Kelley School to partner with Korean university

On Tuesday, the Kelley School of Business and Sungkyunkwan University of Seoul, South Korea signed an agreement to allow students from the global business undergraduate program at SKKU to attend both universities and receive two degrees. \nThe agreement will give IU and the Kelley School a more global reach, which is something the business school strives for, said Munirpallam Venkataramanan, chairperson of the Kelley School of Business Undergraduate Program. \nThe students will take 75 of their core undergraduate credits at SKKU and take the remaining 45 elective credits at IU, according to an IU press release. Those chosen to participate will be taken from the top 1 percent of South Korea’s high schools. \nThe launch date for the program and the number of students to participate has yet to be determined, though at least 25 students will be accepted to the undergraduate program.\nBesides the undergraduate program, there will be an executive MBA program, where graduate students will receive most of their education in Seoul while also spending time at IU. \nThe executive MBA initiative will be launched as a semi-customized program for Korean electronics giant Samsung while faculty from both schools will share teaching responsibilities, according to the press release.\nIU President Michael McRobbie said in the press release that he was pleased with IU creating a partnership with such a prestigious university in South Korea.\n“It is my hope that over time, we will be able to establish even more academic partnerships in other disciplines with SKKU,” he said in the release.\nDan Smith, dean of the Kelley School of Business, said in an e-mail that the agreement will provide greater international diversity to the program.\n“This opportunity will allow our faculty to gain international executive teaching experience and will also likely open doors for research and additional executive education programs,” Smith said in the e-mail. \nSKKU was chosen because of Smith’s belief that South Korea is an important region of the world and a continued presence there is imperative. \nHelping with the agreement due to his familiarity with IU’s business program was SKKU Business School Dean Robert Klemkosky, who served for several years on the faculty at the Kelley School. \nThough IU already had an informal relationship with SKKU, which is South Korea’s second-ranked business school, the agreement’s purpose is to broaden the relationship between the two schools, according to the press release. \n“I consider this agreement to be one of the most significant events that will have a lasting impact on business education in South Korea,” said SKKU President Jung-Don Seo in a press release. “It is truly a historic event and a unique opportunity for our university.”