Temple University, Japan Campus (TUJ) celebrates the 20th anniversary of its Continuing Education program this year. The program first started in May 1996 with 86 students and 15 courses. Twenty years later, it has evolved into a professional development program that has offered around 700 courses to over 32,000 students from more than 100 different countries.
Coming from various professional, generational and cultural backgrounds, students appreciate the opportunity to learn from a culturally diverse faculty in an international learning environment. Many have aspirations for advancing their careers in a global setting, some look for answers to the workplace challenges they face, while others look at it as a way to simply gain learning experience. Over 600 Continuing Education students have obtained certificates in the fields of, finance, interior design, communications, human resources management, and English education. Director of the program, Eugenia Medrano, notes that “Our students are moving closer to their career goals and are making a difference in their working environments”.
As part of its 20th anniversary celebrations, the program will hold an event at the Tokyo American Club on June 17th, 2016, inviting everyone from our supporters and contributors to people considering taking part in our program in the future. A panel discussion will be held on the theme of Workplace Challenges and Opportunities with well-known HR professionals. The panel speakers will be Janelle Sasaki (Executive Director of Diversity & Inclusion Services, Ernst & Young Advisory Co., Ltd. Japan); Jun Kabigting (Chief Community Officer, The Japan HR Society) and Yasuhiko Shoji (HR General Manager/Global HR, Suntory Beverage & Food (SBF). John Foster (Business Faculty Coordinator of the Continuing Education program) will be the moderator.
“The world needs working adults who have a passion for learning and who possess cultural sensitivity. TUJ’s Continuing Education program has been helping to fulfill that need for the past twenty years in Tokyo and hopes to continue for many more years to come,” says Program Director Medrano.