what an international year it s been!university2.taylors.edu.my/download/global-matters...december...
TRANSCRIPT
DECEMBER 2015 - Issue 4 - Edition 42
What An International Year It’s Been!
It was back in January 2015 that I noticed we had no mention of our international
activities on the bunting for our Open Days. I asked "Why not?" It was said to me
that we just didn't have a "strong enough story to tell". So I started Global Matters
after Chinese New Year to show that we not only have a story to tell - but that
we have 3–4 stories a week to tell! As I look back over 2015 it’s been a remarkable
year of international activity and engagement across the University.
As this year ends, our advertising campaign is
"Invest locally. Study globally", and a big red arrow
on the Open Day welcome tent (which is right next
to our twenty international flags by A-Block) says "Taylor's Makes Global Connections Right Here".
Looking back over the year there have been many highlights - just some of these
would include launching our Global Strategic Plan at World Fest, hearing about
our students win so many international awards, holding our first ever 'International
Week', welcoming so many exchange students (including our first batch of
exchange students from the UK), hosting internationally focused conferences in
pharmacy, tourism and teaching & learning at our Lakeside campus, as well as
completing overseas development projects in places such as East Timor, hosting
the President of the United States and also receiving 5 QS–Stars for our
Internationalisation.
It’s exciting for me to support and work with so many colleagues and students
who initiate and participate in these activities. Finally, let us not forget that the
second most important reason that AC Nielsen reported that students and
parents choose Taylor's University, was because of our 'international recognition'. A big "Thank you" to everyone that has sent us news and photos for Global
Matters. These stories are not only sent internally around the TEG group, but they
are also posted on our website and the student portal. We also already translate
a summary of all these stories into Mandarin (and a big 'thank you' to Elvin Tan for
doing this) for TIAN, and next year we plan to launch Global Monthly which will
go out to a more wider external audience made up of our various partners and
external contacts. Also a big thank you to my colleague Catherine Gwee who
manages to organise the news once I have written it up or edited it, and is able to put out Global Matters every week.
Season’s Greetings to everyone and here's looking forward to an even more
globally connected 2016 – Prof. Perry Hobson, PVC Global Engagement.
Internationally Recognised: Students Graduate with Degrees from both
Taylor's University and University of the West of England
Taylor's University has had a successful decade-long relationship with the
University of the West of England (UK). Currently some 3,500 students are enrolled
in a variety of international dual degrees within the Taylor's Business School (TBS),
School of Communication (SoC) and School of Computing and Information
Technology (SOCIT). This means that these students will not only obtain a degree
from Taylor's University, but also another one from the University of the West of
England (UWE). To highlight the continuing links and strong relationship between
the two institutions, academic colleagues from UWE attended the recent Taylor's
University convocation ceremony at the Lakeside campus to congratulate the
graduating students. Professor Perry Hobson, PVC for Global Engagement,
commented that "in these fields of study, obtaining two degrees is highly
advantageous for these students and it offers additional international
recognition". To obtain both degrees, it is not a requirement for students to go
and study at UWE in the UK. However, many students do opt to spend a year at
UWE as part of their study programme – and we also have a number of UK
students from UWE on exchange at Taylor's University. Furthermore, some Schools
also offer a short-term mobility opportunity to the UK, so students can go over to
UWE for 2-3 weeks. To find out more about the global study options at Taylor's
University click here.
Students from SOCIT (centre) graduating with their international dual degrees
with academic staff from Taylor's University (left) and UWE (right)
Exploring Anime – Design Students Head to Tokyo
A group photo of The Design School students during the tour of Fuji Television Network Inc.,
Japan’s largest private network during Activity Week
Seventeen students from the Taylor's Design School (TDS) at Taylor’s University
recently found themselves at the very heart of anime culture in Tokyo as part of
the School’s annual Activity Week. The 8-day study trip to Japan was an
experiential-immersive learning approach, moving away from the traditional
classroom-setting towards practical teaching and learning. “Essentially, our aim
is to enable students to use theories learned in classrooms into a real-life setting
and experience foreign culture. This will help them develop an awareness of
opportunities and challenges posed by culture differences,” said Dr. Noorhayati
Saad, Associate Dean in TDS. She added that “This unique method supports
collaborative learning among the students, as well as promoting critical thinking
through hands-on workshops - challenging students with industry relevant
projects and face-to-face expert interactions". During their stay, the students
from the Graphic Communication Design and Interactive Multimedia Design met
with prominent industry speakers who pursued their passion in animation. The
common theme found among Shigetaka Mochizuki, Founder and Chief
Executive Officer of ASURA FILM Inc; Shuhei Morita, Founder and representative
of YAMATOWORKS, LLC and Mirai Mizue, Founder of MIRAI FILM was their desire,
perseverance and hard work which garnered their success. The group was also
treated to a 2-day workshop producing their own LINE mobile application stickers
and introduced to tools used in manga comics conducted by Otasaka Hirokazu
from the Graphic Design Department and Kawaguchi Mizue from the Manga
Department at the Tokyo Designer Gakuin College. The final site visit for the group
was a tour of Japan’s largest private television network, Fuji Television Network
Inc., a 25-floor futuristic building with several independent designed studios for
news and entertainment content. For the full story click here.
STEP Up: Hospitality Employer Initiatives Highlighted
at THE-ICE Int'l Panel of Experts Forum
Professor Perry Hobson, PVC for Global Engagement, recently attended the
International Centre of Excellence in Tourism & Hospitality Education (THE-
ICE) annual International Panel of Experts Forum (IPoE) at Stenden University of
Applied Sciences (UAS) in The Netherlands. The focus of this year's IPoE was on
"Real World Learning" and Prof. Perry Hobson was invited to speak on a panel
titled "Going Beyond the Case Study". The Chair of the session was Mr. Emanuel
Donhauser from the Swiss Education Group (SEG) Switzerland, and other panel
presenters included Professor Christian Maurer from IMC University of Applied
Sciences Krems (Austria) and Ms. Hanny Kadijk from Tourism Research Projects at
Stenden University of Applied Sciences (The Netherlands). He spoke about the
several initiatives being undertaken by the School of Hospitality, Tourism, &
Culinary Arts (HTCA) at Taylor's University - including the STEP programme
initiative. As the Asian Correspondent has pointed out "This one-of-a-kind
partnership enables students to undergo training with industry partners, typically
hotel industries, as well as provides an avenue for the leading hotel groups to
map out its long-term recruitment plans and secure potential talents". STEP
industry partners include Shangri-La Hotels, Hilton, Mandarin Oriental, Starwood
Hotels & Resort and also Accor. Selected student are able to attend regular
workshops with the company, undertake two internships and get a company
career mentor. To find out more about STEP click here.
(L-R). Prof Perry Hobson, PVC-GE Taylor's University; Ms Hanny Kadijk, Stenden UAS;
Prof Christian Maurer IMC Krems; Emanuel Donhauser from SEG
China Opens Up Dual Masters Programme in the USA
Amid the flurry of press coverage surrounding President Xi Jinping’s visit to the
United States in September, his gift of a dawn redwood tree to be planted on the
campus of the Global Innovation Exchange, or GIX, programme in Seattle
received little attention. However, the GIX programme, a collaboration between
China’s prestigious Tsinghua University and the University of Washington, reflects
a next step in China’s soft power strategy. While over the past two decades,
American and other foreign universities have flocked to establish campuses and
centres in China, GIX will be the first outpost of a Chinese university in the United
States. The GIX campus itself is still being built and designed, but when it opens in
the fall of 2017, the institution will host the second year of a dual degree
programme offering a master’s degree in technology innovation to
approximately 30 students. There are plans to offer other programmes and by
2025 to enrol 3,000 students. For the full story read the World University News.
Radical Shift in Global Science Identified by UNESCO Report
The focus of global science has radically shifted from basic research to applied
research, with high-income countries cutting back on public spending while
private sector funding has been maintained or increased, according to the
newly-released UNESCO Science Report: Towards 2030. “The debate between
quick scientific gains and long-term public investment in basic and high-risk
research to enlarge the scope of scientific discoveries has never been so
relevant,” Irina Bokova, the UNESCO director-general, said. But a second
interesting trend is that the North-South divide in research and innovation is
narrowing, as a large number of countries are incorporating science, technology
and innovation in their national development agendas, in order to be less reliant
on raw materials and move towards knowledge economies, Bokova said. For the full story read the World University News.
Myanmar – Opening up a Pandora's Box of Reforms in Higher Education
Since the opening up of its economy and its democratisation process,
Myanmar’s government has understood the importance of education, including
higher education, in supporting the country’s national development plans
especially in sustaining economic development. Two of the latest developments
that need to be discussed and addressed are the results of Myanmar’s 2015
national elections and their recent decision to grant institutional autonomy to all
its higher education institutions. The lack of a consensus about its higher
education governance structure and the lack of awareness, capacity and
limitations of institutional autonomy in Myanmar higher education, however,
opens up a Pandora’s box within its higher education sector. With Myanmar’s 169
higher education institutions under 13 ministries, including the Ministry of
Education, the absence of a higher education law makes for lack of clarity
around current and-or future higher education governance structure in
Myanmar higher education. To read more, click here.
International Student Numbers Have Shot up – But Pace Could Slow Warns OECD
Student mobility has increased dramatically over recent years along with the
exploding demand for education. But “the economic climate, shrinking support
for scholarships and grants, as well as tighter budgets for individuals”could yet
slow the pace of that flow, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-
operation and Development, or OECD’s Education at a Glance 2015 report,
released last week. Currently there are more than four million international
students worldwide. In six countries – Australia, Austria, Luxembourg, New
Zealand, Switzerland and the United Kingdom – they represent 16% or more of
the student body. In tiny Luxembourg, 44% of students enrolled in tertiary
education are from another country. By contrast, international students account
for 3% or less of total tertiary enrolments in Chile, Estonia, Mexico, Poland, Slovenia and Spain. For the full story read the World University News.