Hiroshi OTA

Abstract: As artificial intelligence accelerates across global higher education, one question grows more urgent and more human: what does it actually take to build international partnerships that last? This roundtable brings together Hitotsubashi University (Japan), Kyung Hee University (South Korea), and the University at Buffalo, State University of New York (USA) not to present answers, but to open a genuinely collegial conversation. Drawing on active bilateral frameworks, undergraduate mobility initiatives, combined degree pathways, and early assurance programs across East Asia and North America, our institutions offer three distinct yet complementary perspectives on a shared conviction: technology can accelerate partnership, but it cannot generate the trust, reciprocity, and sustained institutional commitment that make partnerships endure.Four anchoring questions will guide our dialogue: How do we build trust across cultures in an AImediated world? What structures best support students across the full arc of their international journey? How do institutions sustain partnership commitment when priorities shift? And how do we transform disparities in research capacity from a source of imbalance into a foundation for mutual scholarly growth and shared purpose? Participants are warmly invited to bring their own experiences into the room. Attendees will leave with practical insights, meaningful peer connections, and a sharper framework for designing international partnerships that are not merely efficient but enduringly human. Learning objectives: - Articulate the human foundations of trust, reciprocity, and institutional commitment that distinguish enduring international partnerships from transactional ones in an AI-mediated landscape. - Compare cross-cultural approaches to partnership-building across East Asian and North American contexts, drawing on active bilateral frameworks among Hitotsubashi University, Kyung Hee University, and the University at Buffalo. - Evaluate structural models including undergraduate mobility initiatives, combined degree pathways, and early assurance programs that support students across the full arc of their international journey. - Identify strategies for sustaining institutional partnership commitment through leadership transitions and shifting priorities. - Develop a practical, peer-informed framework for designing international partnerships that leverage technological acceleration without sacrificing the relational and cultural intelligence that technology cannot replicate. Target audience: International partnership officers, mobility coordinators, senior academic and administrative leaders, and professionals designing pathway or combined degree programs;particularly those navigating institutional strategy, cross-cultural relationship management, and AI integration in global higher education.

Abstract: The EAIE Barometer is a key instrument for understanding the perceptions and working conditions of professionals engaged in internationalization in European higher education. Seeking similar insights, a Japanese research team collaborated with the EAIE to conduct a Barometer-based survey of international educators working at Japanese universities. This session juxtaposes Japanese and European Barometer findings across five dimensions where responses diverge most sharply: job satisfaction, perceptions regarding budgets, opinions about government and public policy, confidence in institutional leadership, and priorities for the future of internationalization. We explore various factors behind those findings, including governance structures, historical and policy contexts, employment models, organizational cultures, and the rationales for internationalization. The session is delivered in an active dialogue format: the Japanese and European researchers exchange and contrast data in real time, making the divergences vivid and inviting the audience into the conversation. Participants will gain a deeper understanding of the scope of internationalization, the environment surrounding it, and the approaches to it in the two regions through a comparative lens, highlighting distinct institutional realities and national internationalization policies and efforts within a rapidly changing higher education landscape. We also discuss our ongoing project to expand this survey to Asian countries. Learning objectives: Participants will: - Be exposed to evidence-based differences in internationalization practices and perceptions between European and Japanese higher education systems. - Gain a comparative analysis of Barometer findings between Europe and Japan across five key areas: job satisfaction, budget, government policy, institutional leadership, and internationalization priorities. - Gain insight into how structural factors—governance structures, employment models, organizational cultures, and rationales for internationalization—shape approaches in different national and regional contexts. - Develop a deeper understanding of the scope, environment, and approaches to internationalization in both regions through a comparative lens, taking into account institutional contexts and national policies. - Develop an appreciation for the importance of expanding this type of survey more widely across Asia, and the value of their cooperation in this effort. Target audience: HEIs leaders, international office staff, policymakers, researchers, and mobility professionals interested in internationalisation dynamics in Europe and Japan/East Asia.