INU News - June 2007

Introduction to new INU President

Professor Paul Johnson took up his appointment as Vice-Chancellor and President of La Trobe University, and as President of the Network, on 16 April 2007, having previously held the position of Deputy Director of the London School of Economics where he had particular responsibility for resources and planning:

www.latrobe.edu.au/about/vice_chancellor.html

Professor Johnson looks forward to meeting members of the Network, particularly at the annual Council meeting to be held in Malmo, Sweden in September (see below for further information regarding this meeting).

The Henry Fong Student Award for Global Citizenship

An Award ceremony for Eri Shimegatsu, the first recipient of the INU's Henry Fong Student Award for Global Citizenship, was held following the annual INU Executive meeting in Leicester on April 16. Ms Shimegatsu is from Hiroshima University but is currently studying at Sheffield University. She returns to Japan briefly at the end of the Northern Hemisphere academic year, before commencing an exchange at La Trobe University in Australia. A semester of exchange, together with a stipend to support her travel and study costs, were part of the Henry Fong Student Award.

Ms Shimegatsu is pictured here after the Award ceremony with (from left to right) Professor Ninomiya, Vice-President, International Relations at Hiroshima University, Professor Ian Postlethwaite, Pro Vice-Chancellor at Leicester University, Bob Goddard, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Strategic Development) at La Trobe University (and representing the INU President at the Executive meeting) and Professor Hajime Nishitani, Professor of Law at Hiroshima University.

Donation from Riady Family

The INU Executive Committee was delighted to accept with pleasure a donation to the Network from the Indonesian educationalist and philanthropist, Dr James Riady. Dr Riady has recently committed the sum of A$300,000 to augment his original donation of A$100,000. The funds will be used to support a number of the Network's activities.

New INU member

We have much pleasure in announcing that the Executive has approved the recommendation to welcome Kyung Hee University in South Korea as a full member of the network. The university will add a very valuable dimension to the current membership of the INU.

For more information about latest events at Kyung Hee University, please see the "News from INU Members" at the end of this Newsletter.

Web Page Redevelopment

The redesign of the INU Web site is progressing well and it is hoped that the new site will be up and running shortly. The Secretariat would like to thank the Web Reference Group who have provided valuable feedback and suggestions on the redevelopment work. An email to all members of the Network will be circulated as soon as a go-live date is known for the site.

For more information on the redevelopment, please email Joanna Watts in the INU Secretariat.

Learning and Teaching - developing international cooperation

La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia hosted a workshop for INU members titled 'Learning and Teaching - Developing International Cooperation, April 26-27, 2007. The workshop preceded the EDUCAUSE Australasia conference in Melbourne held April 29-May 2, and was an opportunity for staff in the areas of Library, IT and Staff Development to meet and consider issues affecting joint program development within the Network, using the proposed joint Masters in Global Citizenship as a case study. A meeting of the Library SIG was also held on the second day of the workshop. This meeting was a follow-up to the inaugural meeting held in Malmo in April 2006.

A full report on the Learning and Teaching event has been sent to participants and will be circulated to members of the Network shortly.

INU Activities update

Nine applications for the Administrative Staff Shadowing program were received from Administrative staff around the Network. All applications received were approved by the Executive at their recent meeting in Leicester in April. Jo Watts in the INU Secretariat has begun matching submissions with host universities and more information on the shadowing visits to take place will be posted on the INU web site soon. In the meantime, for more information contact Jo Watts in the INU Secretariat.

Four shadowing program visits have so far been undertaken from the 2006-2007 round. In the second half of 2006 Amanda Fong from La Trobe University visited Leicester and James Madison Universities; Noriko Noji from Hiroshima University visited Malmo University in April 2007; Mats Hogstrom from Malmo University visited La Trobe and Flinders Universities also in April 2007 and Randy Mitchell from James Madison University visited La Trobe and Flinders Universities in May 2007.

Nineteen nominations have so far been received for student participants to attend the INU Student Seminar in Hiroshima in August 2007. Several more nominations are expected and it is likely that the number of students attending from universities outside Hiroshima will be around 20-25, with a further 35 anticipated from Hiroshima University. Preparations are well underway for the seminar and students will shortly be required to begin some preparatory work to familiarize themselves with key literature relating to this year's topic of Climate Change.

Visit to Europe

Jo Watts, from the INU Secretariat, visited Leicester, Jonkoping and Malmo Universities in early May to meet with colleagues who are involved in supporting INU activities. The discussions held were extremely fruitful and it is hoped that the outcome of the visits will be some new initiatives and opportunities for Network members for 2008 and beyond.

NEWS from INU members

New Vice-Chancellor appointed: A new Vice-Chancellor has been appointed at Flinders University. The Network welcomes Dr Michael Barber, who will succeed Professor Anne Edwards in January 2008. The INU Council would like to thank Professor Edwards for her very strong support of the Network.

BUTE Celebrates its 225th Anniversary: In 2007 the Budapest University of Technology and Economics is celebrating the 225 th anniversary of the founding of its legal predecessor.

A number of events have been scheduled to commemorate this historic event:

On 4 May 2007, at a ceremonial meeting of the University Senate, Dr. rer. nat. Martin Winterkorn, Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG and H.E. Dr. György Habsburg, Honorary Hungarian Ambassador were awarded with the 'Honorary Citizen of the University' title. Prof. Károly Molnár, DSc. Rector of the University dedicated the University Flags and the Coat of Arms.

On 5 May 2007, the two-day scientific program in the Hungarian Parliament and at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences was dedicated to the new future festal calendar day, 'The Hungarian Engineering Intellectuals Day'.

On the 3 September 2007, on the occasion of the opening ceremony of the 2007-2008 Academic Year, the University Senate will unveil four female statues allegorically depicting the classical engineering sciences that had once stood in the facade of Central Building K. For more information about these events, please contact the Budapest University of Technology and Economics.

Kyung Hee University, Korea: Dr. Inwon Choue, the President of Kyung Hee University, has been invited as a plenary speaker to the 7th Global Forum on Reinventing Government held in Vienna from 26 June until 29 June, 2007. Kyung Hee University is the only one academic partner in Korea as well as one of the three institutions including Kennedy School of Government at Havard University.

2007 Penn-Kyung Hee Collaborative Summer Program is held from 2 July until 27 July, 2007 in Kyung Hee University. Penn-Kyung Hee Collaborative Summer Program is the result of collaborative efforts from the University of Pennsylvania and Kyung Hee University to provide a unique international learning experience. In 2007 Penn-Kyung Hee Collaborative program offers 24 diverse courses under the theme of Global Governance and East Asian Civilization. Faculty members from UPenn and Kyung Hee University as well as Peking University, China, Moscow State University, Russia and United Nations, Department of Economics and Social Affairs bring diverse prospective to the classroom and create a challenging learning environment. All undergraduate and graduate students are invited to this new paradigm for higher education. For more information about either of these events, please contact Kyung Hee University.