25/11/2009
Tokai University holds symposium, “How to Truly Internationalize Japan’s Universities”
On October 26th, a symposium hosted by the Head Office of International Affairs, Tokai University (HIAT), “How to Truly Internationalize Japan’s Universities” was held at the Tokai University Club in Tokyo. HIAT is an organization that was established in 2005 at three Tokai University campuses, Tokai University, Kyushu Tokai University and Hokkaido Tokai University (In 2008, the three universities were integrated under one banner as Tokai University) as part of an organizational reform of the existing institutional structure in order to realize more dynamic international activities via the efficient management of resources and the consolidation of tasks related to international activities. After being granted a “Strategic Fund for Establishing International Headquarters in Universities” by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), HIAT has engaged in various efforts to facilitate its international activities.
One of the symposium’s goals is to investigate how well Tokai University, which is a large-scale university with 10 campuses nationwide, has been able to conduct its activities under a unified international strategy. Its concrete aims were to identify the efforts of the last 4 years, to clarify its problematic areas, and to introduce strategies designed to overcome these issues. In so doing, the symposium hoped to promote broader discussion of the university’s internationalization as well as the future of higher education in the country. In addition to faculty members, approximately 40 people from industries and business participated in the proceedings in various capacities.
The symposium was opened by a lecture titled “Assessment of Efforts to Strengthen the Head Office of International Affairs, and the Future” by Vice Chancellor for International Affairs, Kiyoshi Yamada. He introduced HIAT’s activities to the attendees as follows: “We have focused on making a shift from an emphasis on expanding the quantity of international exchange to improving quality. For this, we have created foreign bases and training programs for instructors; and have expanded our database in order to better serve as gateway for foreign exchange students and foreign researchers.” Vice Chancellor Yamada also pointed out some problems that HIAT currently faces, and analyzed ongoing strategies such as the participation in international conferences and efforts to launch an international research fund project. Following Vice Chancellor Yamada, Professor Ichiro Hirose of the Tama University Graduate School and 3 other lecturers took the podium and spoke on a variety of topics, such as the future of the internationalization of universities and the direction of Japanese higher education; as well as efforts to cultivate personnel and university education promotion projects. Participants engaged in lively debate over concrete questions that were posed, such as “How should we best utilize the personnel who will be responsible for developing the university education promotion program?”
Speakers and their topics:
Kiyoshi Yamada, Tokai University, Vice Chancellor for International Affairs and Executive Director of the Head Office of International Affairs
“Assessment of Efforts to Strengthen the Head Office of International Affairs, and the Future”
Ichiro Hirose, Tama University Graduate School
“Sportsmanship and Businessman-ship”
Hironao Ashida, Institute for Vocational College Information Technology Education, Managing Director
“What is Diplomacy? Understanding the Central Council for Education’s report, ‘Gakushi Katei no Kouchiku ni Mukete’”
Kanji Miyaji, EDUCA & QUEST, President and Corporate Officer
“The Effectiveness of Quest Education Programs for the Education of Foreign Exchange Students”
