IDOCS 04/05-4
At the February 10, 2005 faculty meeting, IDOCS will move that the programs in Japan named below, all of which are pilot programs, be approved by the faculty and granted full status.
Introduction . St. Olaf students must have completed two years of Japanese (the equivalent of 232)before applying to one of the four options for study abroad in Japan: Waseda, Ferris, Nagoya, and Nagasaki. Waseda University in Tokyo is a highly regarded and prestigious institution located in central Tokyo. The program is very well administered; most of the courses are taught in English. St. Olaf has sent students to Waseda over a period of fifteen years, and two faculty members (Wes Brown and Bruce Dalgaard) have served as resident directors for the program. This is not a pilot program. FerrisUniversity, located in Yokohama, is also in a large urban environment. Nearly all courses are taught in Japanese, and St. Olaf students live in a boarding house with Japanese students, as well as students from other parts of Asia. Nagoya University in Nagoya City is a national university and has a very competitive admissions program. Our students stay in a dormitory with Japanese and other Asian students. Coursework is available in the sciences as well as the humanities, in Japanese, for those who have adequate proficiency. Nagasaki University, located in southern Japan, is the smallest of the Japan programs, but works very well for students who have difficulty learning in a classroom context but are able to make progress in a total immersion setting. Courses may be taken in Japanese, as well as English. All students enrolled in Japanese study programs are housed in residential dorms and must use their Japanese skills extensively.
St. Olaf has a good mix of opportunities for our students: location, size of institution and city in which it is located, number of students, kind of programs, cultural activities, requisite GPA, etc. Faculty members in Asian Studies steer interested students toward particular programs they believe match their interests, their abilities and their level of language proficiency. Each year, St. Olaf sends 4-7 students to Japan.
Japan: Ferris University
The Ferris University program is a full year program. Ferris University is an all-female institution and a St. Olaf exchange partner. Ferris has strengths in arts and literature, good interaction with Asian and Japanese students, and an international student adviser. While a few courses are taught in English, the majority are taught in Japanese. Admission requirements include a minimum gpa of 3.0 and completion of four semesters of Japanese.
Japan:Nagasaki
Students are able to enroll in the program at Nagasaki University of Foreign Studies for a semester or full year. Nagasaki is an exchange partner with St. Olaf. Courses are taught in both English and Japanese. Field trips, cultural activities and club activities are an important dimension of the program. There is no minimum gpa requirement for admission, but students must complete two years of Japanese.
Japan: Nagoya
Students are able to enroll in the program at Nagoya University for a semester or full year. Nagoya is an exchange partner; it is a national university that offers the possibility of studying math and science. There is a full-time adviser for students. While the core academic program is in English, courses are available in Japanese. Students are housed in a university dormitory in which Japanese students, American students, and other international students are mixed by floor. Many clubs and extracurricular activities are available to students. Admission requirements include a minimim gpa of 3.0 and completion of two years of Japanese.
Rationale. New off-campus study programs are first approved by IDOCS on a pilot basis. When an off-campus program has completed the period of time set by IDOCS for pilot program status, the faculty program advisor is asked to prepare a report concerning the program, including a recommendation to approve the program, to continue it on pilot status, or to discontinue it. The three programs listed above have been recommended for full status by their respective program advisors and by IDOCS. We therefore bring them to the faculty for approval.
