Every year since 2006, KyotoU and the University of California Davis (UC Davis) have alternately hosted one administrator from each institution to work as an intern for a period of two weeks to three months. The program, operated based on the memorandum of understanding signed in 2005, is aimed at developing administrators who can lead their organizations' internationalization efforts, and at helping each university collect important information to its global strategy development.
This year, KyotoU accepted Ms Aspen Felt, program coordinator and advisor at UC Davis' Study Abroad, for a four-week period starting 6 August.
Each program is tailor-made based on the intern’s interest and request, and this year’s featured: meetings with three executive vice-presidents — Professor Kayo Inaba (gender equality, international affairs, and public relations), Professor Shinsuke Kawazoe (student affairs and library services), and Masanobu Morita (general affairs and personnel); interviews and meetings with staff of offices involved in international affairs, including the International Strategy Office; a visit to the KyotoU International House; participation in an orientation session for a student exchange program; tours of the Katsura and Uji Campuses; and visits to extramural organizations supporting international exchange, including the International Student Study Kyoto Network. Ms Felt also took part in the shamisen (three-stringed banjo) workshop hosted by Student Lounge KIZUNA to experience Japanese culture.
The program concluded with a briefing session, where Ms Felt made a presentation discussing UC Davis, international exchange activities at the two universities, and what she had learned through her internship. Numerous KyotoU faculty and staff attended the session to broaden their international perspective.
Ms Felt, program coordinator and advisor from UC Davis, presenting
KyotoU faculty and staff with Ms Felt on the final day of the program
