The university’s Global Initiative Centre held a symposium on 5th December to start the U.S.-Kagoshima-Asia Triad Programme in a Multi-Polar World, an inter-university exchange project for the formation of collaborative programmes with partner universities using COIL- style education. (COIL: collaborative online international learning). The programme is one of 10 adopted by MEXT to promote Collaborative International Online Learning (COIL) and will receive funding from the government for four years from 2018. Kagoshima University will act as the gateway for educational and student exchange among seven universities in the USA and eight universities across Asia.
The symposium was held in the Inamori Auditorium and was attended by about 180 people, including representatives of the local municipalities, local people as well as faculty and students. Members of staff from eight of the universities involved in the programme participated in the symposium, which was held all in English with simultaneous translation into Japanese.
After opening words from university president, Dr. Maeda Yoshizane, Professor Nakatani (Global Initiative Centre) gave an outline of the programme, followed by explanations from the different university representatives of the eight courses: Japanese Culture, Rural & Island Healthcare, Clinical Veterinary Medicine, Beef Production, Food Safety, Food Health, Nanoscience & Biotechnology and Environmental Architecture Design. The symposium finished with an active panel discussion including all of the overseas participants to discuss the educational effect of using COIL to promote trilateral cooperation as well as what role the other institutions hope Kagoshima University will take as intermediary.
List of courses in the program
| Course | Institute of Collaboration | Country |
| Japanese Course | San Jose State University Burapha University | USA Thailand |
| Rural and Island Healthcare Course | Berea College Chung-Ang University | USA Korea |
| Clinical Veterinary Medicine Course | University of Georgia National Chun Hsing University | USA Taiwan |
| Beef Production Course | Texas A&M University Chiang Mai University | USA Thailand |
| Food Safety Course | Oklahoma State University Mae Fah Luang University | USA Thailand |
| Food and Health Course | North Dakota State University Hunan Agricultural University | USA China |
| Nanoscience and Biotechnology Course | North Dakota State University National Cheng Kung University | USA Taiwan |
| Environmental Architecture Design Course | Tuskegee University Diponegoro University | USA Indonesia |
In their comments on the attendance questionnaire, many members of the audience were very optimistic for the programme to connect Japan with the rest of the world and create an opportunity for students here and overseas to study together.
