle Georgia State assistant professor of IT from South Korea, who contacted academic colleagues at the two universities to explore the possibilities.

In late May, Kwak and Koohang traveled to South Korea to present research at a conference and meet with officials at the two universities to arrange the collaborative agreements. It was Koohang’s first visit to South Korea, and he found the high-tech environment, including the fast, free and ubiquitous Wi-Fi, impressive. “The people, too, are wonderful,” he said. “They are extremely polite and respectful. They go out of their way to help you.”

Through the School of IT, Middle Georgia State has collaborative agreements with other international universities, including Higher Education Technical School of Professional Studies in Novi Sad, Serbia, and, in Poland, University of Economics in Katowice and Warsaw University of Life Sciences.

For more information about the latest collaborative agreements, contact Dr. Alex Koohang at [email protected] or (478) 471-2801.