The four universities on Incheon Global Campus (IGC- a multi-campus facility in Songdo) are heading in different directions in their approach to offering face-to-face classes.

As at the time of reporting, University of Utah Asia Campus (UAC) is planning to resume in-person classes on April 5th after the school building was locked down earlier this month and classes moved 100% online following the outbreak of covid-19 in a communications’ class.

It should be recalled that UAC was the only institution on IGC that began Spring semester with most classes in-person. According to the university’s chief administrative officer- Dr. Greg Hill- student-focused, face-to-face classes gives learners more opportunities to achieve their academic goals.

At George Mason University Korea (GMUK), the university’s leadership are exploring all available data (mainly from Korea’s Center from Disease Control and the Ministry of Education) and will come to a decision on whether to offer more classes in-person from April 12.

At the moment, only a handful of courses are offered through hybrid format- a rotational online/offline class arrangement. Currently, no strong push is in place to disrupt existing format, in place since last year when the pandemic hit South Korea.

State University of New York Korea (SUNY Korea) incorporating Stony Brooks University (SBU) and Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) only offer some in-person courses at FIT and its Mechanical Engineering course. All other classes are 100% online.

Although inside source claim that no date is set to alter the on-going structure, other sources believe the university’s senior administrators are likely to review at some point in mid-April. It remains to be seen if SUNY Korea (IGC’s first and largest university by student numbers) will offer more face-to-face classes in the coming weeks.

At Ghent University Global Campus (GUGC- the only university with its home campus in Europe), almost all classes are offered online. Although a science-based university, students presently access course content through pre-recorded videos (asynchronous) and in some cases, live-classes through video dialogue (synchronous).

Unconfirmed sources tell SongdoChronicle that at some point in April, the university will offer more laboratory-based classes in-person as most theory-based components in all courses are winding down.

Incheon Global Campus is a multi-billion Won project, established in 2012 as a joint project between Incheon Metropolitan Government and the Ministry of Education. According to its website, it plans to become “the best global educational hub in Northeast Asia, provid(ing) students infinite potential and possibilities to become global elites!”