All departments involved in international affairs in the Jikei Group of Colleges came together on July 31 and August 1 for the 2015 International Affairs Meeting held at the Cottage Biwako Club, the Jikei Group of Colleges training retreat located in Shiga Prefecture. During the meeting, participants held discussions regarding initiatives for educating global professionals as well as the establishment of a system for responding to crises and ensuring the safety of students in the event of unforeseeable events such as infectious disease outbreaks and acts of terrorism or war at study abroad destinations. The International Affairs Meeting is hosted by International Center, Headquarters once per year and brings together all related departments. This year marked the 11th year of the International Affairs Meeting, and 78 people took part in the meeting, including representatives from the international centers in the United States, Europe, Australia, China, and Korea; faculty and staff from the colleges of the Jikei Group; as well as staff from the support companies.

 

Jikei Group of Colleges Chairperson Kunihiko Ukifune kicked off the meeting with the keynote speech entitled “The Sixth 5-Year Plan: Globally Competitive Professional Training Institutions.” In his speech, Chairperson Ukifune noted that, ever since the Jikei Group of Colleges was established in 1976, the group has put considerable effort into international education based on the premise that students will be able to work anywhere in the world if they master advanced Japanese specialized skills. The Jikei Group has also made training professionals with a global perspective a cornerstone for achieving that objective, even in the five-stage 5-year plans which began in 1991.

 

Moreover, Chairperson Ukifune highlighted the fact that the Jikei Group is accelerating initiatives for professional education from a global perspective, with examples such as International Center, Headquarters Executive Director Hideo Watanabe’s participation in the East Asia Summit Technical and Vocational Education and Training Provider Network Meeting to introduce the postsecondary educational system in Japan in February of this year and the center’s hosting of the U.S.-Japan Professional Educators Summit this past spring in Tokyo. Chairperson Ukifune himself took part in the CCID Pacific Form, which was held in Hawaii in July of this year and attended by 118 community college presidents, and gave a presentation as a CCID board member entitled “Postsecondary Professional Education Policies in Japan and Professional Education Provided by the Jikei Group of Colleges.” Chairperson Ukifune provided a detailed analysis and report on his presentation as well as on the presentations of other participants from Asia.

 

Chairperson Ukifune also spoke about the global situation surrounding professional education, including professional education efforts in developed nations, newly industrialized nations, and developing nations and cases where professional education has been provided by industry organizations. He also touched upon the necessity of establishing a system or framework which can certify levels of proficiency for each profession that extends beyond national or regional borders while at the same time expressing his desire to make better use of the international network the Jikei Group of Colleges has built up over many years for students, graduates, and industry. Finally, Chairperson Ukifune said that we, as an organization in a developed country involved in professional education, have to contribute more actively to professional education both in Asia and around the world.

 

Following the keynote speech from Chairperson Ukifune, the main body of the meeting was divided into 3 parts: Session 1: “International Education Program Reports,” Session 2: “Crisis Management in International Exchange Activities,” Session 3: “Overseas Center Reports.” The main theme for this year’s meeting was “Crisis Management in International Exchange Activities,” and a case study on the schools that conducted study abroad programs immediately following the still-vivid attack on the French satirical weekly magazine Charlie Hebdo by Islamic extremists was given. The schools had taken every possible measure and considered the matter from every angle. They persuaded the parents and guardians of the students and then conducted the study abroad program. Attendees then exchanged opinions using this case study as learning materials.
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Management from the travel company which undertakes these study abroad tours also participated in the meeting. The company worked together with other travel agencies, schools, and the Jikei Europe Center while seeking the cooperation of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Japanese Embassy in France, the International Advisor and collected information, such as which areas are dangerous and should be avoided, and then decided to host the tour once they had confirmed that the program participants would be safe. Everything was carefully explained to the parents and guardians of students. The school directors accompanied the group to France and a task force system was put together both in Japan and in France in the event of problems. Moreover, the accompanying staff members used Line to communicate their movements in France to staff members in Japan in real-time. The headquarters in Japan overcame a time difference of 8 hours and made exhaustive preparations, such as implementing a 24-hour system to confirm the safety of participants. As a result, the parents were able to feel assured that their children were safe.

 

According to data compiled on July 1 by International Center, Headquarters,1,436 international students from 45 countries are studying at the Jikei Group of Colleges. Moreover, 5,855 students joined study abroad tours last year, the highest number in the past 5 years. It is highly probable that threats such as acts of terrorism and infectious diseases such as MERS will occur in the future. The Jikei Group of Colleges has established the Crisis Management Task Force which investigates how to deal with such challenges and creates a thorough system.

 

Nineteen groups gave presentations in Session 1: “International Education Program Reports” and Session 3: “Overseas Center Reports.” The presentations spanned such events as the business collaboration with Eintracht Frankfurt, the well-known German Bundesliga team which boasts the famous Japanese footballer Makoto Hasebe as one of its members; the educational collaboration with Zhejiang Chinese Medical University in China, which recognizes simultaneous matriculation for new acupuncture and moxibustion students at Toyo Medical College; along with new partnerships with ISIPCA (Institut Superieur International du Parfum, de la Cosmetique et de l’Aromatique Alimentaire), a Jean Drouant school, and Morgane Hilgers Academy.

 

The International Affairs meeting was truly an event unique to the Jikei Group of Colleges. Following a presentation on a thesis written by a student from Stockholm University in Sweden, meeting attendees were treated to a 20-minute rakugo performance by Tokyo Film Center College of Arts student Johan Nilsson from Sweden. The performance was filled with witticisms in Japanese, which drew laughter and applause from the audience and helped to refresh the sagging energy levels of participants. Dr. Douglas Trelfa and 3 students from the University of West Florida participating in this year’s Semester in Japan program also attended the meeting as observers. The students in the program had come to Japan to learn about Japanese culture and society. Dr. Trelfa, who teaches an introductory course on modern Japanese society, gave a presentation as the representative for the Jikei American Center at the UWF and also introduced the students from the UWF to the International Meeting attendees.