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Acting Vice-Provost, International Affairs and Recruitment, Lakehead University makes a courtesy call on Executive Director for International Affairs and Public Relations

On April 27, 2016, Mr. Tony Williams, Acting Vice-Provost, International Affairs and Recruitment, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Canada made a courtesy call on Dr. Fumiaki Suzuki, Executive Director for International Affairs and Public Relations.
Gifu City and Thunder Bay signed a sister city agreement in 2007 and since then, mutual visits by the delegations from the two cities have been made once every five years.

Lakehead University is one of three major universities located in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, consisting of Thunder Bay Campus and Orillia Campus. Thunder Bay Campus, established in 1965, has ten faculties including Business Management, Education, Engineering, Medicine and Law. Currently, it has an enrollment of more than 8,600 students at the Thunder Bay Campus.
In the meeting with Dr. Suzuki, Mr. Williams introduced the general overview of Lakehead University, widely-known for its picturesque settings and rich natural environment. He also mentioned the long-standing sister city relationship between Gifu City and Thunder Bay. Later, Mr. Williams and Dr. Suzuki exchanged opinions about the possibilities of university-level exchange agreement and a creation of joint PhD programs between the two institutions.

After the courtesy call on Dr. Suzuki, a luncheon meeting held for Mr. Williams, was attended by some members of the Globalization Promotion Office of the Faculty of Engineering. Ms. Junko Sugaya, Director of the International Planning Division and Ms. Konoe Kamei of the same division also joined the meeting.
Professor Mutsuhiro Shima, Head of the Globalization Promotion Office, Assistant Professor Mayumi Kawase and Mr. Raymond Co, English lecturer discussed a wide range of topics with Mr. Williams such as visiting international student program, options for Engineering graduate student enrollment in the business management courses at Lakehead University, possibility of regional corporate internship programs, and collaborative research projects in the areas of environmental and renewable energy.

After the luncheon meeting, Mr. Williams was invited to attend discussions at the Faculty of Regional Studies. Professor Hiroaki Wasada, Dean, Professor Shin Horasawa, Associate Dean, Professor Kazuo Nakagawa, Associate Professor Kotoku Yamamoto, Assistant Professor Kazuhiro Shibata and Mr. Takaaki Miyagawa, General Manager were in attendance at the discussions. The afternoon meeting started off with a presentation by Mr. Williams about Lakehead University and followed by Professor Nakagawa's introduction about the newly established International Liberal Arts Course which took effect this April at the Faculty.
During the discussions, Mr. Williams commented on the fact that, "there are many Canadians who are interested in Japan at Lakehead University, and some of them have actually come to Japan to work as English teachers."
With Professor Nakagawa serving as moderator, Mr. Williams and the rest of the participants actively discussed a possible university-level agreement with the aim to increase the number of aspiring study-abroad students at the new Course.

After a brief but successful one-day session of meetings and discussions between Mr. Williams and the university officials, it is hoped that both Gifu University and Lakehead University will start laying the groundwork to fully realize university-wide student and faculty exchanges in the foreseeable future.

Courtesy call on Dr. Fumiaki Suzuki, Executive Director
 (left) Mr. Tony Williams
 (right) Dr. Suzuki 
集合写真
Luncheon Meeting at the Faculty of Engineering
(from left) Assistant Professor Mayumi Kawase,
 Professor Mutsuhiro Shima, Mr. Tony Williams,
 Mr. Raymond Co, Ms. Junko Sugaya
Discussions at the Faculty of Regional Studies 
Group Photo at the Faculty of Regional Studies
(from left) Assistant Professor Kazuhiro Shibata,
 Professor Shin Horasawa,
 Associate Dean,
 Professor Hiroaki Wasada, Dean,
 Mr. Tony Williams,
 Associate Professor Kotoku Yamamoto,
 Professor Kazuo Nakagawa

2016.05.10

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