On Nov. 17, 2006, Geneseo signed an agreement with Yangchung High School in South Korea. This agreement will allow a handful of selected students from the high school in Seoul to attend college at Geneseo beginning in Fall 2007.
President Christopher Dahl, assistant professor of management information systems and '88 Yangchung graduate Seong B. Lim, and Director of International Student Services Mary Hope went to Seoul in Nov. 2006 to sign a memorandum of understanding during a ceremony at the school.
The agreement that Geneseo has made with Yangchung High School is to recommend between five to 10 distinguished students each year for admission. Students that are selected will be waived from taking the U.S. Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). Instead, the selection committee at Yangchung will evaluate students based on their high school transcripts, recommendations from their advisors, scores from the Test of English as a Foreign Language, and an interview.
In return, Geneseo will grant scholarships to selected students, a summer orientation with other international students to aid students with adjusting culturally, academically and socially. Furthermore, Geneseo will provide highly personalized care to ensure adjustment and success at Geneseo. Meanwhile, applicants will attend a supplementary class at Yangchung High School in order to further assist them with English as well as a means of learning more about American culture and college to prepare them for this shift in surroundings.
"I would like to see this partnership evolving with a lot of care," said Hope. The first students who will come from Yangchung in Fall 2007 will participate in focus groups with the international student services department so as to determine what changes and additions could be made for future students.
As a graduate of Yangchung, Lim was a powerful component in the creation of the partnership between the two schools. Hope explained the significance of this connection, saying, "for an agreement of this sort, it's important to build a level of trust." Hope continued, "With Dr. Lim's ongoing relationship with Yangchung and Lim and [wife Yoorim] Choi's aid and support, we were able to understand each other better on a level that would have been more difficult without their already established relationship with Yangchung." Lim explained that this is an "innovative partnership between Yangchung High School and Geneseo" and considered it a "win-win situation."