Schreiner University delegation signs four partnership agreements during South Korea visit

A Schreiner University delegation led by President Charlie McCormick returned last month from an eight-day trip to South Korea, where the university signed new academic partnership agreements with three institutions and renewed a long-standing relationship with a fourth.

The March 16-24 visit produced five-year student exchange agreements with Soongsil University in Seoul, Keimyung University in Daegu and Seoul Women’s University, and renewed a cooperative agreement with Hannam University in Daejeon that dates to 2014. Under the exchange arrangements, Schreiner students may study at the partner institutions for a semester or academic year, paying tuition to Schreiner while living and studying abroad.

The partnerships are grounded in shared Presbyterian heritage. Soongsil and Schreiner both operate within the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) tradition, and the Keimyung agreement includes access to the university’s Korean Culture Summer Camp and language immersion programs. The Seoul Women’s University agreement emphasizes digital learning, including access to online Korean language coursework.

McCormick was joined on the trip by Provost Russell Frohardt, Director of International Relations Dongwoo Lee, Exercise Science and Sport Management Chair Matt Robinson, Global Society Coordinator Regina Gordon, board of trustees member Page Foshee and Schreiner alumna Autumn Cortez.

Lee, who coordinated the trip over the course of a year, also has a personal connection to the visit’s spiritual dimension. Cortez, a recent Schreiner graduate, is currently serving a one-year term in South Korea through the PC(USA)’s Young Adult Volunteer program — a placement Lee helped facilitate.

The delegation also attended a Sunday service at Saemoonan Presbyterian Church in Seoul, the first Presbyterian church established in Korea, and toured its history museum. Lee and the church’s senior pastor, Sanghak Lee, are longtime friends who studied together at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California.

McCormick said the trip reinforced Schreiner’s commitment to pairing its faith-based mission with forward-looking academic priorities, noting that the South Korean institutions visited have placed artificial intelligence at the center of their curricula.

“The global bridge established during this visit will provide our students with transformative opportunities in faith, culture, and technology,” McCormick said.