From Rikkyo University with additional reporting by ACNS staff

A member of the Colleges and Universities of the Anglican Communion has been selected to be part of a Japanese government project to education there more international.

The ‘Top Global University Project’* is aimed at strengthening Japan’s commitment to “internationalising its universities and training more global leaders through higher education”.

The CUAC member organisation Rikkyo University in Tokyo will be receiving substantial funding from the government over the coming decade to help it become “a truly international institution”.

Vice President of Rikkyo University, the Revd Prof Dr Renta Nishihara said, “We are a member of the Anglican Communion, historically and in terms of our place in the world. We plan to keep and value our unique heritage as an Anglican institution, and we hope to develop practical linkages with other Anglican churches throughout the world, as a member of CUAC.

“As a practical first step, we have set up offices in Seoul, South Korea, run by the Revd Stephen Si-gyung Yoo, in New York, run by Mrs Kyoko Kageyama, and in London, run by Mrs Yoshimi Gregory. All offices have been set up in an Anglican Church or Cathedral.”

 The goals of the project are to:
・achieve structural changes to create truly global universities accessible to the world
・stimulate cooperation with the world’s top universities
・foster innovative approaches for global competitiveness

The Colleges and Universities of the Anglican Communion (CUAC) is a worldwide association of over 120 institutions of higher education that were founded by and retain ties to a branch of the Anglican Communion. Along with its predecessor, Association of Episcopal Colleges (AEC) that consists mostly of the Episcopal colleges in the US, CUAC is committed to promoting cross-cultural contacts and educational programs.

With institutions on all five continents, CUAC was founded for the exchange of ideas, for the development of programs among member institutions, and for their mutual support that they might better serve their students, their societies, and the world. As a global network of Colleges and Universities CUAC members strive to assist faculty and students to become better global citizens of our diverse world.

ENDS

Notes

*There are two categories of universities in this project: Category A: Top Category (universities that are listed in the world’s top 100 ranking) and Category B: Leading Global Category (universities that are driving Japan’s internationalisation). 104 universities applied for both categories. Those selected included:  13 universities for Category A, 24 universities for Category B. There are 778 universities (4 yrs) and 395 junior colleges (2 yrs) in Japan.