Keio University Hosts Japan-EU Inter-University Exchange Project Symposium “Quality assurance in Japan-EU international collaborative degree programs”

On Thursday, March 10, Keio University hosted the online Inter-University Exchange Project Symposium for Strategic Cooperation and Support for Higher Education, “Quality assurance in Japan-EU international collaborative degree programs.” The 137 participants in the symposium were comprised mainly of persons involved in higher education from all regions of the globe, including Japan and EU countries.

The symposium was chaired by Professor Shinnosuke Obi from Keio University and began with an opening address by Keio University Vice President Motohiro Tsuchiya. Ms. Orie Kishimoto, the chief inspector for schools and leader of the International Strategy Team at the Higher Education Bureau, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), offered a few words to mark the event.

The first presenter, Mr. David Crosier of the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA), gave an overview of the history and current challenges of quality assurance in international collaborative degree programs in a presentation entitled “Quality assurance trends in Europe (European Approach).”

This was followed by presentations on aspects of “quality assurance” in each of the three international collaborative degree programs HIPS, IMLEX, and JEMARO, which have been selected for Inter-University Exchange Project Japan-EU Strategic Cooperation and Support for Higher Education. Professor Toru Aoyama, Vice President at the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, introduced initiatives as part of the HIPS Program; Professor Balázs Trencsényi of the Central European University (ECN) introduced the IMLEX Program; and Professor Jun Miura from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Toyohashi University of Technology introduced JEMARO.

They were joined in the subsequent panel discussion by Professor Hideki Kasuya, Vice Presidential Advisor and Associate Dean for International Affairs at Nagoya University on behalf of the Japan Joint Degree Program Council, and Professor Norihisa Miki from Keio University and the JEMARO Program. Each panelist enthusiastically engaged in the discussions, answering questions from the symposium participants and touching on essential issues such as how to evaluate “joint” degrees across international boundaries within the context of discrete quality assurance systems for degrees by country; and the differences and relative advantages in operating joint degree and double degree programs.

Program details: https://iuep-eu.keio.ac.jp/council/20220310/

1. Opening remarks

2. Quality assurance trends in Europe (European Approach)

Mr. David Crosier (European Education and Culture Executive Agency; EACEA)

3. Quality Assurance through International Collaborative Degree Programs: The 3 IUEP Program Initiatives

HIPS Program

Professor Toru Aoyama (Tokyo University of Foreign Studies)
Professor Balázs Trencsényi (Central European University)

IMLEX Program

Professor Jun Miura (Toyohashi University of Technology)

JEMARO Program

Professor Vincent Fremont (Central European University)

4. Discussion/Q&A

Links:

Provisional Revision of the International Cooperative Curricula Scheme (Joint Degree System) [MEXT handouts (Japanese language only) from the 165th meeting of the Central Council for Education Subdivision on Universities]

European Approach for Quality Assurance of Joint Programmes [European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education (EQAR) ]