A national university in Japan is undertaking research on the feasibility of introducing a new scheme where the university provides financial support for a selected number of non-academic staff at middle to senior management level to study a Higher Education management course at university. The research is focussing on 1-year Master’s degree programme, or programme leading to a postgraduate diploma or certificate.

UK universities which have such courses or programmes are invited to provide relevant information using the online survey. The information will be shared with the Japanese university which wishes to remain anonymous at this stage.

This is part of a wider trend amongst Japanese universities to develop staff capacity to meet the demands of internationalisation. The Nikkei, Japan’s leading business and economic newspaper, recently reported that an increasing number of universities are creating opportunities for non-academic staff to develop the skills required to manage international affairs, including support for international students. These opportunities include study visits to overseas partner universities and the provision of English language teaching.