- The founding spirit of Youngdong University is described as “the lifelong anguish reflecting the lack of proper school education” being the source of inspiration for the “tireless effort” made at the personal level “to build a cornerstone for learning,” in hopes that “those with ideals shall cultivate the truths and become the light that lifts darkness and illuminates the world.” Thus, it can be divided into three stages: “practice,” “outlook (for society and its future),” and “growth.” The university Core values, purpose of education, educational objectives and ideals for students have been developed based on the concepts of “practice,” “outlook,” and “growth” embodied in the founding spirit.
- The university Core values, “Searching for Truth” and “Serving Society,” are common philosophies and values for all universities and societies. However, at YDU, these concepts are not only part of our philosophies and values, but also the Core values we have developed based on our founding spirit. To be more specific, “Searching for Truth” is inherent in the statement, “those with ideals shall cultivate the truths and become the light that lifts darkness and illuminates the world,’ while “Serving Society” is to be achieved through practice and growth toward the betterment of society. In other words, YDU and its students are to embark on a journey to serve society by searching for truth, with the founding spirit as a source of inspiration.
- Our purpose of education is, in essence, the extensions of our founding spirit and Core values. To explain, we help students “master creative intellect” and be “equipped with the qualifications of a leader” to ultimately contribute to “national development and betterment of mankind.” This is specifically based on our motto to “[serve] society” by “searching for truth.” The said educational objective conforms to the “purpose of universities” set forth in Article 28 of the Higher Education Act, and it is prescribed as Article 1 of the School Regulations of YDU.
- The four educational objectives have been developed by providing more specific details in regard to the aforementioned founding spirit, university Core values and purpose of education. The first and third educational objectives, which are to foster “creative individuals” and “practical professionals,” were developed from the purpose of helping students “master creative intellect” and be “equipped with the qualifications of a leader in advanced industrialized society,” which stem from the motto, “Searching for Truth.”
On the other hand, the second and fourth objectives, which is to foster “open-minded global individuals” who can be of “service to society,” were developed from the purpose of “contributing to national development and betterment of mankind,” stemming from the motto, “Serving Society.”
- YDU is striving to foster “Y-square students,” equipped with all six competencies, in order to attain our educational objectives. “Y-square students” refer to future-oriented individuals with the six key virtues, ranging from “character” to “creativity.” Here, “Y,” as the initial of Youngdong University, not only represents the University, but also symbolizes progressive and future-oriented individuals who never stop asking “Why?” and try to solve problems creatively. “Y2,” on the other hand,” means that an individual is equipped with a pair of each of the qualifications represented by the acronym “WAI,” another notation of “Y” based on its pronunciation. The six virtues of “Y-square students” represented by WAI are “Well-formed Character,” “World Citizenship,” “Allegiance to Society”, “All-Around Useful Knowledge”, “Intelligent Specialist,” and “Innovative Creativity.”
- The six core competencies of “Y-square individuals” are structured as follows:
“Well-formed Character” and “All-Around Useful Knowledge” are the strong foundations for the attainment of our educational objectives, while the remaining four competencies are built upon those foundations. Here, the two fundamental competencies, i.e. “Well-formed Character” and “All-Around Useful Knowledge,” encompass the founding spirit, Core values, and purpose of education of YDU.
- The “tireless effort” made at the personal level to ease the “lifelong anguish reflecting the lack of proper school education” to achieve growth, beyond the personal level, for society and its future, described in the statement of the founding spirit, is the essence of “Well-formed Character.”
- As revealed in our founding spirit and university Core values, “Searching for Truth” is not the “purpose,” but is a measure to serve society. As such, an ideal YDU student is a “talented individual with all-around useful knowledge who can contribute to his/her country and mankind.”
- The four competencies built upon the aforementioned foundations are oriented toward the educational objectives. In other words, the pursuit of “Innovative Creativity” is oriented toward “[fostering] creative individuals,” “World Citizenship” toward “[fostering] open-minded global individuals,” “Intelligent Specialist” toward “[fostering] well-rounded professionals,” and “Allegiance to Society” toward “service to society.”
- The relationship between qualities set forth for “Y-square individuals” and our educational curriculum is explained below.
- The two fundamental competencies, i.e. “Well-formed Character” and “All-Around Useful Knowledge,” serve as the starting point for refinement and specialty education.
- Of the remaining four competencies, “World Citizenship” and “Allegiance to Society” are achieved through refinement education, while “Intelligent Specialist” and “Innovative Creativity” are achieved through specialty education.
- Also, the first and foremost competency, “Well-formed Character,” serves as the starting point of the curriculum, and the final competency, “Innovative Creativity,” is the end point or the destination.
As such, our founding spirit, Core values, purpose of education and educational objectives as well as the ideal qualities for our students are interconnected with one another. A summary of the explanations provided above is as follows:
First,the founding spirit of YDU is to make a tireless effort at the personal level to ease anguish and achieve growth, beyond the personal level, for society and its future.
Second,the motto of YDU is “serving society” by “searching for truth” with the founding spirit as the starting point. This is more specified in the purpose of education.
Third,in relation to the four educational objectives of YDU, fostering “creative individuals” and “practical professionals” is based on the “[search] for truth,” while fostering “open-minded global individuals” who provide “service to society” is aimed toward “serving society.”
Fourth,of the six core competencies idealized for our students, “Well-formed Character” and “All-Around Useful Knowledge” serve as the foundations on which the other four competencies are built. The four competencies are oriented toward the educational objectives. Also, the six competencies have been conceptualized based on our founding spirit, Core values, purpose of education and educational objectives.
In order to foster students in line with our university Core values, purpose of education and educational objectivities, YDU provides education and training as follows:
First,YDU fosters creative individuals, equipped with extensive knowledge that is of practical use. Thus, the educational curricula focus on acquisition of practical knowledge, and this has resulted in high employment rate for our students.
Second,YDU fosters open-minded individuals who want to serve society and mankind. This is not only reflected in the educational curricula, but also pursued through domestic and overseas volunteer activities.
Third,YDU has formulated a development plan, “Value Up Vision 2020,” in order to provide even better education to its students.