１．The graduate student tutor organized “counseling” room
２．Foreign students’ and Japanese students’ joint activities
To help about 260 students from overseas achieve their goals, we have been working for providing psychological and educational support in their research, general study, and daily life with cooperation of full-time teaching staff and tutors at the counseling room.
The core organization offering counseling services is the foreign students’ counseling room which was established twenty years ago. Around 20 graduate students take turns, every weekday from 10:00 to 17:00, assisting foreign students in their study, and providing information for daily life. Further, full-time teaching staffs are ready to devote their office hours for meeting multiple needs of students from overseas.
In order to offer our counseling service for the foreign students, we have been working for improving our ‘peer support system’ or mentor system since 2002. This system aims at supporting foreign students not to isolate from others and to provide various kinds of activities through intercultural exchange. The figure shows the relation among three groups in the Global Education Center: the full-time teaching staff, the tutors of graduate students for daily support and Transcultural Exchange Association (TEA) started in September in 2002. These three groups are cooperating with each other to achieve better quality in assisting foreign students and offering the opportunities of cultural exchange. Moreover, in October 2002, the foreign students who came to Japan previously and have stayed at Ochanomizu University International House or, Oyama dormitory for relatively long years organized support system to help new comer.
For the support of our foreign students’ university life, Ochanomizu has established the foreign students counseling room. The tutors, Ochanomizu graduate students, who form the core of this unique project, make it their task to assist every single foreign student.
Having been established over 20 years ago, the project does not only offer help with the correction of essays, but also assists with every-day problems and tries to respond to the students various needs – by providing access to computers and the internet, for example.
Apart from asking the tutors, the foreign students also have the opportunity to ask counseling staff (who you can find in the GEC) for assistance and counseling.
１．２．Outline of the foreign students’ counseling room
In the foreign students counseling room, we try to respond to all sorts of everyday problems you might come across – for example during academic writing (tutors are available to check your compositions).
As there will be usually 2 tutors in the room, please feel free to ask them for help at any time if you have a problem.
If your problem should be so difficult that the tutors are not able to respond to it themselves, they will assist you in finding the person who can give you appropriate help.
Besides, there are computers with internet access, the printer, and DVD in the counseling room, which you are free to use anytime during the opening hours, if you want to write a report or use the internet.
Across from the counseling room, you will find the lounge for foreign students – a space which you can use to study (there are an additional 4 computers and 1 printer), or to simply talk with friends.Also, the lounge is equipped with a microwave, a fridge, a sink and a water cooker, which you can use anytime during the opening hours.
However, please bear in mind your fellow students and take care whilst using the computers and other electrical appliances.
■ The opening times of the counseling room and foreign students lounge:
Every weekday from 10.00h – 17.00h (please not that you cannot get your essays corrected after 16.30h)
As inner-university events might influence the opening times, please ask the tutors for detailed information.
A special schedule will be established for the time of the summer and winter vacations – before the respective vacation starts, you will be able to find detailed information posted in the counseling room.
■ Location:
Inter- Faculity building 3 (Kyoutsuukougitou 3), 2nd floor (the last room on the right-hand side of the corridor will be the counseling room, the last room on the left-hand side will be the lounge)
■ Contact Information:
Telephone number of the counseling room: 03-5978-5284
１．３．Question and Answer section
Q：What kinds of foreign students are entitled to use the counseling center?
A：Undergraduate students, research students, students of Japanese studies course, masters students or doctorate students who are enrolled as postgraduate students, so basically all foreign students are entitled to use the counseling center freely. As it is the purpose of the counseling center to help you in any way, please come in to use the computers, get your academic work corrected or to simply talk.
Q：What sort of computers is the counseling center equipped with?
A：In the counseling center and the foreign students lounge, there is a total of 7 desktops which are all equipped with Windows. All of those computers are equipped with a LAN-card, so that you are able to use the internet. Apart from that there are 4 printers and one scanner. Depending on the computer, it is possible to type in Korean, Chinese and English among others.
Q：How about if I would like to read newspapers?
A：In the counseling center, you can read magazine and free paper published for foreign students. Besides, you have the chance to use dictionaries, encyclopedias, reference books and maps.
“Foreign students’ activities assisted by tutors”
Orientation for Foreign students (April, October)
Field trip to see Kabuki performance (June)
Sight seeing trips (September)
Anniversary of the University’s Establishment(November)