Employment System for Foreign Full-time Teaching Staff
1. Procedures for new appointment
A. KAIST receives application from foreign candidates for teaching positions in no specific recruitment period but at any time when need arises. Applicants are requested to submit the application form, resume and recommendation letters (three copies) as well as research and lecture proposals.
B. The Faculty Search Committee at relevant department/major will conduct preliminary screening on the basis of submitted documents.
※ Candidates for new adjunct professors & full-time professors at KAIST Institute will be screened jointly by KAIST Institute and the related department/major.
C. Applicants will be tested through seminars at the department/major; discussion of their research proposals with professors in the related department/major; interview with department/major professors; and evaluation of English presentation ability.
※ The Director of KAIST Institute & related KI professor will participate in the interviews with the candidates for adjunct professor and full-time professor positions at KAIST Institute.
D. The responsible professor at department/major will recommend the chosen applicant to the Dean after a decision is made by the department/major Personnel Advisory Committee, and the Dean conveys the recommendation to the Office of Administration. (Selected candidates for KAIST Institute should be recommended to the Office of Administration via the Director of KAIST Institute.) Recommendation for new employment may be referred to the Faculty Affairs Committee for a review when the chairman of the committee deems it necessary. Applicants may be interviewed by the KAIST president at the time of department interviews.
2. Salary and other benefits
A. Annual salary: Salaries and other various incentives are offered in accordance with KAIST's annual salary system.
B. Office/laboratory will be assigned by the department.
C. Master’s and Ph.D. students will be assigned by the department. At least two students receiving full scholarships from the school will be assigned to each foreign professor.
D. KAIST provides resettlement/research allowance of 200 million won to 250 million won during the period of two years from the beginning of employment plus the rest of the year. The allowance will be released upon approval of the research proposal by the Vice President of Operations (Provost) via the department chair. When requested, the resettlement/research allowance can be released 6 months in advance of arrival at KAIST. Research subsidies can be released to post-doctorate research fellows. Undergraduate students can be given a maximum of 500,000 won a month and up to 20 million won throughout the research period. The research allowance may be used for laboratory relocation and installation of equipment. Miscellaneous expenses, including travel expenses and cost for office supplies, are allowed up to 20 million won. Resettlement allowances can be released for receipts of up to 1 million won.
Resettlement/research allowances should be returned to the university in case the newly-appointed professor resigns before the expiration of the contract period. Foreign full-time professors should submit their research reports to the department chair or the head of the organization they belonged to within 1 month after the end of the research period.
E. Housing will be provided at KAIST residences or in the form of up to 100 million won as the key money for the usual two-year lease of houses or apartments.
3. Classification of teaching staff
A. Full-time faculty consists of professors, associate professors, assistant professors, full-time instructors, chair professors and distinguished professors. Chair professors are those who are financially supported with the interest from donations by organizations and individuals or with regular contributions by organizations or individuals. Distinguished professors are those who have achieved world-recognized research results or made great social services contributing to the development of the nation and KAIST.
B. Non-tenure track faculty includes practice professors, visiting professors, research professors and lecturers.Practice professors are non-regular professors who are engaged in research, experiments and lecture on a full-time basis. Visiting professors are part-time professors who are invited by KAIST for a certain period for teaching and research. Research professor are full-time teachers employed for special research projects of KAIST. Lecturers are employed for lectures, experiments or research guidance on a part-time basis.
4. Assessment of teaching staff
A. KAIST has established the following principles for professor assessment:
- Assessment is made for achievements in teaching, research and social services.
- Assessment of academic achievements is made about the qualitative level, not by the number of
patents or research papers.
- Faculty Affairs Committee may request internal/external assessment by domestic/foreign experts to
ensure correct appraisal of professors’ performances.
B. Achievement in education is assessed by the importance of lecture subject, results of students’ appraisal, the total number of lecture credits and the number of students in classes. Developing new teaching methods and materials and producing large numbers of students getting higher academic degrees earn good assessments.
C. Assessment of research activities is made on how many articles have been published by internationally renowned journals. Other points of consideration include: translation or authoring of books, domestic/foreign patents and participation in international science symposium. number of research contracts, research expenses, the total length of research hours, and most importantly, research results. Receipt of academic awards and activities in international academic conferences will be advantage.
D. Contributions and social services cover activities in and outside the university. The execution of administrative duties and the winning of awards are assessed to see the potential of contribution to the development of relevant departments or the university.
E. Assessment papers are collected from within the university and outside experts, including foreign scholars. Each professor under review has to prepare twice more assessment papers from outside the university than from KAIST faculty members; for example, a full professor facing reappointment procedure has to produce 6 assessment papers from outside experts and 3 from domestic scholars.
5. Promotion, reappointment & tenure position
A. Payment raise can be made when a professor gave lectures for 6 credits each year, produced at least 1 research paper and won approval from the head of department.
B. Faculty contracts are for a maximum of three years, either in the first signing or for the extension of employment.
C. Promotion:
An assistant professor is qualified for promotion to associate professor when he or she had served for more than 2 years as an assistance professor and spent four years at a recognized educational institution for more than 4 years after winning a doctorate degree. An associate professor is qualified for promotion to full professor after serving 4 years as an associate professor and 10 years after winning doctorate. A professor has to retire after seven years as an assistant professor and an associate professor should leave the university after 9 years without promotion.
D. Tenure position
Professors can apply for tenure position 8 years after being appointed to the KAIST faculty.
E. Professors should submit requests for reappointment, promotion and tenure position first to the department and Personnel Affairs Advisory Committee. Then they should get recommendation from the college Dean, university President and the KAIST Board of Trustees.
6. Sabbatical & exemption from lecture duty
A. One can apply for a sabbatical year after four years’ service with KAIST. Sabbatical is given with approval from the department chair and the Personnel Affairs Advisory Committee.
B. Professors are entitled to seek lecture exemption (for 1 year) after 6 years’ employment.
7. Additional job & activities outside KAIST
A. KAIST full-time faculty members can take a leave of absence from KAIST and work for a different organization for a fixed length of time, with approval from the university President. The procedure begins with application to the department advisory committee and completes with approvals from the Dean of the college and Vice President for Operations (Provost).
B. Professors can engage in off-the-campus activities 1 day a week during the semester and for up to 90 days during summer and winter recesses in a year with the approval from the department chair. Such activities should be limited to industry-academy cooperation programs and work to promote education and research and should not impede the operations of KAIST