JETAACanadaForum >> 2007JETAAConferenceNotesDay1
Hi everybody,
Thank you for allowing me to attend the JETAA-International conference on your behalf again this year. As with last year, I'll be providing "live" daily reports from the conference and welcoming your participation on items you'd like me to discuss with the JETAA-I.
Executive summary for day 1:
Everyone expressed their appreciation to JETAA Toronto for pulling off a herculean feat of organization and planning of an effective conference within a constrained budget. Once again Canada looks really good in front of the JETAA-I community, CLAIR, and MOFA. Thanks, JETAA Toronto!
CLAIR and MOFA presented information about the current state of the JET Programme and the expected 20th Anniversary re-evaluation of the programme within the Japanese government. Please see the notes below for the details, but one of the most interesting pieces of news is that MOFA has applied to increase the budget for recruiting and marketing the JET Programme abroad. I'm sure they would love to hear proposals from JETAA chapters about activities that could have benefits for recruitment ( e.g., PR for the JET Programme). Please give this some thought -- there's separate funding available from MOFA for this!
I followed up on the idea of French-speaking ALTs from Canada with the Country Rep from France, Florent Gorges. In France, the level of interest in the JET Programme is increasing (university recruiting talks are packed with hundreds of attendees), while the number of available placements has decreased from about 10 to less than 6 (with about 4 of them being French language ALTs). According to MOFA, the even French ambassador to Japan has asked for an increase in French JET slots. Given this low demand for French language ALTs in Japan, coupled with the high demand for the JET Programme from France, it seems unlikely that CLAIR/MOFA will be looking to tap Canada for primarily French language ALTs. The demand for bilingual Canadian ALTs whose primary teaching responsibility is English, however, is likely to continue.
Paul Donovan and Scott Norman of the CMS team gave a presentation. They said that their other member, Paul Reid, is "AWOL" and acknowledged delays. The demonstration of the current state of the CMS system showed that the system is far from complete, but they are pushing forward. Some refocusing is apparent: as of now, the CMS is intended to be primarily a membership database and contact system, and will not necessarily replace chapter websites.
FULL NOTES
Morning session: introductions; MOFA wants to discuss
Review of progress from last year (JETAA-I Executive)
- Only 10 months since last conference - short year
- Ongoing projects: CMS, communication, financial independence
- New chapter in Wales. Expression of interest from India, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore.
- 20th Anniversary - essay contest idea, but nobody stepped forward to lead that (will revisit this year)
- International charity
- Common country rep guidelines
- Anonymous emails - prevention strategies
Small chapter committee - Mike Adams
- Have received inquiries from small chapters, and returned information, but no email replies after that.
- Will try phone
- New files on JETAA international website
CMS - Paul Donovan
- Will discuss later today
PR / Financial Independence - Liz Aveling
- Produced a new brochure - passed around room; to be made available to chapters
- Also working on templates for meishi and letterhead
- Working on opening a Lloyds TSB offshore account for JETAA-I - interest bearing
MOFA Update - Mr. Takahisa Tsugawa
- MOFA's activities with regard to JET are focused on recruitment and arrangements for incoming JETs
- MOFA/CLAIR organized a 20th Anniversary ceremony November 2006, attended by the Crown Princess
- 21,000 alumni are now registered in JETAA chapters - largest global alumni community; MOFA is very proud of it
- Ambassador of UK to Senegal is a former JET - speaks Kagoshima-ben
- In Japanese public opinion, future of JET programme is viewed somewhat pessimistically nowadays
- decreasing number of new postings due to local government mergers and fewer children in Japan
- local governments and national budgets are being squeezed
- year 2000 - more than 6,000 JETs, but number is declining
- large city governments are increasingly hiring private ALTs for lower cost and more flexibility
- renumeration: no change in 20 years despite lower value of yen and inflation
- MOFA believes we should maintain an optimistic attitude
- JET provides an invaluable contribution
- in some countries, the programme is becoming more competitive
- the French ambassador has complained that the quota is too low
- JETAA provides significant contributions (e.g., Yokoso Japan tie-up), increases interest in Japan - scope of activities for alumni has enlarged
- Minister Shimomura called a meeting with various ministers to consider the future of the JET Programme
- MOFA's role: not only extending visa period for JETs in Japan, but also:
*** Submitted budget request for career development for JET alumni. In the face of decreasing overall national budgets, they are trying to INCREASE budget for this.
- National scholarship programme together with Ministry of Education: increasing number of foreign students in Japanese universities (including graduate school in Japan - continuation option for JETs completing the programme)
- People want to know what people are doing after receiving the invitation to come to Japan under JET, and MOFA wants to help identify JET alumni accomplishments
- Several bilingual recruiting companies are alreading approaching US and UK consulate generals to try to find candidates
- Prime Minister Abe visited Washington DC - gathered all US chapter reps at the end of April, and personally promised to commit to further strengthening the JET Programme
- although he's resigning, nobody in the Japanese government doubts the virtue of the JET alumni relationship and will continue working "passionately" towards
- English education is a very heated debate in Japanese politics now
- New JETs: This year: roughly 2100; previous year: roughly 2500 (decrease of 400 due to budgetary restructuring)
- Recruiting : overall roughly 3:1 application / acceptance ratio
- MOFA and CLAIR believe in the quality of JETs relative to other options for hiring foreigners
- Shannon Quinn: maintenance of quality is also important to alumni; want to keep the programme difficult to enter and prestigious
- Mr. Horimura (CLAIR): it's "high time" to review the JET programme -- perhaps the number should be decreased but quality should continue to be a matter of focus.
- If attractiveness of the programme to young people has been reduced, maybe we need to increase marketing efforts
- Mr. Yoshimura (MOFA): from this year, conducting criminal screening on applicants, not just self-report
- Ali Bond (JETAAI): doubt that will affect the number of applicants!
- Mr. Sasaki (CLAIR NY): JET quotas are primarily determined by local governments in Japan - alumni should evangelize the JET programme to local governments as much as possible - maintain good relationships with local governments in Japan.
- all: that's a good point.
CLAIR presentation (Mr. Horimura, Mr. Sakashita, Sharon Bignell)
- CLAIR appreciates and continues to have high expectations for the role of JETAA in promoting exchange, recruitment and support for nwe JETs, and supporting returnee JETs
- problem: breaking contracts -- local governments want this problem resolved at recruitment and selection stages
- CLAIR asks alumni to explain the importance of completing your contract to new JETs
- Mr. Sakashita: 2007 stats
- 2100 new participants (400 less than last year), 41 countries
- 5100 JETs (4700-ALT, 400-CIR, 10-SEA)
- 1700 - second year
- 850 - third year
- 310 - fourth year
- 60 - fifth year
- 27 million yen (10%) budget reduction relative to last year
- Mr. Sakashita: Grant-in-Aid changes for 2007
- application deadline extended from June 1 to July 31 to make sure that all chapters had enough time to fill in paperwork
- NO MORE LATE APPLICATIONS ACCEPTED
- country representative budget available: 10,000 yen per chapter in country
- Sharon Bignell: GIA application process - SEE PRESENTATION
- Form 1 (GIA application form) - Use latest version of form
- Form 7 (GIA prepayment form)
- membership list is not numbered - don't make CLAIR manually count lines!
- Common application errors:
- membership list and "number of members in chapter" on application form are different
- wrong exchange rate is used
- change from previous year data is not included
- inadequate explanations for events (be descriptive, explain the merit of the event)
- Form 1
- Include proper accounting for:
- events that were done last year but not this year (zeroes for current year budget)
- events that are new this year (include zeroes for previous year budget)
- Good membership lists
- don't just put names; include at least some information to allow CLAIR to verify the person
- good info to include: job (ALT/CIR), name, address phone, email, JET placement, years on JET, numbered lines
- JET STREAMS: SEND REMINDER to chapters to have members update their info with CLAIR to continue receiving JET Streams
- always looking for submissions
- Activities report submitted to CLAIR
- used for conference for returning JETs, but also for JET Streams
- this is the primary PR piece for returning JETs - make it look nice!
- include chapter logo
- include bullet points for chapter activities
- JETAA Survey
- 1106 respondents
- results published in JET Streams and After JET Guide
Action items:
- remind chapters to have members update
Country reports
Canada: presentation; chapter activity summary; lessons learned from first 15 months of having a wiki
USA - Shannon and Shannan
- national conference in August
- country rep elections held in person at national conference; Shannon and Shannan re-elected
- looking at timing issues: chapter AGMs, GIA deadline, national conference & country rep election
- Kintetsu essay contest: 76 entries received, 15 winners will get ticket to Japan, hotel in Shinjuku, and 1-week JR pass
Australia - Michelle Fox
- Victoria/Tasmania/South Australia were small chapters that decided to merge -- help available if you want to merge (SA/NAJETAA/ManSask??)
- pre-departure orientations: formal (seminars) vs. casual / networking
- social / cultural events: yukata taiken, trivia nights
Europe - Frank Bender
- France: annual Japan expo (80,000 attendees???)
- Scotland: ski weekend
Asia - John Ghanotakis
- Regional conference last year: 1 Russia, 2 Japan, 3 Korea attendees
- Korea CR did not attend because contact was not made in time / email address problems
- Russia: only about 10 members, 6 in Khabarovsk
Brazil - Christina Sagara
- About 70 alumni, all CIR/SEA
- Proposing Portuguese ALTs, still in grassroots stage
Jamaica -
---
CMS update - Paul Donovan
- "Live beta" went online in March
- Reversal of decision from 2005 JETAAI meeting - CMS is now intended to be a membership database
- Requested to shut down jetaa.ca and USA JETAA in favour of CMS
- Promised features: news, calendar, events, forums, job board, ads ("coming soon")
- Goal: open "full CMS" by Jan 1, 2008, and at least 5000 members registered by April, 10000 by September, half of returning JETs registered
- will be working on marketing materials - banner graphics, newsletter ads, etc., will provide design and marketing assistance (who?)
- reversal: "CMS not intended to replace chapter websites"
- possibly cross-site embeddable in CMS-driven chapter websites
Joe's concerns:
- concern: what kind of review / approval procedure will there be?
- usability test? what percentage of users will be able to use this without assistance? possible usability issues:
- "JETAA members online" vs. tabs at top of screen - modal information hidden
- too many symbols in personal info field - difficult to read / understand
- what about non-English speakers?
- lifecycle plan? will Paul & Scott (and presumably Paul Reid) be providing services forever?
- how to deal with bugs & support? issue tracker?
- what if goals are not met? plan B?
- not replacing chapter websites? what about promise to cut web hosting funding?
Communications
Chapter Reps can expect to receive:
- From JETAA-I (via Country Rep): country reports, information on upcoming voting issues
- From Country Rep: welcome communication, contact list, pass on JETAA-I communication, coordinate items for action (chapter reports)
- Other resources available via Country Rep or JETAA-I:
- Australia: welcome back letter for returning JETs
- Canada: chapter succession checklist
- USA: support for small chapters
JETAA-I expects:
- From Country Reps:
- Country Reports
- Timely voting
- From Chapter Reps (via the Country Rep):
- Chapter Reprots
- Committee Contact Details
Country Reps can expect:
- From JETAA-I
- welcome communication
- important contact details
- guideline document / action list
- country reports
- regular updates on IM outcomes
- From Chapter Reps:
- chapter reports
- action on requested items in a timely manner
- input into JETAA International matters when requested