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Institutionalizing Early Employment Contract Departments… Rising as a Central Region Hub Model Based on RISE

University regulatory innovation is not merely about relaxing regulations; it is a question of how to connect industrial demand with the educational system. Hoseo University received the Minister of Education Award at the ‘2025 University Regulatory Innovation Excellence Awards’ hosted by the Ministry of Education for flexibly redesigning its school regulations and academic systems. This signifies that the university’s performance in practical institutional reform linked with regional industries has been officially recognized by the central government.

Hoseo University received the Minister’s Award at the ceremony held on December 29 at the Ministry of Education meeting room in the Government Complex Sejong. The Ministry of Education promoted the ‘2025 University Regulatory Innovation Excellence Case Contest’ to stimulate autonomous innovation in universities and spread changes in the field. Out of 23 cases from universities nationwide, five universities were finaly selected through expert evaluation and online public screening. Among them, Hoseo University received high praise for its case of region-based academic system innovation.

Hoseo University’s core achievement lies in the institutionalization of Early Employment Contract Departments at the undergraduate level. Previously, the university operated retraining-type contract departments centered on graduate schools. However, following the launch of the RISE (Regional Innovation System & Education) project, the university transitioned to a structure that nurtures regionally settled talent starting from the undergraduate stage in cooperation with the Chungnam RISE Center. Accordingly, new contract departments in high-tech and strategic industrial fields were established, including the Department of Semiconductor Display (25 students), the Department of Advanced Industrial AI Engineering (20 students), and the Department of Logistics and Distribution (20 students).

In particular, it is noteworthy that the university revised its school regulations and related rules to reflect the characteristics of contract departments where students balance early employment with their studies, establishing a legal framework that applies special exemptions for graduation periods. This was evaluated as a representative case of easing the rigidity of existing university regulations, allowing students to be deployed for practical work in industrial fields while ensuring their right to learn.

The university did not stop there but established a dedicated organization that integrates academic administration, industry-academic cooperation, and student management through organizational restructuring. Furthermore, it improved systems related to operating expenses to lower the barriers to entry for participating in contract departments and built a structure that alleviates the financial burden on industrial companies. The fact that the university overhauled its institutional, organizational, and financial structures simultaneously was evaluated to have enhanced the completeness of the case as a regulatory innovation model.

광고

Through these institutional reforms, Hoseo University has established practical, work-oriented curricula linked with companies in regional strategic industries, such as TK Elevator Korea and Wooik Semiconductor. The university has secured an educational operation system that can respond immediately to industrial demands while reducing the uncertainty of manpower procurement for companies.

Kang Il-gu, President of Hoseo University, stated that the university has been fostering talent that substantially supports regional industrial competitiveness by refining curricula jointly with companies. He added that the university would continue to concentrate its capabilities on nurturing talent who will settle in the region and grow together in line with the purpose of RISE. This award is significant in that Hoseo University did not merely relax regulations but designed undergraduate education, industrial demand, and regional settlement into a single institutional structure. It is evaluated as a case that presents an execution model for regional innovation as a hub university in the central region.

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