Have you ever experienced any troubles or inconveniences in your school life due to a lack of information? Do you want to make other graduate school friends who have similar interests but cannot? For several years, students have constantly raised complaints regarding a lack of communication with other graduate schools. The general students’ delegates continuously sought ways to promote interaction with outside students in various aspects for a more abundant school life, but these were challenging. However, as if efforts never betray, the student delegates of 2020 Fall, Jiyoung Hwang, 2022 Spring, Yeonuk Kang, and 2023 Spring, Suhyun Lee successfully connected KDI School with an application called “가방끈 Gabang-ggeun (this means bag strap in English).” This is a platform for communication and information sharing for master’s and Ph.D. students. 

First, the timetable function in the app can help you arrange the course timetable easily at one glance. Up to the present moment, the MIS was the only platform for students’ timetables. It automatically creates one according to their course registration result. Even though the MIS offers a convenient service without a doubt, the new app addressed two limitations and will be beneficial for students; first, students cannot customize the MIS timetable. Next, the course information, including the course title and professor’s name is not included in the MIS timetable. The “Gabang-ggeun” app can make up for these aspects and contribute to easier schedule management. From the 2023 Summer semester, the application offers KDIS’s course list. Students can add or delete courses freely and can complete the timetable in a few seconds. If a course that has the same schedule is already on the timetable, the app will warn you that you already have one in that time slot. Furthermore, as individuals can edit the timetable, and add the schedule manually, managing the schedule efficiently is possible. The widget also enables you to see the timetable whenever you turn on your phone’s screen.

Second, students can get loads of useful information for school life and can communicate with outside students. The community boards are divided into various aspects, such as study area, interest, and career; therefore, students can have a deeper conversation on the subject with similar interests or concerns. By talking with people from various backgrounds and environments, students can broaden their perspectives and this is helpful for them to make significant decisions for the future. Some practical tips that make your school life way easier such as tips for writing your thesis, including useful journal sites and statistics and data sources are also available. Students can also check scholarship programs.

The last is that Gabang-ggeun provides mentoring and update job vacancy information periodically. The mentors from various schools and majors are providing quality information. Without any fee, students can have a consultation on their research topic, future career and ask questions. It is a great opportunity to build a connection with seniors who are already in the field of each student’s field of interest. Moreover, the constant updates of recruitment news lighten the load of students’ job seeking and provide different and various job opportunities. 

Currently, the app is providing only in Korean but an English version is planned in the future. Even so, it is still a great community for KDI School students to use for a form of communication and for a smarter graduate school life.