Daegu Cyber University began to usher in a new era when it was authorized to be an advanced 4-year university by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology last October 30. Since 2001, when it was designated as a life-long educational institution, Daegu Cyber University (DCU) has devoted itself to giving students, old and young, rich and poor, opportunities to learn. The authorization by the Ministry can be interpreted as the outcome of this devotion and as a dream come true for all personnel working at Daegu Cyber University.

 

Since the new era has started, DCU opened two new departments to meet the demands from new students. The two are the Rehabilitation Welfare Department and the Regional Social Development Department. They are the first of their kind across the country. DCU expects that the two departments will be signature departments like others in DCU. The school also has plans to reorganize its Remote Education Center, a sub-educational body, to become a more competitive educational institution. In this context, the institution is trying to reach agreements with other remote education centers to exchange marks in cultural subjects. If partners are willing to do so, they will have a mutually beneficial relationship in saving on costs that would be spent on launching cultural subjects redundantly. For students, they can have better chances to take various subjects.

DCU will be able to establish a graduate school next year and to participate in various research projects that the government launches. This means that DCU will compete not only with other cyber universities and but also with offline universities. In order to stay competitive, DCU has no choice but to keep working as hard as it has so far, and become more competitive in services and management.

As we are living in a knowledge-based society, the role of cyber-universities is becoming more important. Cyber universities, unlike offline universities, can provide an unlimited educational environment to those who demand it. Technologies have evolved to the point that they can let education providers open colleges and universities online. Broadband networks and electronic gadgets that provide seamless uploads and downloads of files and videos have helped cyber education to be more stable and competitive. On this background, cyber universities can also supply new knowledge and academic essays in real time to students and professors. They can even provide some experimental subjects for students.

 

In the near future, cyber universities will play a pivotal role in advanced education in Korean society.

 

DCU has developed and introduced some tools to give learning opportunities to the deaf. Their sign language content is the first among cyber universities. The deaf have historically suffered less access to education and learning than the non-deaf. Numerous demands have rushed the DCU to create these tools, and other rivals have requested cooperation with the DCU. The programs for the handicapped are designed to get along with DCU's effort to specialize in social welfare education. Art therapy, behavior therapy, and language therapy are subjects of DCU's own. Students in other majors have the opportunity to earn a certificate to become a therapist because students can take two majors. For this advantage the entrance competition ratio is very high and the enrollment period ends earlier than one would imagine. The Play Therapy Department (PTD) is also one of the departments that students rush in to fill. The PTD is the first course of its kind in which professors teach students how to cure patients with play. PTD is going to provide an international license in coordination with the well-established international academic association.

DCU will not limit its horizon to Korea. Cyber universities can be used from everywhere around the globe. You can get access to them day and night. Globalization is one of the goals the DCU has set. It has exerted its effort to link with other universities around the world. One example is the agreement with Nova Southeastern University in the US. The two have agreed to exchange marks and degrees in their doctorate and master's programs. Edith Cowen University in Australia and Yanbian Education University in China are also partners. It has established close ties with Thai Nguyen University in Vietnam to broaden mutual cooperation in education, research and publication activities. At present, Daegu Cyber University has been working on projects with eighty-three industrial and business partners. DCU will also work for Korean overseas adoptees who want to have a chance to learn more about Korea. It is noteworthy that a lot of people on missionary work in foreign countries have enrolled in studies on DCU's site.

 

DCU has finalized its long-term and mid-term plans to become a Harvard in on-line education. The long-term goal is to enable students to have access to foreign universities with which DCU has ties for mutual recognition of degrees. If students can get degrees from foreign universities, they do not have to go abroad to study. DCU's dream is to see students from all over the world study in DCU's and in other foreign universities' cyber programs. Dr. Young-Sae Lee has been President of DCU since its establishment. He has endeavored to realize his ideal of education, which is captured in the phrase "embracing the world with love and devotion."

 

He has emphasized that all management should be in favor of students. Student first services are the motto of the school. "In order to make the best cyber university I have asked all school personnel to evaluate students' academic achievements strictly but to be kind in administration services," added President Lee. "I think that makes students recommend DCU to others."

President Lee is a Christian. Before he was inaugurated as president of DCU, he was said to get down on his knees to pray to God. He has long dreamt of opening an educational institution for the underprivileged people and the weak in society who have less opportunity for education and learning. He prayed for God to give him the power to make the dream come true. That is why he set a motto: Daegu Cyber University is the school that embraces the world with love and devotion.