International Association of University Presidents (IAUP 2014) Creating the Future of Higher Education Summary Day 3

Transcription

1 International Association of University Presidents (IAUP 2014) Creating the Future of Higher Education Summary Day 3 Date: June 2014 Venue: Pacifico Yokohama, Yokohama, Japan

2 Special Plenary Panel on the Theme "Voices of the Future" Dr. Yoshiro Tanaka, Senior Advisor to UNAI/ASPIRE Japan, expressed his honor in declaring a new innovative stage for IAUP, noting that the future can always be better than the past, and that each individual has a personal moral obligation to realize this better future. With this, he handed the floor to the Voices of the Future. Mr. Junya Ogasawara, J. F. Oberlin University took the stage, firstly describing the discussions held between the ASPIRE members over the previous days, starting out from a discussion of what it meant to be a global citizens, and the requirements for global citizens, and then moving on to discuss how these skills and minds can be developed in universities. He introduced the panel members comprising students from many countries including India, UAE, Iran, and Bosnia, and representing several institutions including Gulf Medical University, Kobe Design University, and Saitama University. He also introduced the ASPIRE committee members, explaining that ASPIRE is a program under the UNAI established in higher education institutions around the world to support the UNAI ten principles and to promote cooperation. Mr. Satoshi Takenaka from Soka University further explained the choice of global citizens as the theme for the discussion, noting that the sixth UNAI principle is a commitment to encouraging global citizenship through education and that therefore member universities have had many opportunities to discuss the subject. He added that his own university also offers a global citizenship program. In order to discuss global citizenship effectively, the definition of the term by the UNAI was used as the starting point, which states that global citizenship is an umbrella term for social, political, environmental, or economic actions of globally minded individuals and communities on a worldwide scale. At the outset, a student from Kobe Design University presented the outcome of the discussions on the previous days, during which the students had split into two groups to consider the mind required to be global citizens, and the skills needed to be global citizens. Based on this discussion the groups then considered what universities can do toward this, with ideas including encouraging more active learning, more use of technology, virtual exchange programs, and virtual campus life. From this came the students came up with the idea of establishing GAUS (Global Association of University Students) as a virtual global student network. 1

3 Dr. Damodaran then opened the panel discussion, commenting that he had been inspired that very morning by receiving in his inbox a link to an article by Mr. Junya Ogasawara in University World News about ASPIRE being a resource for brand new ideas, which are already being seen, and he therefore encouraged the panel members to continue the discussion with more new ideas. The panel members pointed out the fact that universities provide a safe environment for students to gather courage and experiment with support from supervisors, and that having these kinds of platforms for discussion among those who want to change the world is extremely important in the university setting. An example was given of how a virtual campus could allow virtual collaborative experience by participating in an experiment remotely, sharing ideas with the others involved in conducting the experiment. There was some discussion of how to create a real virtual experience, rather than just the virtual presence commonly found in current MOOCs which only allow passive interaction with the teacher. There was also the suggestion put forward that rather than just repeating experiments it should be possible to develop the experiments further, or take them to commercialization. The point was made that lots of resources are wasted by repeating experiments that have already been done, and that by collaborating to develop ideas more effectively, better solutions could be found, and better students could be fostered to lead the world in the future. There was a suggestion that virtual campus life could also provide more access to international exchange experience, to overcome the high costs associated with overseas studies. It was also noted that a virtual campus could provide a forum to discuss social issues and raise awareness of issues more widely to find innovative approaches to tackling the issues. There was also a suggestion that rather than only focusing on university students, providing opportunities for interaction to younger students would also produce new ideas for solutions to issues. The value of being able to attend an international conference as an opportunity to develop global friendships was pointed out, and also the importance of tools such as SNS and the Internet. The discussion that covered the negative aspects of virtual activities and intellectual property issues in open collaboration. It was stressed that there is a challenge to overcome the idea of nationality and have more of a common global mindset, looking for the common ground and making use of differences. The common needs of food and shelter were raised as one example of a common basic human need that can be shared for the common good, since people cannot be totally independent. 2

4 Dr. Damodaran noted that the discussion had brought out many common threads, and asked each panel member to consider one opportunity that they would like to see pursued. The ideas raised included developing a larger, more flexible, network beyond ASPIRE, allowing more people to have this kind of opportunity to participate in global discussions, providing opportunities for more innovative ideas to be successfully developed and possibly turned into business opportunities by using a collaborative network, increasing opportunities for face to face communication and exchanges of opinions, meeting international students and others to broaden the mind, the opportunity to be creative and to have your voice be heard, and to connect students of different nationalities. It was also suggested that activities to make a change should be started actively by the individual first, and that education should include a focus on ethics. The panel discussion was brought to a close, and four students were invited to the stage to give speeches as voices of the future. First, Ms. Hatsumi Yoshino from Kanda University of International Studies gave a speech in which she summed up the outcomes of the panel discussion in considering what it means to be a global citizen. Next, Ms. Mami Suzuki of Nanzan University made a speech in which she noted that the members of the session from UNAI universities and other institutions were taking their first steps toward becoming a global citizen through the activities of ASPIRE. Following this, Ms. Naoko Koiso from Reitaku University pointed out that knowledge is not sufficient without morals, and stated that ASPIRE gave an opportunity to share the activities undertaken at Reitaku University in teaching morals, and to learn from others with different backgrounds. Mr. Je-woo Woo of Handong Global University then gave a speech in which he explained that with the shift toward globalization, we now live in one global community, but at the same time there has been an increase in global issues such as environmental problems that need to be addressed through international cooperation. This means there is a need for a change in mindset from individual self-interest to an interest in global cooperation. 3

5 Mr. Ogasawara then described the role that J. F. Oberlin University plays as the hub university for UNAI's first principle, Commitment to the UN Charter. He shared an anecdote about how university teachers and professors play the role of alarm clocks for students, alerting them to various opportunities and allowing them to reach their potential. Dr. Damodaran noted that in India there is a saying that you cannot wake up someone who is pretending to be asleep. He explained that UNAI started as an alliance of university leaders, but that the idea for ASPIRE came from hearing from students who wanted to be involved even though their universities did not want to sign up to UNAI. Dr. Damodaran also gave tribute to the IAUP for including ASPIRE in the program of the current meeting. Dr. Damodaran noted that in addition to thinking globally and acting locally, sometimes you also need to think locally and act globally, which is what the UN and the experiences of the students in ASPIRE are all about. He shared with them the idea that Youth Only Knows Opportunity Harnessing Aspiration Mobilizing Action (YOKOHAMA) in summing up the discussion. Dr. Damodaran closed by noting when there are opportunities it is also important to measuring opportunities and the chances of success in order to be able to mobilize action. Closing Session Dr. Jason Scorza, Vice Provost for International Affairs at Fairleigh Dickinson University and IAUP Secretary General, called the closing session to order, noting that 50 years ago in 1965 a group of university presidents met together on the campus of Fairleigh Dickinson University in the UK and formed what would become known as the IAUP. To celebrate this, the two institutions founding institutions, Fairleigh Dickinson University and Kyung Hee University, were recognized with awards presented to their representatives at the present meeting, FDU President Sheldon Drucker and Kyung Hee University Director Stephen Park. Mr. Drucker expressed his honor on behalf of FDU his predecessors for the award. Mr. Park gave an acceptance speech looking forward to the future mission of the IAUP. Dr. Scorza explained that the 50 th anniversary celebration would be held in the birthplace of the IAUP, Wroxton and Oxford in the UK in May 2015, and that the history of the IAUP from 1965 to 1995 would be republished, accompanied by a second volume of the history of the IAUP from 1995 to

6 Finally Dr. Scorza recognized the former officers of the IAUP for their contributions, and Professor Samuel Myers for his support and dedication for almost 50 years. IAUP General Assembly President of the Board of Directors Barham Madain opened the General Assembly, and presented Dr. Neal King as the new chair of the board for 2014 to Dr. Neal King explained that with a change in legal status in the UK to become a charitable corporation, there is now a nine member board of directors specified in the articles of incorporation with ultimate fiduciary responsibility for the organization. He noted with sadness that the three year presidency had not gone according to plan with the departure of Michael Adams much too soon, and thanked the team members that supported him in trying to complete Michael s vision for the three years. He also expressed his thanks to Ambassador Enan Galaly for his support as the chair of the council of senior advisors. Certificates of appreciation were then presented to the members of the board of directors completing their service in 2014 and to the president, secretary general, treasurer, and deputy secretary general of the IAUP for the period up to The nominations for the election of new officers were then introduced, with a recommendation from the executive committee to the board of directions, and then a recommendation from the board of directors then being put to the General Assembly. Dr. Fernando Leon Garcia, chair of the nominating committee, described the process and presented Mr. Kakha Shengelia as the committee s nominee for The nomination was unanimously adopted by the members. Mr. Kakha Shengelia gave a speech, in which he congratulated Dr. Satow, at the start of his presidency. He also gave commended Dr. Neal King and his team for their leadership during their presidency. He expressed his thanks to his friend the late Michael Adams for being a guide and mentor to him to help him achieve his goals. He introduced his team for the presidency for 2017 to 2020 and promised to commit himself fully to the goals of the organization. 5

7 Dr. Neal King noted that the next triennial would be held in Vienna in He also confirmed that the nine members of the board of directors for the next three years would be the three outgoing officers, the three incoming officers for the presidency, and the officers-elect for the presidency. An official ceremony of transfer of the presidency was conducted, following which the new president, Dr. Satow, gave a speech in which he noted that since the last time the triennial was held in Japan there had been the Kobe earthquake in 1995 and the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, and he expressed his gratitude for the support received from universities around the world, and praised the creation of new support networks. He noted that he was particularly pleased with the inclusion of voices of the future in the current meeting. Dr. Satow stated that over the next three years the emphasis would be on the global strengthening of higher education worldwide by promoting diversity and mobility, through programs such as ASPIRE, to develop education is areas where it is poorly developed due to social disorder, for example through the IIE/IAUP Scholars Rescue Fund, and the development of new initiatives promoting partnership with regional universities. He noted that Africa deserves special attention, and would be give particular support. Dr. Satow looked back at the history of inventions that have completely changed the world during the last century, while also witnessing major wars and conflicts, and stressed the importance of maintaining peace and harmony as we move forward. He noted that education has become much more accessible, but that at the same time great disparities remain in the world as a whole. He expressed his hope that the IAUP would continue to be a pioneer working for humanity and peace throughout the world. With this Dr. Satow brought the General Assembly to a close, looking forward to seeing all of the members in Wroxton the following year for the 50th anniversary celebrations. 6