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[asa29]

Freshair, your personal attack on me and my credibility when I was contributing some reasoned points to this discussion does not help your argument.

I disagree with you, therefore I must be a stooge. Fair enough.

FYI, I am exactly who I say I am. On my visits to Akita I have set my own agenda, walked around freely, talked to staff and students across the board from top to bottom, Japanese and international (in both cases) and nominated my own classes to observe (in some cases minutes before that class started)

Hitler? North Korea? Do me a favour. You sound hysterical. And even more as if you have a vendetta.

To get back to the discussion, I am not saying that all the feedback I have received on AIU  has been positive. Far from it. But that was my overwhelming impression. I notice you didn't care to take up my point about the students, who I think are actually the most important part of this whole issue.

And like I said, if staff walk then that's a very visible problem that AIU will have to address if it has notions of longevity.

[freshair]

asa29:

1)  I see you dropped your silly assertion that people know what terms they are taking up when they sign up at an institution.  That's at least some progress on your part.

2)  If you are truly the disinterested person you pretend to be, why hide behind a false identity?  If you are what you claim, why not just endorse the school (you would be the first to publicly do so here, of course), what do you have to lose?

3)  Of course people here are concerned about the students.  But do you think the students are well-served by the inept and corrupt leadership of the president of AIU?

[asa29]

1) No, I just didn't feel the need to say it again. Everyone's worked on a short-term contract some time in their lives, and sometimes they don't get renewed. Expecting to still find jobs for life in Japan? If you're saying that AIU is breaking employment law then I would be taking that somewhere other than a b*tchy thread on a message board.

2) No thanks. I think it's wise to be anonymous when leaving a trail about yourself on the internet don't you? Obviously you do. I think it's plain that I'm not disinterested as well, other than not being employed by AIU and having no stake in whether they succeed or fail (as I think I've made clear in my comments - it's entirely up to them if they want to chuck away staff loyalty). I have a personal interest, and to some extent a professional relationship with the university (not with anyone who works there). And I certainly don't have to prove myself to you. How do I know that you're who you say you are? For all intents and purposes you could be the jilted ex-lover of one of the staff you're slandering on here, but I choose to believe you, that you're a pissed off member of staff, and I'd appreciate it if you would extend the same courtesy to me. I note you haven't asked anyone else to justify themselves by the way, just the person who had an extra dimension to add to this one-sided debate.

I'm not sure what you mean by endorsing the school - I think I already have. If you want people to put their names to that then I should ask Nanking, Oslo, Aberdeen, Taiwan National...

i doubt anyone else would stick their neck out on here, to be sneered at.

3) I know nothing about the president. Heaven knows I have seen useless and self-serving leaders and heads of department in my time - this is academia after all. All I have to contribute to this discussion, which I have, are my personal observations. Which are that the students are happy, articulate, participative, and that they are doing well in external testing. As I said, let's wait and see how their employability works out. AIU has a lot at stake in that.

[11113567]

This thread definitely repays revisiting. The AIU administration finally gotten someone sympathetic to it to post on it. Unfortunately for their credibility, no one who actually works at the school will defend it, anonymously or not. And undoubtedly, most of those who work at the school would be afraid for their jobs if they posted here. So they don't.

What the administration didn't realize when they encouraged someone on their side to post is that it would unleash a storm of emotional reaction from those who did work there, making this thread one of the most viewed in the forums and keeping it near the top of the list. If the administration were competent they would try to get people to stop posting on this thread and let the issue die. It's surely not going to help their recruiting to have one of the major sources of academic job information in the USA, if not the whole world, hosting a discussion that rakes them over the coals about their hiring (and other) practices, exposing them as an incompetently administerd university, even by the standards of Japan.

But then again, if the AIU administration were competent, they wouldn't be the AIU administration in the first place.

I intend to keep visiting here to find out the latest news about the school, for the amusement value as well as the educational value. I encourage anyone else who wanders in to revisit also. By April, when the Japanese school year begins, everyone working at AIU will finally know whether they have been rehired or not. Then we can expect real **** to hit the fan, because no one who was fired will have any reason not to dish the dirt on the school.

[concernedinakita]

 "THIS IS ALL ABOUT POWER, NOT EDUCATION"

Sounds like you hit the nail on the head!

My question is: "Where is the news media in Akita?" Will they remain silent while a hard working faculty, who are well liked by the student body, are "slaughtered" by Dr. Nakajima?

[outsideadvisor]

Do those of you in Akita have contact with any one of the following people? They may be interested in your experience. Their contacts are readily available.

Dr. Yasushi AKASHI (Chair)
Former Under-Secretary-General, United Nations
Chairman, Academic Council of United Nations System
President, The Japan Center for Conflict Prevention

Ms. Eiko OHYA
Commentator
Journalist
Member, Promotion Committee for the Privatization of the Four
Highway-Related Public Corporations

Mr. Tetsuo TAMURA
President, Shibuya Kyoiku Gakuen
President, Shibuya Kyoiku Gakuen, Makuhari Junior & High school
Member, Central Council for Education, Ministry of Education,
Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT)

Dr. Donald KEENE
Honorary Professor, Columbia University
Honorary Member, Nippon Gakushiin
Scholar of Japanese Literature and Culture

Mr. Hyokichi TSUJI
Chairman, Akita Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Vice Chairman, Tohoku Economic Federation

Mr. Kazuo NODA
Honorary President, Tama University
Honorary Chairman, The Japan Research Institute
Chairman, The Social Development Research Center

Mr. Yuzabro MOGI
President, Kikkoman Co., Ltd.
Vice Chairman, Central Council for Education, MEXT
Member, Local Government System Research Council,
Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications

Mr. Sukeshiro TERATA (Observer)
Governor, Akita Prefecture

[concernedinakita]

I noticed on AIU's website that Gregory Clark (AIU VP) calls AIU "the ideal human environment".

WE believe that we can provide you not only with a pleasant physical environment, with our university located in the forests of Akita. WE can also provide you with the ideal human environment.

[/b]http://www.aiu.ac.jp/cms/index.php?id=210

[concernedinakita]

Wikipedia now contains links to AIU's problems: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akita_International_University#External_links

[concernedinakita]

Does this shed any light on the en mass firings at AIU?

The Daily Yomiuri 45th Anniversary Special
INTERVIEW WITH GREGORY CLARK IN 2000
(sorry, date unknown since Japanese newspaper English archives are again very temporary--Ed)
By Kayoko Redford, Daily Yomiuri Staff Writer
"What do you think about the current English education method that puts so much emphasis on communicative teaching methods?"

Clark: "The argument is always between communicative English and reading and writing. Communicative English is not bad, but it is expensive (because of the need to hire native speakers) and the least effective way of nurturing speaking and listening abilities. As I said, listening is far more important. Everyone thinks that listening is something that happens naturally. In fact, it is the most difficult and crucial skill. That is what children do for two years before they speak."

http://www.debito.org/HELPSpring2001.html#clarkintro

[concernedinakita]

FYI: The AIU page on the Japanese version of Wikipeida now also contains links to "The Chronicle of Higher Education Forum" and to the Blacklist of Japanese Universities.
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/??????

[disappointed]

The most disappointing aspect of the recent failure by the AIU leadership to offer new contracts to many talented faculty is that all of those teachers have worked very hard to make AIU successful. The thanks for their years of hard work for global education and relationship building in the Akita community has been, effectively, their recent dismissal.

Before AIU was even a notion, a group of these same faculty members worked overtime first to create and then to keep the Minnesota program afloat. That was no easy task, with Japanese students entering who needed serious assistance, a program that needed readjusting continually and a local community that was not accustomed to accepting strangers. But these teachers preserved. A dozen years’ worth of groundwork was done by some of the very faculty members who are now being turned away.

But that’s not all, folks. These same teachers helped develop a program at MSUA that, in fact, caught the eyes (and thus the support) of the current governor and many of the community leaders. Through the struggle of these teachers, and with their continued effort, a vibrant learning community was finally recognized locally as being important.
The flower that was to become AIU had taken root as a seedling in these people’s care.

Twelve years worth of accomplishments at AIU are too numerous to count, but here are several: An English language teaching professional organization was set up (JALT), a summer teacher training program was initiated (ever heard of SETS?), social bonds between hundreds of people of very different cultural backgrounds were cultivated, and literally hundreds of local students gained access to good jobs and the world beyond Akita through a variety of university studies programs; some of those Minnesota graduates now work in fields as diverse as international business, medicine, travel, tourism and government. Many are still hard at work in their graduate studies.

In the Minnesota program’s last years, it was these same teachers – those who have recently been deemed inappropriate for AIU’s future by leaders like the AIU president, vice presidents and EAP program director – who lobbied hard to have international higher education continue in Akita. These teahers’ connections in the community and the respect held for them by former students, parents and other community members paid off: The Akita people voted to continue to support higher education in the form of AIU.

Yes, it was these hard-working, experienced teachers, even more so than the newcomers who now wield their power with something that approaches vengeance, who laid the initial foundation for AIU. (But oh how easy it has been to forget that.)

And that still wasn’t all. The teachers who have just been released also worked hard within the guise of AIU faculty members to make international higher education finally reach fruition in Yuwa. The success of this dedicated educators with students in the classroom is well known. (Just look at their classroom evaluations, or, if you’re prepared to get wavering answers, ask the AIU “bosses” .)

Those many EAP guys with prior experience at MSUA  --as well other language teachers who came fresh to AIU  -- taught scores of students in homework heavy classes, often while doing more classes than teachers in other programs in the university had; they continued the summer teacher training seminars and the winter language programs; they spent extra hours advising and working with students in club activities (witness the service travel, ikebana, acoustic guitar and music clubs); they developed computer resources on campus, well-received community education programs such as the one for conversational English and the one about America’s music, and they initiated grant proposals that later became high profile AIU projects. They gave many lectures in the community and presentations at conferences throughout Japan and outside of Japan, sharing their knowledge and experience. They even published professionally, that area in which the AIU administration has been resolutely hypocritical, highlighting what has NOT been done while ignoring all that has.

Yes. It is disappointing that after so many efforts made by this dedicated group, they will not witness the graduation of even ONE class at Akita International University.

[concernedinakita]

Reply #57

Governor Terata needs to see this!
Is there someone in Akita who can translate Reply #57 into Japanese and deliver it to Governor Terata?

[asa29]

So who's not been renewed, is the question?

I found the below of interest, btw, if not up-to-date.

http://campus.milkcafe.net/test/read.cgi/kokusaikyoyo/1092241398/l50

[asa29]

It's a small and pedantic point, but if it saves any of your blood vessels it's worth pointing out that honourary professor is just fine English and used widely :)

I guess you're not part of AIU but if there is still anyone here who is, I would be interested to know who's being let go.

[prettyannoyed]

Well, this certainly is an interesting read.

I would like to know what asa29 meant by:

I'm not sure what you mean by endorsing the school - I think I already have. If you want people to put their names to that then I should ask Nanking, Oslo, Aberdeen, Taiwan National...