Jeonju University and Howon University Selected as Preliminary Designated Glocal Universities

1 trillion KRW in government funding over 5 years
Final results to be announced in September

Jeonju University (President Park Jinbae) and Howon University (President Kang Heeseong) announced on May 27 that they have been selected as preliminary designated Glocal Universities for 2025.

Jeonju University and Howon University were selected as preliminary designated Glocal Universities for 2025. Photo by Jeonju University

The Glocal University project is a large-scale initiative that aims to foster world-class Glocal (Global+Local) universities by selecting 30 universities outside the Seoul metropolitan area and providing 100 billion KRW in government funding over five years. A total of 81 universities competed for this project.

Jeonju University and Howon University, which participated in the project as an alliance, have set the vision of "Global K-Culture Gateway and K-Life Campus that Attracts the World." Based on this vision, they established the following goals: a campus that attracts everyone, a campus where practical skills are perfected, and a campus where achievements circulate back to the local community. Both universities are concentrating all their capabilities to connect the region with the world.

First, the campuses will be restructured around the K-Life STARdium, an experiential practice space that integrates hands-on training and entrepreneurship in four major fields: K-Food, K-Contents, K-Wellness, and K-Tech. This space will be created by remodeling the 25,000-square-meter Star Center library, a landmark of Jeonju University, to establish an open practice environment.

To present a complete model of practical education, the universities will introduce the "Edu-Enterprise Learning Model," jointly operated by university enterprises and cooperatives. Students will not only be learners but also active participants in practical training and members of the cooperatives, gaining real-world management experience from planning to operation and profit distribution.

Through this system, learning outcomes will be directly linked to market results, and a Spin-Off system will be implemented to facilitate entrepreneurship, further developing a comprehensive practical education model.

The Glocal Fund, which will be accumulated based on profits generated from experiential practice spaces, will be used to create a public-return educational ecosystem that supports local community projects as well as startups and entrepreneurship, thus reinvesting profits into the community and promoting local self-reliance.

Park Jinbae, President of Jeonju University, said, "Thanks to the support of the members of both Jeonju University and Howon University, as well as North Jeolla Special Self-Governing Province, local governments, and residents, we were able to be selected as a preliminary designated Glocal University. We will carefully discuss and reflect the opinions of our university members and do our best together with North Jeolla Province to prepare the main proposal, so that we can definitely achieve final designation as a Glocal University."

Kang Heeseong, President of Howon University, said, "Through this preliminary designation, Howon University and Jeonju University are expected to become not just academic institutions, but practical hubs of the global K-Life industry connecting the region and the world. Through the Jeonbuk-style innovation model that combines culture, tourism, and industry, we will showcase new possibilities for higher education in Korea."

Meanwhile, Jeonju University and Howon University, which have been selected as preliminary designated universities, will prepare and submit an implementation plan based on their innovation proposal for the Ministry of Education's final designation process scheduled for August. The final selection results are expected to be announced in September.