Ribbon-cutting ceremony to open North American headquarters at KU

WHO & WHAT: Japan's Consul General Toshiyuki Fujiwara from Kansas City will join University of Kansas Chancellor Robert Hemenway at a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday to open the new North American headquarters for study abroad programs for Japan's junior colleges.

WHEN & WHERE: The ribbon-cutting ceremony will take place at 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 6, in the Burge Union, third floor.

TSS University Network will coordinate programs, including English as a second language (ESL), for women's junior colleges. TSS International College in Tokyo, Japan, has been sending students to KU's Applied English Center since 1999.

TSS International College in Tokyo Japan was founded in 1981 to give young women the opportunity to study about airline and service industries. The original name was Tokyo Stewardess Senmongakuin (professional vocational school). TSS has expanded its original educational offerings from flight attendant training to other areas of tourism/travel/service. As part of their educational training, TSS students take part in seven to eight-month study abroad experiences in North America.

Potential benefits to the Applied English Center and to KU are:
• 30-100 Japanese students a year in special, seven-month ESL programs
• 30-100 Japanese students a year in the Applied English Center's regular nine-month ESL courses
• A possible future program to establish a July English language/TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) preparation program for a potential market of one million high school students

In choosing its home for the North American continent headquarters, TSS also considered University of California at Berkeley.

KU staff available for comment:
• Christa Hansen, assistant director, Applied English Center, (785) 864-4606

Others attending the ceremony:
• Junichi Yoneyama, President and CEO, TSS International College
• Masaru Watanabe, Director, TSS International College
• Yoko Hiraga, Vice President, TSS International College
• Chiharu Tanaka, Study Abroad Director, TSS International College, and Executive Director of TSS University Network
• Diana Carlin, Dean, KU Graduate School and International Programs
• John Watson, Director, Trade Development Division, Kansas Department of Commerce and Housing

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September 5, 2001

Media Advisory: Ribbon-cutting ceremony to open North American headquarters at KU