Shinshu Visit
Etsuko Kamimura, Isao Kaneko, and Tomone Takahashi of Shinshu University with a UM student Jon Pielaet.
UM’s Disability Services played host to visitors from a Japanese university in February, just a few weeks after Disability services staff visited Japan.
Members of Shinshu University’s student support project, which is funded by the Japanese Ministry of Education, visited the University of Montana and Disability Services on February 18-20, 2009.
The members of this project are responsible for developing a student support system at their university. The goal of developing a student support system is to help students gain rich academic experiences and success in achieving educational goals.
In addition to time with Disability Services, the members visited departments of Academic Affairs including Office of Student Success, The Office of International Programs and TRiO Student Support Services. The Office of International Programs also delivered a warm welcome to the members on behalf of President Dennison and Provost Engstrom.
The Shinshu delegation spent an hour with Vice President of Student Affairs, Teresa Branch, while representatives from other Student Affairs departments, such as Career Services, Curry Health Center, and University Center, discussed services offered to UM students and partnerships with other departments as a way to support UM students holistically.
Dr. Tomone Takahashi, the lead member of the Shinshu student support project, was pleased by the opportunity to learn how UM supports its students. The group is hoping to disseminate the knowledge that they have gained at UM to their campus as well as other higher education institutions in Japan.
“I hope we can keep this relationship with the University of Montana for future collaboration,” Takahashi said.
The visit from Shinshu University followed a trip to Japan by Disability Services Director Jim Marks and Coordinator Mika Watanabe-Taylor earlier in February. On that trip, Marks and Watanabe-Taylor stopped at Shinshu and other Japanese institutions of higher education.
Shinshu University is located in Nagano Prefecture where the 1998 Winter Olympics were hosted. The University, in which 12000 students are enrolled, offers degrees in Agriculture, Education, Economics, Science, Medicine, Engineering, Technology, and Arts and Humanities.
