12
March
2015
|
15:11 PM
America/Chicago

UHD Signs Memorandum of Understanding with Kanazawa Seiryo University

Last Thursday, UHD President Bill Flores met with Masafumi Miyazaki, president of Kanazawa Seiryo University (KSU), to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU). Interim Provost Ed Hugetz, as well as several deans and administrators joined the meeting.

The memorandum is the first step in building a relationship of academic exchange and collaboration between the two universities. KSU is a private university located in Kanazawa, a city on the west coast of Japan with a population of approximately 500,000. Originally founded as a business school in 1967, KSU now has nearly 2,500 students in the College of Economics, College of Human Sciences, and a graduate school. The university has an affiliated kindergarten, junior high schools, and a high school. Seiryo High School is famous in Japan for its athletics programs, and counts former MLB outfielder Hideki Matsui among its alumni.

KSU and UHD share a similar mission, with KSU's philosophy "to cultivate sincere professional people who can play a useful role in society." The two presidents joined to discuss areas of mutual interest, including their respective intensive language programs. KSU offers a 15-week Japanese Language Studies Program for international students as well as an annual 2- to 4-week long intensive Japanese language and culture study program. Miyazaki hopes the program will be able to open its doors to UHD students in the future.

"I expect our potential collaborations to result in a detailed understanding of both Japanese and American cultures for our students, as well as rich academic exchange," Miyazaki said.

Miyazaki went on to share KSU's plans to add more English-taught academic courses, and his hopes to explore opportunities for credit transfer between the two institutions.

Last school year, more than 100 UHD students went on long-term study abroad trips. John Hudson, director of the Center for Student Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion says the University hopes to expand, explore and promote these opportunities in the future. He has plans to establish MOU's with universities in Europe and Asia.

President Flores expressed his enthusiasm about the importance of such partnerships.

"Opportunities for cultural exchange and immersion help students to develop into more culturally aware citizens and well-rounded professionals," Flores said. "I look forward to discussions about potential exchange programs and possibly a faculty and student visit to Kanazawa Seiryo University. I think we have a lot to offer each other."