The Ritsumeikan Trust welcomed administration staff from The Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology “E-JUST” from January 9 to 19, 2018 to take part in a university management and administration staff training program.

E-JUST was founded on a bilateral agreement between the Japanese and Egyptian governments with the aim of developing a new, world-class university in Egypt based upon the Japanese academic system; offering post-graduate courses from February 2010; and two undergraduate schools from the fall of 2017.

Under the umbrella of The Ritsumeikan Trust, Ritsumeikan University has been providing guidance and support to E-JUST, particularly in the area of administrative management improvement, as one of a number of supporting institutions. This, the fourth implementation of the program, took as its theme “Acquiring practical administrative experience and taking on the role and mindset of an administrative staff member”.

The ten day program, attended by five early-career administrative staff members, took the form of seminars, tours of campus sites and facilities, and practical, on-the-job-training. Training, both practical and theoretical, was extensive and covered academic support, student support, grant administration and facility management, in addition to consideration of Egyptian and Japanese cultural, as well as academic, differences.

The final day consisted of group presentations based upon how their training could be incorporated into the performance of their day to day administrative responsibilities back in Egypt. Graduate School of Technology Management professor Eugene Choi was kind enough to provide feedback and encouragement, before an official closing ceremony during which all participants were presented with certificates of completion.