The PNU President’s Farewell Ceremony Is Just Around the Corner

The Farewell ceremony to conclude the term of office of Pusan National University (PNU)’s president, Cha Jeong-In, will be held at the Main Administration Building on May 10th. It has been confirmed that the appointment process for the next PNU president is in progress.

On May 3rd, the Division of General Affairs announced that President Cha Jeong-In's farewell ceremony will be held in the conference room at the Main Administration Building, starting at 10:30am, on May 10th. On May 11th, President Cha will conclude his four-year term as a president, which began in May 2020. About 250 people, including the deans, faculty, and student representatives, are expected to attend the inauguration ceremony. After the event, attendees will have lunch at the remodeled Moonchang Hall. 

Presidential approval for the appointment of the 22nd PNU president is expected to be accomplished early this month. The appointment of a national university’s president starts with the recommendation of nominees by the university to the MOE. Then, the candidate is considered at Cabinet meetings and finally appointed by the president. Choi Jae-Weon (Prof. of Mechanical Engineering, PNU) was elected as the first candidate for the presidential appointment with voting result of 51.09% in the presidential runoff, held in February. According to the President Appointment Recommendation Committee (PARC), on March 18th, PNU recommended the first and second priority presidential candidates to the MOE based on the presidential election after conducting research ethics verification of them.

In the phone call with “Channel PNU”, the MOE’s General Services Division said, “It is difficult to talk about the schedule or content of the appointment yet.” Regarding the appointment schedule, an official from the PARC said, “I understand that an official letter will arrive around early May.”

The inauguration ceremony will be held as soon as the appointment is completed. The Division of General Affairs said, “As this requires approval from the MOE and the President, we cannot yet determine the schedule in advance. Preparations for the inauguration ceremony will likely proceed after the inauguration is confirmed.” The inauguration ceremony of the 21st president was held in July of the year of appointment.

Reporter You Seung-Hyun

Translated by Eum Ji-Ho