2007, Commencement Address 13th Graduation Ceremony
Distinguished guests, honored parents, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great pleasure to welcome such a large number of people to the 2007 Josai International University graduation ceremony, the 13th commencement exercise to be held in our university's history.
Josai International University is proud to announce today that it will be awarding two doctorate degrees, forty master's degrees, and nine-hundred-and-thirty-eight (938) bachelor's degrees and certificates.
There is one especially memorable event in today's ceremony as we send off into society the first graduating class of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Department of Medical Pharmacy. In the 16 years since the establishment of the university in 1992, we have progressed steadily toward becoming a more comprehensive university encompassing studies in the fields of natural sciences and medical care with the creation of the Faculty of Social Work Studies and the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences. Taken together with the achievements of having nurtured and produced graduate-school level human resources at the doctorate degree level and master's degree level, we have succeeded in being able to nurture the graduates of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences and send them into society as much needed future pharmacists. This educating and training of highly specialized human resources can be regarded as another scholarly achievement of which Josai International University can be justifiably proud.
Continuing from its beginning last year, in recognition of outstanding academic achievement in education in the promotion of culture in international society Josai International University will confer honorary doctorate degrees on deserving and outstanding individuals who have contributed actively to the education of young people in keeping with the ideals set forth at the founding of the university.
This year the university would like to recognize the contributions to its academic achievements of two educators from sister schools that share similar academic principles by conferring upon each an honorary doctorate.
The first is a long-time teacher at one sister school in the United States, the University of California at Riverside. In the sixteen years since it’s founding, JIU succeeded in starting up an education abroad program and an English education program due to support from the University of California at Riverside. The honorary degree will be given to Dr. James Hartley, the Dean of the Extension Center at the University of California at Riverside.
The second is Professor Kim Hi-Soo. Chancellor of Konyang University in the Republic of Korea. Konyang University, which was founded to develop regional medical care, human resources for regional development and to help nurture international humanities, is cooperating with us to develop human resources.
We would like to give recognition to the remarkable and distinguished contributions that Professor Kim, as Chancellor of a private university, and Dr. Hartley, in his capacity as a Dean, have made in helping to develop the next generation of internationally-minded young people in the East Asian cultural sphere.
This year the university acquired a second building for its Kioicho campus in Tokyo while the Faculty of Media Studies set up a branch in the Makuhari City in Chiba Prefecture. Thus, the structure of the JIU campus is expanding steadily with environmental and functional elements that support the global perspective aimed at steadily reinforcing the progress in our work of educating and training young people. We have become a more comprehensive university with locations in Togane City in Chiba, where the main campus is based, in Southern Boso Peninsula and in the Bay Area in Chiba. The campus extends throughout Chiba Prefecture and has branches in Tokyo and sister schools in other countries.
In addition, the Faculty of Tourism, established two years ago with the cooperation of the Kamogawa City, has been working together with Chiba Prefecture using new university educational expertise to steadily to develop human resources and contribute to the revitalization efforts in the area. Activities are being carried out at the Awa Learning Center, the Kyonanmachi Seminar House, the Ootakimachi Herb Garden, Kazusa Academia Park, and the Pharmaceutical Research Center. Furthermore, an area of land located in front of the main gate of the Togane campus has been procured from Togane City. From next year, JIU will undertake studies to determine how it can become more deeply involved in Chiba Prefecture’s environment preservation and revitalization of local areas efforts, starting in Kujukuri, Sanbu and the Boso area.
Since it established itself in Chiba Prefecture, the university has envisioned contributing to the local community, while many of the inhabitants have provided support for students through housing facilities, part-time job opportunities, assistance for sports and other extracurricular activities and cooperation in study tour events. Also, starting this year, under the leadership of the Chairman of the Togane City Chamber of Commerce Josai International University Support Association was inaugurated.
In today's world universities must begin to work with local societies to help in their development and in training human resources for local industries. This has been a goal of the university since it founding and one, which intend to pursue with a renewed sense of awareness.
