The usually bustling roads and buildings of the beautiful campus had become a ghost town as the winter rolled over to a new spring semester. Even though some students have re-entered KAIST, the school population remains a fraction of what it was before. But the school spirit has continued to thrive online, showing that the KAIST community remains strong even through the limiting circumstances of 2020.
The beginning of the year saw the reinstatement of a full-fledged undergraduate student government body. Despite the difficult circumstances, the Undergraduate Association (UA), FLEX, carried out its responsibilities as usual. Unfortunately, it seems that 2021 will see a return to an Emergency Response Committee to oversee the various functions necessary in keeping the undergraduate society running.
Though most annual events, including the spring and fall festivals, KAIST Art and Music Festival (KAMF), and International Food Festival were cancelled, the KAIST-POSTECH Science War (Kapo-Jeon) managed to persist through virtual tournaments under the name of the 2020 Cyber Science War. KAIST’s loss equalized the total standing to nine wins each. The graduation ceremony had been delayed from February indefinitely, but graduates were finally able to celebrate their accomplishments in August through a live-streamed graduation ceremony.
Surprisingly, student online communities have seen a major shift. The previously popular KaDaeJeon on Facebook saw an exodus, reflective of Facebook’s declining popularity among Koreans; the majority of the population moved to Everytime, a Korean college community app. The platform has different “boards” for various purposes and niches and allows for easy and anonymous posting and commenting. On the international community’s side, Here at KAIST on Facebook has expanded greatly since its inception in late 2019 to become the gathering place for confessions, debates, think pieces, and more. A fair share of controversies has risen and fallen consistently for both groups, perhaps more so due to the increased online presence of the members. In addition, Ara, known as one of the first online communities in Korea, got a much-needed revamp from SPARCS, the organization responsible for creating and maintaining various online platforms for KAIST.
The biggest and most immediate changes were in education. The overnight implementation of near-complete online learning had caused overloading problems on KLMS, which were quickly addressed by the IT team. The majority of professors chose to conduct live lectures through Zoom and YouTube, while others chose to fully utilize the online learning environment through pre-recorded videos and KAIST Open Online Course (KOOC). Exams were taken remotely, by being monitored through Zoom or being open-book/open-internet. Many courses cancelled their midterms or even finals altogether, opting for other metrics such as projects or presentations.
All this led to one of the most massive and impacting changes: the widespread adoption of the pass/fail (S/U) system in many courses. Most basic-required courses and even some major-specific courses switched to the S/U system, a change welcomed by most of the students. The UA was also able to reach a negotiation with the school to allow retakes without penalty for courses from the spring semester.
Additionally, the long-planned School of Transdisciplinary Studies (STS) underwent drastic changes after failing to attract any applicants last year. The school heavily promoted the unique track through extensive presentations and marketing. Some students have voiced skepticism over the effectiveness and viability of STS despite the changes, and how many are willing to enroll next year remains to be seen.
Meanwhile, the graduate student society carried on without major disturbances. Though some labs enforced remote work under the guidance of the school, most graduate students remained or have returned to labs. A charter to improve the working conditions of the graduate students has been established, one of the many steps in bettering the difficult realities of graduate work in KAIST.
The year required every single member — professors, students, staff, and even family members — to adapt quickly. Though it wasn’t without its problems, the institution was able to think quickly on its feet and everyone contributed to make the best of the situation. 2020 showed us that KAIST has not changed in its core: people overcoming challenges again and again.