Selected two consecutive years for superb education service quality As one of the representative specialized colleges in Daedeok Valley, located in Daejeon, Korea, Daeduk College (http://www.ddc.ac.kr) is poised to help develop the skilled human resources needed for Korea's 'Silicon Valley.' The College's goal to nurture IT career specialists through substantial vocational education has given birth to Daeduk College's unique school affairs operation system that has become a model in Korea. Daeduk College currently runs a trimester system to overcome the disadvantages of the two-semester system that most Korean colleges and universities adopt. As Dr. Sung-dong Han, the president of Daeduk College and a member of the Presidential Committee on Education Innovation, pointed out that the current two semester system has problems such as an excessive study burden due to excessive curriculum workload, the frequent loss of school hours, cramming of education, and special difficulties in nurturing career specialists that the industrial world demands. The president stressed that the Daeduk College model lays emphasis on organizing substantive tailor-made education courses, enabling thorough and intensive specialized education. Moreover, by strengthening project school work and team teaching instruction techniques, the college is improving teaching as well as learning methods. In conjunction with the launch of the Daedeok R&D special zone, Dr. Han expects that Daeduk College will contribute significantly to covering this zone's manpower needs, since the College educates 544 students in eight specialized school courses such as microrobotics, mobile content, and computer networking. In particular, the president said he believes there is ample scope for Daeduk College to assist in the rapid development of Daedeok R&D Valley. What is especially noteworthy is that Daeduk College is for the first time in Korea offering 'first rafter' education, which nurtures students who did not get high marks in the national college entrance examination to become specialized manpower to contribute to our society. In other words, the president said: 'If the mission of a prestigious science and research-oriented university lies in nurturing youth with excellent talent to be the leading lights in our society, then a practical, vocational education-centered college is needed to nurture youth with average talent to be the rafters of our society.' Dr Han went on to explain that such rafter education at Daeduk College can bring great benefits, particularly to the advancement of Daedeok Valley's R&D. Special College strong in employment The Daeduk Guardian program, another noteworthy feature of Daeduk College's education system, is designed to assist in course guidance and to foster specialized ability through close bonding between professor and student. This Guardian program supports community activities and operates an employment guidance program. The program aims to create a Daeduk community of professors, students, and graduates and encourages activity programs such as discussions, mountain climbing and birthday parties. For the employment guidance program, Daeduk Guardian offers all sorts of special lectures related to employment, staged interviews, and authentication program education. The College also operates a practice semester which runs a joint internship program between students, professors, and the industrial sector. This practice semester helps students select a company that suits their aptitudes. Through this practice semester, professors can gain insights into students' abilities and aptitudes, and industrial circles can identify their best college specialization field. Moreover, Daeduk College is enhancing its competitiveness through programs such as Daeduk CUBE (Change Up the Best Education), GJT (Guardian and Job Training) system, and cyber education programs. Thanks to these dedicated efforts, Daeduk College has been recognized by MOCIE's Korean Agency for Technology and Standards as a superb college in terms of service quality in education for two consecutive years. 'Accordingly,' Daeduk's president added, 'our College will come to be recognized officially as a superb college in terms of education service quality over four years by July 2007.' Dr. Han prides himself on this progress. MOCIE's assessment evaluates the president's leadership, education service quality plan and strategy, education information utilization, and education service operation, human resources, and organizational management. As the Daedeok R&D special zone project began in earnest from July 29, 2005, Daedeok R&D Valley has made a promising start with a far-reaching vision to create high quality production worth approx. 30 trillion won in 2015, Han mentioned. He further emphasized that as a competitive college located in the center of Daedeok R&D special zone, which is emerging as a growth engine for the national economy, Daeduk College has been devoting all its energy to developing new brand school curriculums with priority given to technical education to nurture IT industry manufacturing manpower, an indispensable element for the activation of Daedeok R&D special zone. As a result, Daeduk College is proving its true worth as a specialized college which is strong in meeting the employment needs of the IT sector.