UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.—A group of administrators and graduate students from Japan recently visited Penn State in order to deepen their understanding of higher education. Hosted by the College of Education’s Center for the Study of Higher Education (CSHE), Hideto Fukudome, an associate professor at the University of Tokyo, and his seven students spent a week in July learning from leaders across the University.
Fukudome said that he brought the group to Penn State to expose them to higher education in different societies and countries. “Many of them work at various colleges and universities in Japan as administrators and staff who want to enhance their careers at their institutions,” said Fukudome. “Some of them are faculty members at other universities who want to learn more about higher education. Others are graduate students who want to be higher-education researchers.”John Cheslock, director of the CSHE, associate professor and senior research associate, was one of the lecturers who spoke to the visitors. He said that as globalization within higher education continues to increase, future university leaders will need to have an understanding of other higher education systems.
“Such knowledge permits students to view their own country’s higher education system in a new light and helps them identify opportunity for collaborations across countries,” said Cheslock. “This visit will enhance the knowledge of our visitors from the University of Tokyo, but it will also advance those of us at Penn State who will engage them during their time on campus.”