The Concept of Global Human Resource Development Focusing on the East Asian Region
- Importance of promoting interuniversity exchanges with quality assurance -

June 21, 2010
Central Council for Education,Working Group on the Promotion of Globalizing Universities

（Table of Contents）

1. Importance of global human development focusing on the East Asian region

（1） Why focus on the East Asian region now?

（2） Significance of interuniversity exchanges in the East Asian region

2. Basic concept of interuniversity exchanges in the East Asian region

（1） Respect for diversity and mutual benefit

（2） Clarifying policy in each university taking into account functional differentiation

（3） Establishment of programs focusing on understanding of multiple and different cultures

（4） Quality Assurance

3. Specific interuniversity exchange programs

（1） Promotion of a short-term exchange program

（2） Promotion of an internship program

（3） Promotion of a coordinated and continuous education partnership program

4. Understanding by the entire society including universities, corporations, etc., for engaging in interuniversity exchanges in the East Asian region

（1） Actions to be taken by universities

（2） Actions to be taken by corporation, etc.

5. Formation of a framework for interuniversity exchanges with quality assurance

（1） Framework in view of the East Asian region

（2） Substantiation of a framework with quality assurance

（3） Perspective of disseminating information on universities

6. Support for actions of universities

1. Importance of global human development focusing on the East Asian region

（1） Why focus on the East Asian region now?

 Japan, and other countries in the East Asian region have a long history of exchanges in diverse fields such as academics and culture. In recent years, the integration between the Japanese economy and other economies in the East Asian region is increasingly strengthened, as more multinational activities, including production processes to sales, are operating in the East Asian region and approximately 50% share of Japan’s international trade partners comes from the Asian region. Thanks to these movements, it is considered that closer relationships will be built in relation to education and training systems, certification of learning knowledge and skills, recruitment and treatment in corporations, and so on, and that the future social system within the East Asian region will develop in closer coordination. The same movement can be expected in public sectors such as local administration and public service. Under these circumstances, from the viewpoint of concerned parties in corporations, etc., it is expected that the barrier between internal demand and external demand will be significantly lowered and that recruitment and training of human resources, which are free from nationality, will be promoted.

 These rapid developments will bring significant changes into university education. For universities, the distinction by nationality of students may be relatively meaningless, thanks to the increased mobility of students within the entire East Asian region. As a result, the fostering of human resources that have both world-class specialized knowledge and global communication skills will be emphasized, and the focus will be on mastering systematic knowledge and skills, which are expected of an academic degree and for what one becomes capable of.

 University education in Japan is traditionally closely linked to the domestic employment market, and in many universities, actions, which took into account trends such as increased mobility of students worldwide, educational quality assurance, and emphasis on mastering knowledge and skills, were not considered as priority issues. However, considering the drastic changes now and in the future, it is desirable that Japanese university education changes itself in accordance with worldwide trends, and it is important to increase its speed. In this regard, we must take into account that highly competitive education is already being provided in the East Asian region from major universities of countries such as the United States, Europe, Australia, China, and South Korea.

 Furthermore, transnational activities such as promotion of cooperation and collaboration between universities within the East Asian region are changing as well. Interuniversity exchanges in the East Asian region provide an opportunity for Japanese universities and concerned parties to directly interact with university education worldwide and gain a deeper understanding of the same, and by doing so, they will be able to proactively promote actions for various reforms in each stage and reconsider the future of education in each university. From this standpoint, the promotion of interuniversity exchanges in the East Asian region is a key for development of Japan’s future policy on universities.

（2） Significance of interuniversity exchanges in the East Asian region

 Promotion of interuniversity exchanges in the East Asian region is of great significance not only for universities but also for students, university staff members, corporations, etc.

 Students will be able to enjoy broader courses of career opportunities in the East Asian region, where economic activities are rapidly integrated, by acquiring knowledge and skills such as abilities to understand diversity as his/her own issues, abilities to comprehend events from a diversified point of view, and communication abilities, and by creating a human network, through education from teaching staff members who have diversified cultural backgrounds in the East Asian region, communication with foreign students, participation in international education programs, etc. Especially, as young students of the same generation in this region, including China and South Korea, are actively gaining overseas experience and improving their abilities, it becomes increasingly important and valuable to gain experience and abilities that can be the basis for competition and cooperation with these young foreign students.

 For teaching staff, interuniversity exchanges is rewarding as it is expected that their education and research activities will be more productive and extensive, by accepting competent students from the East Asian region and by offering lectures at universities abroad, collaborative research and exchanges among researchers, and so on.

 For universities aiming to be international hubs for knowledge and circulation of human resources, their education and research functions will be strengthened through the development of a short-term exchange program and an educational collaboration program with universities in the East Asian region, where the demand for education continuance is increasing, and through the establishment of an interuniversity network; this will help universities to improve their international competitiveness and collaborative ability. As diversity is sought in the society, it means a great deal to promote diversity within universities leading the knowledge base of the society.

 In addition, it is important that exchanges and developments will be smoothly promoted within the entire East Asian region, including Japan, through the efforts of corporations, etc. expanding their businesses in areas such as environment and health. From the perspective of corporations, etc., it will be possible to further promote their activities within the East Asian region by means of proactive recruitment and evaluation of students who have gained global capabilities in the East Asian region as human resources regardless of whether such students have academic experience in Japan or foreign countries.

2. Basic concept of interuniversity exchanges in the East Asian region

（1） Respect for diversity and mutual benefit

 Universities in the East Asian region vary, depending on the characteristics of each country. There are countries where a public quality assurance system is established and the role of higher education in universal stage is discussed on the one hand; on the other hand, there are countries where basic systems associated with universities such as a credit system are still developing. We must pay attention that the form of development varies in very diverse ways, depending on each country’s characteristics and legal system as the background. It is important to consider not only the merits of Japanese universities but also the merits of the partner universities and to respect mutual benefit, when we seek to establish a common framework to promote interuniversity exchanges, while recognizing each other’s differences and characteristics in systems, customs, cultures, and so on.

（2） Clarifying policy in each university taking into account functional differentiation

 In Japan, there are diverse kinds of universities, ranging from universities engaging in high-level research in very broad areas to universities focusing on specific academic areas, universities focusing on education of highly specialized professionals, universities engaging in community-based educational activities, and so on. While it is expected that each university makes full use of its characteristics and functionally differentiates itself, it is important to take actions for clarifying their policies corresponding to educational philosophy, purpose, uniqueness, and characteristics of each university for realizing the project on interuniversity exchanges.

 In addition to the implementation of education programs according to the needs of students from multiple countries, societies, industries, etc. We can provide the following examples based on each university’s education philosophy, etc.

（Examples）

- In the stage of a bachelor program, a short-term overseas study program is developed in cooperation with an overseas university so that students will be able to understand the knowledge base in a specific academic field in relation to diversified history, society, and nature, and gain experiences of contact with multiple and different cultures, and wherein credit transfer is allowed for the subjects taken.

- In the stage of a bachelor program, the environment, where students can constantly communicate in English with universities of multiple Asian countries, is maintained through the establishment of an IT network, etc. so that students can gain practical English speaking ability as a global communication skill, and by doing so, the environment where students can learn together is realized, and exchanges with quality assurance are promoted by means of establishment of a common subject management system for credit management of students, visualization of syllabus, etc.

- In a graduate school of science and technology, while high-level education is provided by focusing on internationally competitive and specialized areas, an English education program, in which overseas internship, etc. are included as choices of course, is provided in cooperation with an Asian university having similar international competitiveness so that students will be able to gain abilities to research, discuss, and make a presentation in English and to develop international human network; by doing so, improvement of the research ability of the university is also expected.

- In a graduate school of arts and science, acquisition of the ability to speak multiple Asian languages in addition to English is included in a program in order to gain a deeper understanding of diverse Asian histories and cultures; acquisition of the ability to communicate in a foreign language is promoted by conducting collaborative classes via the Internet with major Asian universities and by changing languages according to each country; and an education program, which is useful for development of international human network, is provided.

- In a professional school of social science, high-level education is provided for fundamental fields of internationally common importance, an English education program is provided in a multicultural environment so that students will be able to acquire the ability to research, discuss, and make a presentation in English and to develop an international human network, and exchanges of students and establishment of common research bases are sought with Asian universities having similar international competitiveness.

- Regardless of the course stage, by providing systematic Japanese language education to foreign students and by providing productive area studies, a distinctive education program on the East Asian region is promoted.

（3） Establishment of programs focusing on understanding of multiple and different cultures

 For the development of human resources who will be active in the East Asian region of the next generation, it is important for them to gain communication skills in a foreign language, including English, while acquiring familiarity in local situation and respecting local values. Therefore, it is important that students are in contact with multiple and different cultures through overseas study under collaboration among universities, communication with international students, and so on, and that they will be provided opportunities to understand the meaning of the knowledge base of their specific specialized fields and the existence of themselves in relation to history, society, and nature.

 Further, it is expected that each university promotes creative measures according to actual situations such as setting of standards to be met and development of programs for meeting the standards, etc. in order to cultivate communication skills in foreign language, including English, and that each university pays attention to various forms of intercultural experience such as internship and extracurricular activities. In such a case, while understanding that such actions as a whole will bring significant benefit to each university, it is important that each university makes efforts in the systematization of curriculum and proactive offering of information, so that the education program to be provided will be visualized in relation to the society.

（4） Quality Assurance

 When the framework of interuniversity exchanges with quality assurance is examined, it is firstly important to confirm and share at the government level the information pertaining to quality assurance in each country.

 In addition, the perspective of quality assurance, taking into account the fact that university education is a degree program, is important. Each university is expected to establish systematic curriculum and implement education in line with such curriculum and, while clarifying the specialized knowledge and skills that can be acquired, to systematize degree program, including the establishment of rules on credit transfer and grading systems to be implemented by itself, and visualization of syllabus, and proactive publication of information from the standpoint of improvement of educational quality. It is also important to establish an administrative system that helps universities securely implement these actions.

 It is considered that through substantiation of these actions, universities will be able to implement exchange activities, avoid being involved in a dubious relationship including so-called stable “degree mills,” and fairly evaluate the educational and research results without suffering disadvantageous effects, while the mobility of students and academic staff members is increasing. Furthermore, it is necessary to promote information exchanges and cooperative actions among quality assurance agencies in various countries.

3. Specific interuniversity exchange programs

 Unlike other regions, in the East Asian region, many social and cultural aspects, including the standards of education and research and the situation of students and teaching staff, are yet to be sufficiently mutually comprehended between partner countries. Therefore, it is of great significance that the development of the East Asian region, where integration of economic and social systems continues while being rich in diversity, are studied in the field. In this regard, it is expected that participating students will have opportunities to think about their future careers, and actions will be taken for improvement of language skills that are locally indispensable and enhancement of the ability to understand different cultures by understanding the local culture and situation.

 The location, academic field, implementation period, scale of participation, etc. of the program will vary according to each university’s role and function.

 For example, in the stage of a bachelor course, we can conceive a program, under which a certain region and culture are systematically learned and understood in the international context and then techniques applicable to the actual society will be acquired, according to each university’s educational goal. Especially, in this working group, we think that the following perspectives are important for promotion of interuniversity exchanges through programs.

（1） Promotion of a short-term exchange program

 Compared to long-term overseas study with the aim to acquire an academic degree, a short-term exchange program is easily accessible by participating students, and as a result, certain effects can be expected, such as the possibility of exchanging many students. Programmed intercultural experience is also beneficial in terms of acquiring general skills and it means a great deal that students gain experience of going abroad in the stage of a bachelor course, even if it is a short-term experience. Further, it is expected that using the opportunity of participating in a short-term program as a start, the number of students who wish to participate in a double-degree program, long-term overseas study aiming to acquire an academic degree, and so on, will increase in the future.

 In recent years, in Western countries, short-term exchange programs are becoming increasingly important, in addition to long-term overseas studies aiming to acquire academic degrees; in Japan, it is also expected that short-term exchange programs will be expanded in diverse ways, including few weeks’ exchange programs. In particular, the existence of attractive programs can be major driving forces for inviting students from abroad and may influence the development of collaborative network with other universities.

 On the other hand, for the implementation of short-term exchanges, attention should be paid from the educational point of view so that exchanges with quality assurance will be secured, by establishing systems to accept and dispatch students, clarifying the position of each program under curriculum, and conducting prior and adequate discussions with a partner university. It is also important for each university to encourage its partner university to implement necessary improvements. For example, it is important for each university to share the following points with  staff members and concerned parties engaging in the relevant program, and to implement programs leading to acquisition of credits. In addition, the development of programs that make full use of each university’s strength and resource by means of not only bilateral but also multilateral interuniversity cooperation will also be of great importance.

（Examples）

- Confirming that Partner University is properly accredited in the quality assurance framework, with the policy on credit offering, academic result management, etc., within a country or region in which a partner university is located.

- Making of agreements, etc. between concerned parties on matters such as details of exchanges, expected number of participants, implementation period, costs and countermeasures for unexpected events, sharing of such agreed contents within university, external publication, and periodical follow-up.

- While paying attention to quality assurance, taking actions as far as possible so that student will be able to acquire credits that can be certified after returning to his/her mother country, leading to smooth taking of the academic course （For example, educational support in collaboration with a partner university will be examined through the framework （learning agreement） under which the both university and students confirm whether credits for the partner university’s subjects can be certified or not.）.

- Paying attention to ensure the quality of program, through implementation of a preprogram using local language, continuous support for student during exchanges, follow-up after returning to mother country, and so on.

- Securing opportunities to exchange with various different cultures within or outside classroom, such as exchanges between students and locals at the accepting partner’s place.

- Considering projects having contents that are attractive to students participating in a program, such as media arts, etc., for which Japan establishes a high international reputation.

（2） Promotion of an internship program

 Internship is important as an opportunity to make full use of specialized knowledge in the academic field that the student is learning, and as an opportunity to facilitate a broader understanding of different cultures. Especially, through the working experiences in corporation, etc. of Asian countries, improvement of learning motivation, development of high occupational consciousness, originality and challenging spirit and development of mentally tough human resources are important objectives. It is considered that the drastic increase of opportunities for Japanese young people to work in Asia, by making full use of the knowledge, skills, and networks they have acquired overseas, will be the driving forces for Japan’s future growth. From the viewpoint of corporation, etc., globally conducting their businesses, implementation of internship will be highly valued by corporation, etc.

 The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology has already been supporting the implementation of internships, such as publication of example cases regarding effective matching between domestic corporations, etc. and students and support for program development in each university. It is necessary to acquire diverse partners through collaboration with overseas universities, etc. and to implement the internship, while paying attention, for example, to the following points.

（Examples）

- As a premise to introduce internship program, it should be properly considered how the internship program is positioned within educational courses.

- Further, proper actions should be taken so that learning courses with quality assurance can be realized, such as development of speech ability, introduction of PBL, improvement of training before and after the internship including pre-training of local language and collaboration between an educator and a supervisor at the accepting organization, also taking into account the topic of the thesis.

- The university and the accepting organization closely cooperate with each other to clarify the purpose and expected outcome of the implementation and share information with students.

- The university and the accepting organization confirm the implementation guidelines in advance including the purpose, meaning, etc. of the internship, and to conclude an agreement on the expected period of acceptance, details of practical training, handling of accident or trouble, and so on. （At the same time, in addition to the working regulations of the accepting organization and compliance with confidentiality obligation, variety of insurance coverage should be considered for accident, bodily injury, etc.）

- In the case of accepting Japanese students, a corporation other than that of Japanese origin, including the public sector, network of graduates, and alumni association, will be considered.

- By using the framework of interuniversity exchange agreement, etc., a two-way internship will be sought; the partner university will provide support to increase local organizations to accept students and to find residences, etc. for them, and vice versa.

- By realizing the teamwork for problem solving through cooperation between international students and domestic students, an opportunity will be provided so that students can contact different cultures and can virtually experience trials and errors of project execution.

- Collaboration with domestic and international internship support organizations having various networks will be sought.

（3） Promotion of a coordinated and continuous education partnership program

 When an attractive education program is considered among universities of Japan and other East Asian countries, it is highly likely that systematic and continuous educational collaboration, including double-degree programs and joint degree programs, will be sought. It is expected that a certain level of quality is assured for the students having multiple degrees based on these programs under quality assurance system, and the students will be active extensively without regional limitation, using their global point of view after graduation or completion of the course.

 Recently, we have summarized the points for reference for development of these programs as the “Guidelines for building organized and continuous cooperation, including double-degree and joint degree programs,” and we expect that the guidelines will be widely and effectively used.

4. Understanding by the entire society including universities, corporations, etc., for engaging in interuniversity exchanges in the East Asian region

 Even if human resource development, which covers the entire East Asian region as the location for practical education, is implemented, it will not be fully effective, unless the society, including corporations, proactively values such human resources and contributes to the creation of a career path and the improvement of the international competitiveness of corporations, etc.

 According to various social needs, universities engage in education and research, which is originally associated with global activities such as transnational transfers and exchanges of students, teaching staff, and researchers and offering of degrees to be internationally recognized. In line with the current globalization, the image of necessary human resources, which are required by the entire Japanese society, including corporations, are changing, and the students, who have gained various experiences such as multilingual interactions and contact with multiculturalism, hold enormous potential capacity. While the transformation of values from homogeneity to diversity is sought and proper recognition is required for global human resources within the entire Japanese society, universities are strongly required to provide programs deserving such recognition from the society and to visualize the content of these programs. Specifically, we can conceive the following actions to be taken by each university, corporation, etc.

（1） Actions to be taken by universities

 It is expected that each university should recognize that it is important to proactively take actions for visualization of credit offering, evaluation of learning results, syllabus, and academic assessment, under the programs provided by the university, in order to receive proper recognition from the society, including corporations. Additionally, each university should engage in guidance aiming for social and occupational independence of students, guidance for the learning plan in collaboration with the partner university, improvement of guidance based on proper information on the actual situation of year-round recruitment, etc., fostering of academic staff members, strengthening of collaboration between the department responsible for international exchanges and the department responsible for student services, promotion of proactive exchanges between international students and domestic students within the campus, and so on.

 In particular, in a university engaging in global operation, it is important to heighten the awareness of individual academic staff members responsible for teaching of various students, including international students; further, for a program, and the entire university and its department, graduate schools, etc. should organizationally take actions under the strategy of the whole university. Furthermore, considering the point that students do not have enough opportunities to participate in exchange programs, the educators, etc. of each university should adequately pay attention to understand the academic plan and future potential regarding both the dispatch of domestic students and acceptance of international students and to provide students with the opportunity to grow and support.

（2） Actions to be taken by corporation, etc.

 It is expected that corporation and related organizations should understand the above-mentioned actions taken by universities, cooperate for provision of practical education at the university, and properly assess the potential of students who have experienced internship and overseas study with quality assurance.

 From the viewpoint of career and employment after the graduation of students, it is expected that corporations, etc. will engage in the development of human resource strategy, including clear indication of career path within globalized corporations and promotion of diversity, and proactive recruitment of competent students through overseas holding of recruitment forum, flexible scheduling of recruitment, review of recruitment schedule including graduate recruitment, and so on. In some corporations that conduct business globally, international students are already recruited through various recruitment activities. It is expected that the merits, etc. of recruitment of international students will also be shared within corporations that do not have records of recruitment of international students, in order to revitalize corporations, etc. with diverse human resources, and that provision and exchange of information will be facilitated among corporations and organizations.

5. Formation of a framework for interuniversity exchanges with quality assurance

（1） Framework in view of the East Asian region

 Quality assurance is the premise of interuniversity exchange within a region, as described above. While it is ultimately desirable that some kind of quality assurance framework will be developed for the entire East Asian region from the standpoint of continued integration of the East Asian economy and society, it is conceived that Japan, China, and South Korea, which are neighboring countries and have relatively high commonality with each other in terms of the university system and university quality assurance system, will first examine at a certain level the framework of interuniversity exchanges with quality assurance, such as credit transfer and grading policy, and that the results of such examination will be shared through dialogue with ASEAN, etc., taking into account the accomplishments of interuniversity exchanges such as the ASEAN University Network （AUN） and Southeast Asia Engineering Education Development Network （SEED-Net）.

（2） Substantiation of a framework with quality assurance

 Upon the substantiation of the above-mentioned framework, sharing of a concept at a certain level will be required as the formulation of the basis for exchanges. With regard to quality assurance, this working group considers it important that, for example, the following points might be shared within the East Asian region for the promotion of interuniversity exchanges.

（Examples）

- On the basis of the quality assurance framework （such as the standards for university establishment and accreditation） of each country, exchanges should be promoted within universities that satisfy institutional and substantial minimum requirements as a university.

- For the implementation of credit transfer, the process of credit offering and transfer in each university complies with laws and ordinances of each country, and the policy for the process should be visualized. In addition, the process ultimately leading to offering of degrees should be clarified.

- A certain level of commonality and mutual listing should be ensured for the concept of academic assessment on related subjects associated with credit transfer and the policy of preparing syllabus.

（3） Perspective of disseminating information on universities

 For interuniversity exchanges with quality assurance, it is essential that information of each university be actively published. Currently, it cannot be said that university information is adequately published within East Asian countries, and therefore, education and research activities should be published in more understandable ways by each university.

 As an action to separately ensure the quality of universities, the University Council proposed the concept of publication of general educational information, and the Ordinances for Enforcement of School Education Act in Japan, etc. was amended accordingly in order to clarify the publication matters under laws and ordinances. In the “working group for international evaluation on universities,” the examples of items, for which publication is desirable, are identified in the age of international comparison and public accountability. It is expected that each university will proactively refer to and use such items.

6. Support for actions of universities

 As discussed above, this working group expects that universities in Japan proactively develop interuniversity exchanges within the East Asian region. On the other hand, owing to the globalization of university education, every country is competing with others and taking actions to strategically accept competent foreign students and to promote active dispatching of its own students overseas. Therefore, the national government and related organizations, industries, etc. are required to provide support with a sense of speed and the mind of collaboration.

 It is expected that priority support will be provided to each university’s comprehensive or unique action, which can be the driving force of the university, and support for exchanges in a broader sense, especially short-term exchange and overseas study, and for the development of a basis for such exchanges will be strengthened.

 Additionally, upon examination of these supports, it is also important to more fully grasp the scales of acceptance of international students and dispatching Japanese students overseas, including short-term exchange, and we expect that the national government and related organizations will conduct a proper examination to improve the situation.