Message from the Director of the Global Center for Higher Education

Expand your wings to the world! We’ll support you all the way!

Professor Takeshi Goto
Director,
Global Center for Higher Education,
Akita University

Due to the rapid progress of globalization and informatization of our social life and community structures, there is a growing need for human resources who are able to recognize common global issues and create diverse values without being influenced by stereotypes and bias.

The Global Center for Higher Education (GHE) at Akita University was established in April 2019 through an integration of the previous organizations with a view to developing such human resources. The GHE is composed of three sections that are in charge of educational activities, educational development and international exchange, and which work together to “enhance foundational liberal arts education”, “develop Japanese students’ proficiency in foreign languages and promote study abroad”, “promote the acceptance of international students”, and “expand international exchange through education and research with overseas partner universities”.

In recent years, there has been increased emphasis on the importance of Liberal Arts and STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics). Arts, which has a double meaning in this context, refers not only to “art” itself but also to “the act and skill of creating”, and is considered important in the creation of diverse values as broad and deep knowledge that does not have a biased slant towards a specific specialized field. In addition, it is extremely important to enhance information, data science, and AI education in a Society 5.0 era.

Furthermore, in a “with/post COVID” context, increased progress is anticipated in the digitalization of education while the format of the classes is expected to change dramatically.

In May 2020, the GHE revised Akita University’s International Strategy in response to the globalization of society. This international strategy includes ways of promoting the acceptance of inbound international students and study abroad by outbound Japanese students, as well as achievement indicators such as increasing the number of international students accepted by the university to 250 per year by the end of fiscal year 2024, and increasing the percentage of Japanese students who have studied abroad or participated in overseas training to 20 percent or more. With respect to these targets, the GHE will be taking the lead in promoting the globalization of the university.

The GHE also provides substantial support to our students. We hold information sessions for our students who wish to study abroad, provide support for our students participating in the "Tobitate! (Leap for Tomorrow) Study Abroad Initiative”, provide information on various scholarships, and plan exchange events with our international students. For our visiting international students, we provide housing, support for their day-to-day lives, and plan various events.

In November 2021, we renewed our international exchange website in order to be able to provide essential information in an easy-to-understand manner. We hope that this website will be of use to many people, including students who are currently studying at Akita University, prospective students, and students who wish to study abroad.

In order to contribute to the further development of Akita University, the faculty and staff of the GHE are united in their efforts to address the various issues related to education and the demands of society, and we would truly appreciate your continuing support for our ongoing work.