中部大学教育研究25

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1IntroductionThatJapanisanagingsocietyisanindisputablefact;itisexpectedthatby2025morethanone-thirdofthetotalpopulationinthiscountrywillbeaged60orolder（Kalache,Barreto,&Keller,2005）.Theeffectsthatthischangeisexpectedtohaveonthecountryasawholearegreat,andtheeffectsontheJapanesehighereducationsystemarenolessweighty.TheJapanesehighereducationsystemfacesdoublepressuresofapoolofpotentialstudentsthathasshrunkagreatdealoverthepast20to25years,andahighereducationsystemthathascontinuedtogrowfollowingpoliciesofexpansioninitiatedbeforetheturnofthecentury（Amano,2010）.ChubuUniversity,likealluniversitiesinJapan,hasfeltthesepressures,andmuchuniversitypolicyisaimedatkeepingtheuniversityhealthyandviableinwhatTrow（2010）andotherswoulddescribeasauniversal-accesscontext.Tomaintainenrollmentnumbersinthisenvironment,theDepartmentofEnglishLanguageandCulturehas―37―＊1Professor,DepartmentofEnglishLanguageandCulture,CollegeofHumanities,ChubuUniversityAContinuingStudyonIntegrationIntoHigherEducationDavidR.Laurence＊1andGregoryA.King＊1AbstractTheJapanesehighereducationsystemisunderagreatdealofpressurefromthecountry'sfallingpopulation,leadingtoaneedforuniversitiestomaintainhighstudentretention.Atthesametime,relaxedentrancestandardscausedbyincreasedcompetitionfortheshrinkingstudentpoolmeanthatmorestudentsarebeingacceptedtouniversityfromnon-traditionalpopulations,bothfirst-generationstudentsandstudentsfromhighschoolswithoutalonghistoryofuniversityadmissions.Bothgroupsarelesspreparedformovingtouniversitylifethanmanystudentsevenasinglegenerationago,leavingthemtostrugglewiththebeginningoftheiruniversitystudy.ThispaperwilldescribesomeoftheactivitiesandpoliciesputinplaceattheuniversityanddepartmentalleveltoassiststudentswiththistransitionatauniversityinJapanwhichseesahighnumberofthehigh-riskstudentsdescribedabove.Thesepoliciesaimtoeasethetransitiontohighereducationandassiststudentsinachievingthelevelsofacademicsuccessandsocialintegrationneededforretention.Thestudyinvestigateshowstudents,andespeciallythosestudentsmoreat-riskforstruggleandleaving,reacttoandtakeadvantageoftheseprogramsandpolicies.Thepaperwillfinishwithapreliminaryassessmentoftheseprogramsandpolicies,withsuggestionsbasedonbothstudentfeedbackandfacultydiscussionofhowtheymightbeimprovedtofurtherimprovestudents'experiencesduringtheirfirstmonthsatuniversity.KeywordsHigherEducationStudies,StudentRetention,EquityinHigherEducation,FirstGenerationStudents,High-RiskStudents