Twelve leading universities have agreed to establish a forum of their presidents to discuss switching the start of the academic year to fall to conform with educational institutions overseas, the University of Tokyo said Thursday.
One of the university's seven executive vice presidents, Takao Shimizu, made the announcement during a news conference to unveil the final report by an in-house panel on switching the start of its academic year from spring to fall.
Among the 12 are 10 national universities — the University of Tokyo, Hokkaido University, Tohoku University, the University of Tsukuba, Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo Institute of Technology, known as Tokyo Tech, Nagoya University, Kyoto University, Osaka University and Kyushu University.
The other two — Waseda University and Keio University — are private.
The panel said it filed the final report with Junichi Hamada, president of the University of Tokyo.
In the report, the panel called for studies on implementing fall enrollment and establishing a fresh scholarship system for students affected by the change.
The panel called for cooperating with other universities to achieve the change, noting the need to prepare activities for students during the six months between graduation from high school in March and enrollment in universities in September.
It also noted the need to review various national examinations.
The panel said there would be many difficulties for a single university to switch to fall enrollment and urged the University of Tokyo not to jump to a hasty conclusion.
The school plans to set up a formal in-house council for full-fledged discussions on whether to make the switch.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120330a8.html
Friday, March 30, 2012
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Vocational students learn about working in Japan
Hundreds of students from across Greater Jakarta participated in a talk show touting Japanese language study and working in Japan on Wednesday.
“They are prepared to work when they complete their education,” Japan Foundation chief program officer Apin Supinah said on the sidelines of the talk show event in South Jakarta on Wednesday.
At the talk show, more than 130 students from 30 vocational high schools discussed jobs in Japan in the hospitality, tourism and engineering sectors.
“The students were more interested in engineering and mechanics,” Apin said.
The Japan Foundation has held the talk show annually since 2003 to promote the study of Japanese to high school and vocational high school students.
“We are showing the students about the real experiences that they will face by the time they graduate. The schools provide them with theory; we are teaching what their schools do not,” Apin said.
Earlier this month, the foundation invited the Japanese embassy to discuss opportunities to study in Japan with students of local high schools and Islamic boarding schools. (riz)
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/03/28/vocational-students-learn-about-working-japan.html
“They are prepared to work when they complete their education,” Japan Foundation chief program officer Apin Supinah said on the sidelines of the talk show event in South Jakarta on Wednesday.
At the talk show, more than 130 students from 30 vocational high schools discussed jobs in Japan in the hospitality, tourism and engineering sectors.
“The students were more interested in engineering and mechanics,” Apin said.
The Japan Foundation has held the talk show annually since 2003 to promote the study of Japanese to high school and vocational high school students.
“We are showing the students about the real experiences that they will face by the time they graduate. The schools provide them with theory; we are teaching what their schools do not,” Apin said.
Earlier this month, the foundation invited the Japanese embassy to discuss opportunities to study in Japan with students of local high schools and Islamic boarding schools. (riz)
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/03/28/vocational-students-learn-about-working-japan.html
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
PHILADELPHIA based university's Japan campus rebounds after quake
Study-abroad enrollment at Temple University's campus in Tokyo is rebounding from dips seen in the year after a massive earthquake and tsunami ravaged parts of Japan, according to school officials.
Just over a year ago, Temple Japan was facing the most frantic days in its history following the magnitude-9.0 quake, deadly tidal wave and nuclear reactor meltdown. The disaster on March 11, 2011, killed more than 19,000 people and forced hundreds of thousands into temporary housing.
While the campus is about 230 miles from the devastation, the events severely jolted students and staff, both physically and mentally. Temple Japan dean Bruce Stronach described weeks of high-stress days filled with powerful aftershocks, logistical challenges and countless middle-of-the-night calls with officials at the university's main campus in Philadelphia, which is 13 hours behind Tokyo.
"You really get to see what other people are made of," Stronach said. "The people who go through it with you, you bond with in a way that you wouldn't ordinarily."
Temple opened its Japan campus in 1982, making it the oldest and largest foreign university in Japan. It now serves about 3,400 students, including study abroad, corporate education, local Japanese and "direct admits" — students from about 60 nations who apply specifically to that campus for various degree programs.
Though Temple's facilities were found to be structurally sound after the quake, classes were temporarily canceled. Stronach said some students, staff and faculty left Japan for their home countries. Study-abroad programs were canceled after the U.S. State Department issued a travel warning for Japan due to radiation concerns.
The university worked feverishly to help all students finish the semester wherever they chose, including at other institutions or through online coursework.
Erik Jacobs, 21, was among the study-abroad students who returned to Temple in Philadelphia. The junior political science major from Chambersburg, Pa., got to spend only about two months in Tokyo, but said the abbreviated experience ultimately "expanded and invigorated" his interest in the culture. He is grateful to be unhurt and plans to return.
"I consider myself very fortunate (that) all I lost was a month to study in Japan," Jacobs said.
All told, Temple Japan suspended academic programs for about three weeks. Yet courses ended up being completed with only a one-week extension of the semester. The annual commencement ceremony, with 270 graduates, was held as originally scheduled.
But the disaster occurred during the recruiting season for study-abroad, timing that Stronach described as "a double-whammy." Last fall — about six months after the crisis known in Japan as 3/11 — the number of study-abroad students on campus dropped by about half, from 63 to 32.
Those numbers are beginning to rebound. The campus is currently hosting 44 study-abroad students, compared with 69 last spring when the crisis hit, Temple officials said. The numbers for summer study-abroad look to be higher than pre-quake levels.
The newest challenge is the strong yen, which Stronach said makes Temple Japan expensive for direct-admit students coming from outside the country. Tuition currently is about $17,400 per year.
But Stronach said new recruitment strategies seem to be helping. Enrollment last fall was down 16 percent from fall 2009, a decline that could also be partly quake-related. This summer's figure is expected to be nearly the same as summer 2010, which preceded the disaster, he said.
Overall, the number of American students studying in Japan has more than doubled to nearly 6,200 in the decade ending 2009-10, according to the U.S.-based Institute of International Education. Those pre-quake statistics are the most recent available.
"Students don't spin the globe and randomly come to Japan," Kyle Cleveland, an associate professor of sociology at Temple in Tokyo, wrote in an email. "They would not be here if they did not have genuine interest and in many cases, a long-term commitment to learning about the culture."
Desmon Hickson, a 20-year-old computer engineering major from Baltimore, wrote in an email last fall that he's glad he went to Temple Japan, despite initial fears about the lingering effects from 3/11.
"People know it happened and still acknowledge and understand and are supportive of the (victims), but life seems to be going on normally," Hickson wrote.
And as Temple Japan marks its 30th anniversary this year, university officials in Philadelphia described the campus as a linchpin of the school's commitment to produce globally competent students and to help faculty engage in teaching and research on worldwide issues.
"Looking ahead, our hope is to provide — in collaboration with the Japanese government — a model of international educational partnership and innovative global learning for those students who wish to avail themselves of an American-style education in Tokyo," Provost Richard M. Englert said in a statement.
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/765561225/Pa-universitys-Japan-campus-rebounds-after-quake.html?pg=2
Just over a year ago, Temple Japan was facing the most frantic days in its history following the magnitude-9.0 quake, deadly tidal wave and nuclear reactor meltdown. The disaster on March 11, 2011, killed more than 19,000 people and forced hundreds of thousands into temporary housing.
While the campus is about 230 miles from the devastation, the events severely jolted students and staff, both physically and mentally. Temple Japan dean Bruce Stronach described weeks of high-stress days filled with powerful aftershocks, logistical challenges and countless middle-of-the-night calls with officials at the university's main campus in Philadelphia, which is 13 hours behind Tokyo.
"You really get to see what other people are made of," Stronach said. "The people who go through it with you, you bond with in a way that you wouldn't ordinarily."
Temple opened its Japan campus in 1982, making it the oldest and largest foreign university in Japan. It now serves about 3,400 students, including study abroad, corporate education, local Japanese and "direct admits" — students from about 60 nations who apply specifically to that campus for various degree programs.
Though Temple's facilities were found to be structurally sound after the quake, classes were temporarily canceled. Stronach said some students, staff and faculty left Japan for their home countries. Study-abroad programs were canceled after the U.S. State Department issued a travel warning for Japan due to radiation concerns.
The university worked feverishly to help all students finish the semester wherever they chose, including at other institutions or through online coursework.
Erik Jacobs, 21, was among the study-abroad students who returned to Temple in Philadelphia. The junior political science major from Chambersburg, Pa., got to spend only about two months in Tokyo, but said the abbreviated experience ultimately "expanded and invigorated" his interest in the culture. He is grateful to be unhurt and plans to return.
"I consider myself very fortunate (that) all I lost was a month to study in Japan," Jacobs said.
All told, Temple Japan suspended academic programs for about three weeks. Yet courses ended up being completed with only a one-week extension of the semester. The annual commencement ceremony, with 270 graduates, was held as originally scheduled.
But the disaster occurred during the recruiting season for study-abroad, timing that Stronach described as "a double-whammy." Last fall — about six months after the crisis known in Japan as 3/11 — the number of study-abroad students on campus dropped by about half, from 63 to 32.
Those numbers are beginning to rebound. The campus is currently hosting 44 study-abroad students, compared with 69 last spring when the crisis hit, Temple officials said. The numbers for summer study-abroad look to be higher than pre-quake levels.
The newest challenge is the strong yen, which Stronach said makes Temple Japan expensive for direct-admit students coming from outside the country. Tuition currently is about $17,400 per year.
But Stronach said new recruitment strategies seem to be helping. Enrollment last fall was down 16 percent from fall 2009, a decline that could also be partly quake-related. This summer's figure is expected to be nearly the same as summer 2010, which preceded the disaster, he said.
Overall, the number of American students studying in Japan has more than doubled to nearly 6,200 in the decade ending 2009-10, according to the U.S.-based Institute of International Education. Those pre-quake statistics are the most recent available.
"Students don't spin the globe and randomly come to Japan," Kyle Cleveland, an associate professor of sociology at Temple in Tokyo, wrote in an email. "They would not be here if they did not have genuine interest and in many cases, a long-term commitment to learning about the culture."
Desmon Hickson, a 20-year-old computer engineering major from Baltimore, wrote in an email last fall that he's glad he went to Temple Japan, despite initial fears about the lingering effects from 3/11.
"People know it happened and still acknowledge and understand and are supportive of the (victims), but life seems to be going on normally," Hickson wrote.
And as Temple Japan marks its 30th anniversary this year, university officials in Philadelphia described the campus as a linchpin of the school's commitment to produce globally competent students and to help faculty engage in teaching and research on worldwide issues.
"Looking ahead, our hope is to provide — in collaboration with the Japanese government — a model of international educational partnership and innovative global learning for those students who wish to avail themselves of an American-style education in Tokyo," Provost Richard M. Englert said in a statement.
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/765561225/Pa-universitys-Japan-campus-rebounds-after-quake.html?pg=2
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