The University of Seoul (UOS) offers an English version of its official website to international students. Ever since it became a member of the International Student Exchange Program (ISEP) in May 2017, UOS has signed bilateral exchange agreements with 259 universities across 52 countries around the world. Considering the students from these countries, it offers two official websites: one in Korean, and another in English, for the incoming international students. A university’s official website plays a significant role in students’ college lives. They can avail information about the facilities on campus, or programs offered by a school. Besides, the crucial reason for a school website’s importance is that notices from various departments are uploaded on it. For instance, essential updates on course registration are always uploaded on the website before a semester begins.
However, the UOS website’s English version fails to attract international students. Student A, who is from France, said, “I rarely visit the website. It just does not have enough information.” It is ironic that a website designed for international students does not have many visitors.
The most noticeable difference between the English and Korean websites is the number of banners on display. The Korean website has six banners, each linked to further pages of the UOS’s admission office, portal system, and personal portfolio system called UOStory, among others. However, the English website only has four banners. [1] One of them is linked to the Office of International Affairs (OIA), which provides a variety of information for international students. While OIA webpages offer notices written in English for exchange students, those for regularly enrolled international students who are pursuing degrees in UOS are written mostly in Korean. Student A said that while she does check the OIA website and UOS official website from time to time, it is not easy for her to get information as much as she wants.
As the COVID-19 pandemic undeniably comes to an end, even more international students are expected. It is time that the UOS develops a valid platform for international students to avail necessary information, instead of its superficial and partially translated English platform.
[1] After this article was published, OIA said that the notices written in Korean are only for international students who are regularly enrolled in degree programs, and notices for international exchange students are always written in English. Although these two different notices are on the same webpage, they are for different groups of students. The UOS Times sincerely apologizes for any inconvenience and confusion this article caused.