1. Course of Development

○ In the Second Japan-China-Korea Trilateral Summit held at Beijing last October, exchanges among universities was raised as a field for future cooperation. Prime Minister HATOYAMA at the time proposed the establishment of a committee of key persons to engage in high-quality exchange, including credit transfer and mutual exchange programs, among universities in the three countries. He also proposed to convene an international symposium to strengthen exchange among the universities of Asia. China and Korea agreed to these proposals.   

○ In April of this year, the first meeting of the Japan-China-Korea Committee for Promoting Exchange and Cooperation among Universities was held, and the parties agreed to name this initiative “CAMPUS Asia” and to convene meetings of two working groups  the Working Group on the Exchange Program and the Working Group on Quality Assurance  in order to promote substantial discussions.

○ In the Third Trilateral Summit held at Jeju-do in May 2010, the leaders of the three nations agreed to the early implementation of “CAMPUS Asia” initiative that extended its scope to ASEAN with Japan, China and Korea playing central roles, based on these agreements, the governments of the three countries agreed to convene meetings of the two working groups.

2. Date & Time

[Working Group on the Exchange Program]  Thursday, August 19, 2010  15:30-18:00
[Working Group on Quality Assurance]  Friday, August 20, 2010  10:00-13:00

3. Outcomes

The Working Group on the Exchange Program

○ Mr. KATO, Deputy Director General of the Higher Education Bureau in Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, began with a greeting in which he explained that the outcomes of this WG would be reported at the second meeting of the Japan-China-Korea Committee for Promoting Exchange and Cooperation among Universities, which is to be held in China this autumn, adding that he is looking forward to active discussions at the meeting.

○ Dr. WU, Director General of the China Academic Degrees and Graduate Education Development Center (CDGDC), and Co-Chair of China, stated his intention to draft a basic plan for exchange programs in the second committee meeting. Dr. MOON, Professor of the Graduate School of International Studies at Seoul National University, and Co-Chair of Korea, expressed his desire to contribute to the development of education in all three countries. Professor NINOMIYA, Director of the Hiroshima Study Center for the Open University, and Co-Chair of Japan, stated that this working group’s role in promoting university exchanges with quality assurance would be significant.

○ One detailed idea was proposed for proceeding with a pilot program. The idea was that universities from three countries could form a consortium at the college or department level to put forth a proposal which, in a cooperative effort by all three countries, would be screened by this WG. After the screening, the WG will recommend candidate consortiums to the Japan-China-Korea Committee for Promoting Exchange and Cooperation among Universities and the Committee will make final decision.

○ A discussion was conducted on the need to respect the autonomy and diversity of Asian universities with regard to exchange programs, and to take into account innovative elements not found in conventional exchange models.

○ In light of the fact that fewer students choose Asia over Europe and the USA in selecting destinations for their studies abroad, they agreed on the importance of creating attractive programs, as well as the significance of trilateral exchanges as opposed to the traditional bilateral framework.

○ Members from Japan, China, and Korea agreed to request the following from their respective governments.
　1. Japan: elaborate guidelines for exchanges among universities with quality assurance
　2. Korea: an elaborate outline for the pilot program
　3. China: begin preparations for the second committee meeting this autumn, in light of these requests

The Working Group on Quality Assurance

○ Mr. KATO, Deputy Director General of the Higher Education Bureau in Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, expressed his expectations for active discussions on quality assurance as the basis for university exchanges, and mentioned that members of the ASEAN Senior Officer Meeting (ASEAN-SOM) that he attended expressed their interest in and support for the international symposium on quality assurance in East Asia, which Japan, China, and Korea plan to co-host next March.

○ Dr. JI, Director-General of the Higher Education Evaluation Center of the Ministry of Education (HEEC), and Co-chair of China, noted the close relationship between quality assurance and exchange, as well as the importance of monitoring the programs following their launch. Dr. LEE, Director of the Center for University Accreditation of the Korean Council for University Education (KCUE), and Co-Chair of Korea, mentioned the importance of setting basic goals and determining their priority, in order to implement “CAMPUS Asia.” Dr. HIRANO, President of the National Institution for Academic Degrees and University Evaluation (NIAD-UE), and Co-Chair of Japan, stated his intention to contribute to internationally-viable exchanges while respecting the cultural contexts unique to each country.

○ As WG discussions are significant in terms of the pilot program’s implementation, some discussions emphasized the necessity of this WG working closely with the WG on Exchange programs among Universities, along with the importance of having the quality assurance agencies in Japan, China, and Korea actively issue proposals and contribute to this WG in order to effectively move the discussion forward in a manner that generates tangible results.

○ With the future region-wide expansion of “CAMPUS Asia” in mind, discussions also raised the fact that universities in Asia are extremely diverse, along with the importance of (1) respecting such diversity, (2) the mutual sharing of information by universities, as well as (3) the publication and accessibility of their information, to quality assurance, which will form the basis of exchanges among universities.

○ A proposal was issued regarding the need to agree on a macro-level framework for formulating guidelines, and a general agreement was reached on considering guidelines such as the following.
A: the guideline for the pilot program (possibly involving leading, internationally competitive universities in each of the three countries), which is expected to launch in 2011 (version A)
B: the guideline for general exchange among universities in the three countries (version B)
C: the guideline for more general exchange among universities in East Asian countries (version C)

○ Members from Japan, China, and Korea agreed that quality assurance is essential for promoting exchanges among universities, as well as on a policy direction for summarizing their ideas and specific procedures for proceeding with tasks, in accordance with their shared understanding that multi-faceted discussions on quality assurance guidelines will be necessary.

Members of the Working Group on Exchange Programs

Japan

China

Korea

Members of the Working Group on Quality Assurance

Japan

China

Korea

○=Co-Chairpersons
※=Absentees