報告：APAIE2011・第6回年次大会：JAFSAセッション
日時 ：2011年3月10日 11:00-12:30
発表者：Brian J. Masshardt, Ph.D.（武蔵大学 国際センター）
発表タイトル：When Intimacy Turns to Isolation: Opportunities and Challenges of Studying Abroad in a Small Program
It was a pleasure to represent JAFSA at the annual APAIE conference held in Taiwan (March 9-11). I thank the JAFSA selection committee for allowing one of the “little guys” the opportunity to present insights gained from the program we offer to international students.
The first part of my presentation provided a macro-level context of what is a “small program.” For this, I presented data on 1) incoming international students to Japan; and 2) the universities that offer special short-term programs in English. My conclusions after examining this data: 1) Even with “less-than-good” data, we can learn something; 2) The more I investigated the less I knew; 3) More thought needs to be given as to the purpose of the data and the intended audience; 4) Data should be reported honestly, clearly defined, and transparent; 5) If data for incoming students is problematic, then what does it mean for outgoing students? We need to challenge the emerging “myth” of the reluctant, disinterested Japanese study abroad student; 6) We must remember that study abroad is a growth industry; and 7) The upshot: students are moving. How many are moving, where they are going, and the types of programs they participate in might not be what we wish, but let us not lose sight of the individual.
The second part of my presentation focused on the micro-level—the individual. I looked at the influences and reflections on intimacy and isolation as well as on opportunities and challenges. I did this through the student perspective by using essays collected during the in-country orientation that Musashi University conducts every year. Based on these student reflections, there are ten lessons that can be passed on from a small program: 1) Simple things do matter; 2) Competent and clear communication is a must with students and partner institutions; 3) Create student networking opportunities; 4) Provide options outside of the classroom; 5) Seek out ways to reinforce the theories, goals, and values of international education experiences; 6) Create stakeholders in your program; 7) Be open to a variety of perspectives and ways of seeing; 8) Allow for critiques—take the praise with the critical comments; 9) Be proactive and look for ways to improve and innovate; and 10) Do not lose sight of the individual.
I welcome any feedback on my presentation and anyone wishing a PDF version should contact me at bjmass@musashi.jp
日時 ：2011年3月10日 14:00-15:30
発表者：Mike Matsuno（大阪学院大学 Hospitality Management, Associate Professor）
発表タイトル：Change Agents: the “Outsiders”
The international lifeline of any university in Japan is held by the international office staff people of any Japanese university. In my presentation, I discussed how the staff and leadership of international offices must have the practical life skills, actual overseas experience, and first hand knowledge of what it means to be truly global.
At our international office, Osaka Gakuin University hires staff/faculty people who I call “the outsiders,” people who are the change agents on our university campus. Outsiders are people who have received an undergraduate and/or graduate degree outside of their home country; have 3-5 years of work experience, are bilingual (Japanese and English), possibly tri-lingual; and preferably have a master’s degree.
Most Japanese universities continue to use the 3-5 year seishain job rotation system that undermines any international office from advancing forward. Every time a new international office staff person creates a strong international network and learns how to deal with international partners/matters, in 3-5 years they are rotated out and everything is reset to zero again. Two steps forward, and three steps backwards.
Outsiders bring diversity to the university, an array of experiences, and life skills such as the ability to think quickly, make good decisions, take charge, and be resourceful. They become the role models and change agents on campus. I believe that the international office must become the leader in spearheading change and globalizing a campus. The staff and leadership of the international office must raise and set new standards of what is expected and can be done on a Japanese university campus. Change is always difficult, but that is why you need to bring in the “outsiders,” change from within is much too difficult in present Japanese society.
In regards to international education, many Japanese universities are already in a “free fall,” no one really knows what to do, what direction to go, and who will lead the university in this 21st Century. My presentation was intended to bring to light what many Japanese and some other Asian universities need to do to remain competitive and keep up with the demand and sophistication required by the rest of the world.
Overall, I believe my APAIE presentation for JAFSA went quite well. It was fairly well attended by about 50 people, many were from Japanese universities. I think the topic was of interest to many people and was “light” enough that everyone could follow the presentation. I think 20 minutes per speaker was too short, it should have been at least 30 minutes.
There were two other presenters before me. I think both of their presentations were too technical and data/researched based for the APAIE audience. And although these venues are known as opportunities to present one’s research work, I have come to realize that for APAIE, the subject presented should not be so “heavy” and research/data based. It should be a interesting topic/subject that a general faculty/staff person can follow and should be presented in an interesting and almost entertaining manner.
The reason is that different from NAFSA, APAIE is still a young organization of six years, there are only about 700-800 attendees, the total number of presentations are not that many, and presentations are very diverse, so it is very difficult to categorize and group similar presentations together. Thus, you may have 3-4 non-related presentations grouped together and due to the awkwardness of getting in and out of the presentation rooms, people usually have to stay for all 3-4 presentations.
Second, unlike NAFSA or even EAIE where there are mainly native English speakers or people who are at a native level, APAIE has many less native English speakers presenting and attending. And so your attendees are most probably made up of people who can speak English but probably do not have as good a command of English as compared to the other two venues. So I strongly believe that an interesting, more practical topic/subject presentation would work much better at APAIE.
My recommendation to JAFSA would be to select presentation topics that are interesting to a more general public of international educators, presented by people who have a strong native English level ability and can present in a dynamic and interesting way. There were many presentations that I attended at APAIE that were either too data heavy and/or not presented in an interesting manner. I think JAFSA should be very selective on not only the subject matter but the English level and the presentation ability. There is a serious need for more common sense thought given to practical and useful strategies to promote Japan and JAFSA. Needless to say, if done right, the JAFSA sponsored presentations can give all Japanese universities a positive image which will be good PR for everyone in Japan.
Thank you very much for the opportunity to present for JAFSA. I sincerely appreciate your support and the chance.
