Springfield College and Hokkaido Junior College Will Form Cooperative Agreement
July 13, 2010SPRINGFIELD, Mass., July 13, 2010 – Springfield College and Kokugakuin University Hokkaido Junior College (HJC), Japan, will form a five-year renewable agreement to collaborate on scholarly research, exchange faculty and students, and share curricular information.
Signing the agreement on Wednesday, July 14, at 11 a.m., at the Springfield College International Center in the Richard B. Flynn Campus Union will be Yasushi Ninomaya, Kokugakuin University Hokkaido Junior College acting president and vice chairman of the International Exchange Committee; Kokichi Maeda, Takikawa International Exchange Association president; Sue C. Root, Massachusetts Hokkaido Association president; and Jean Wyld, Springfield College vice president for academic affairs.
Kokugakuin University, founded in 1882, is a private university with 11,000 students at campuses in Tokyo and Yokohama. It offers bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs. Academic programs are in fields of economics, law, human development, literature, history and religious studies.
As a pilot project under the new agreement, HJC is planning to send a small student delegation to Springfield College this October. They will attend classes and tour the campus.
HJC will become the 14th prominent higher education institution with an active international agreement for mutually beneficial cooperation with Springfield College. Other recent such agreements have been with universities in Ireland, Spain, China and Taiwan. The college also has students in study abroad programs at universities in Australia, England, France, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Poland, Scotland and Spain.
Internationalism has been a guiding principle at Springfield College since its first class in 1885, almost half of which comprised non-U.S. residents. The Doggett International Center of the college assists international students and hosts international scholars, coaches and guests. The college also conducts student missions to economically disadvantaged countries to provide needed human services.
For more than a century, Springfield College presidents and sports teams have traveled the globe, building relationships, conducting educational and sports programs, and receiving governmental and humanitarian awards. Today, more than 600 alumni reside in 65 countries outside the U.S.
