Enrollment Management and Institutional Research in Kyoto, Japan

Published on February 23, 2013

So, what do EM and IR have to do with Kyoto, Japan, one of the most iconic and historic of all Japanese cities?  At first glance, not much, but Kyoto is the site this weekend (February 22-23, 2013) for the 3rd Study Session on EM and IR, sponsored by Professor Shinji Fukushima of the Office of Enrollment Management at Yamagata University.  I was invited to attend to give the Saturday afternoon keynote talk on the enrollment management and institutional research work we do through the Office of Institutional Research, Planning, and Assessment at Rose-Hulman.  I focused on the RosEvaluation Process (for institutional student learning outcomes assessment), the Rose-Hulman Strategic Plan, and the RHIT Link Project, which is designed to reduce with student attrition.

Day 1 of the conference included talks by Akiyama Takuya, deputy director for Higher Education Policy and senior specialist for University Evaluation at the Japanese Ministry of Education, and Yoshinori Tokunaga, administrative director of the Information Technology Center at Kansai University, among and others.  There were also talks on Saturday morning by industry representatives from Fujitsu and PageOne Digital Advantage software.  Industry is heavily involved with these subjects because they are searching for the best and brightest students to recruit to their organizations.

I was very grateful to have Tatsuki Kawaguchi of the University of Aizu translating for me during my talk.  Rose-Hulman has enjoyed a long and productive exchange relationship with Aizu, and Tatsuki has done so much to ensure that students who visit Aizu from Rose-Hulman have a rich experience.  It was great working with Tatsuki on this talk.  Of course, there is time for some sightseeing around Kyoto, so I am looking forward to seeing the Golden Palace, pictured above, as part of my trip!