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KDI School Spring 2023: Opening Ceremony and Orientation for New Students

  • Date 2023-02-24 13:46
  • CategoryNews
  • Hit1505

On January 30, 2023, the KDI School welcomed new master’s and Ph.D. students admitted into the spring semester. The event was held in KDI School’s Lincoln Hall. In attendance were faculty, staff, and officials of KDI School, comprising Dean Jong-II You, the program chairs, other faculty members, and staff of the admissions, academic, and student affairs teams. 

In his opening remarks, Prof. You welcomed all students and highlighted major achievements and success stories since the school’s inception, as well as the challenges. He applauded the school's commitment, especially during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic that halted all in-person classes. He also praised the staff and students for their combined efforts towards the successful delivery of online classes and the setup of e-education systems, which have now resulted in a multiple modes of education delivery at KDI School: offline, online, and hybrid. He shared with the new students the recent silver anniversary celebration themed "Beyond Education, Leading Innovation." The school hosted a series of conferences and informal events to commemorate the celebration.

After the introduction of other faculty members, students were divided into their different programs, where they received orientation on their program objectives, scope, concentrations to choose from, and expected credit units to graduate. It was another opportunity for new students to clarify their course preferences before the commencement of course registration for the semester. The opening ceremony ended with a campus lecture on human rights violation prevention by the Human Rights Team. Students were strongly advised to observe the equal and fair treatment of their fellow students irrespective of gender, race, color, religion, or ethnicity.

Day 1: Lincoln Hall, KDI School (February 1, 2023)

The session was largely facilitated by the Student Affairs Unit, and the team ensured that the students were equipped with knowledge on the required immigration health (ARC and RAT test) checks and documentation (visa) to enable them to study at KDIS. The team also provided a campus map of all school facilities and content material on student events held in the previous academic year.

Dormitory assistants were also present, and they took turns explaining the rules for staying in the dormitory, using communal areas, and managing refuse disposal and recycling. The session ended with a Q&A session, and students had the chance to win prizes for correct answers to the questions asked.  

Day 2: Lincoln Hall, KDI School (February 2, 2023)

The session was co-facilitated by the Student Affairs, Academic Affairs, and Public Relations units. The facilitators educated the students on the concept of consent and hotlines to call in the event of emergencies. The team also spoke to students about in-country documentation for all international students. The Public Affairs Department highlighted the success stories of the alumni program and its reach using the new KDIS Connect app. The participants were later divided into groups, according to the scholarship they belong to, for a briefing on course registration, requirements, and the stipend payment plan. The session ended with a Q&A session, and students had the chance to win prizes.  

Day 3: Sejong City Tour (February 3, 2023)

Students visited the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (KLHC) and the Presidential Archives as part of the city tour in Sejong. At the KLHC, students listened to presentations and slideshows on the development update and progress of the city, the modernization of the traditional housing style, and the creation of smart cities across Sejong. The students also had the opportunity to check out a walk-in presentation, architectural models, and city plans of all six districts in Sejong. 

The Presidential Archives had a lot of walk-in display exhibitions detailing Korea's leadership and progress since its creation, independence, and the evolution of its government structure post-independence. The archives contained galleries on past presidents and their tenure duration and a collection of presidential gifts. The archives also preserve disclosed and secret presidential records, such as the "Instrument of Surrender" duly signed by the representative of the Emperor of Japan on September 2, 1945, with other representatives from participating countries such as the United States, Republic of China, United Kingdom, Commonwealth of Australia, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. 

The city tour concluded the three-day orientation for new members  of the KDIS student community. The writing team was able to gather some feedback from the new students, and this is what some of them said:

Thomas Mwimba (MDP) - Zambia  

"The orientation experience at KDI was a great experience for me. I found it to be very informative, and it gave me a more detailed explanation of my course work, scholarship, and generally how to live at KDI School. I now feel ready for my course work, and I highly recommend that all new students in the incoming intakes should attend." 

Abigail Nwakanma (MIPD) - Nigeria

“The welcome address given by the dean helped make me feel welcome, and the Sejong city tour, which was the last orientation activity, was my favorite part. At the Presidential Archives, I got to see and learn quite a bit about the past presidents of South Korea, and what I particularly found most interesting was a room in the building that housed the gifts that Korea has gotten from friendly nations in the past. It was beautiful to see diverse cultural expressions of generosity in the form of gifts from different countries around the world. In all, I enjoyed the trip, and I would recommend it to any new KDIS student. Thank you, KDIS.” 

Johannes Hansen (MPM) - Denmark 

“First of all, it was great to be greeted by smiling representatives of the school who welcomed us. It was nice to put a face and voice to the different professors. It was a good introduction, which made you want to get started with the various courses. At the same time, it was a nice review of the MPM program, while time was short.”

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