A Senior Administrators Workshop and the 5th Council Meeting of the International Network of Universities (INU) was held at Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China, from 18-19 October 2004. President Muta, Executive Vice-President (Research and International Affairs) Yoshizato and Mr. Koda, International Affairs Bureau, attended from Hiroshima University.



INU was established in 1999 and currently has 14 member universities from 9 countries. Hiroshima University became a member in January 2000. The main aims of INU are to encourage exchange of faculty, students and staff between member universities and to conduct classes using communication technology. 23 participants from the following 11 universities in 8 countries participated at this year's meeting.



Participating Universities

Budapest University of Technology and Economics (Hungary)

Flinders University (Australia)

Harbin Medical University (China)

James Madison University (U.S.A.)

Universitas Katolik Parahyangan (Indonesia)

La Trobe University (Australia)

University of Leicester (U.K.)

Malmo University (Sweden)

Sichuan University (China)

Hiroshima University (Japan)

Ritsumeikan University (Japan)



Ritsumeikan University became an official member at the Council Meeting held on 19 October and is the 2nd university in Japan to become a member of the INU. Negotiations are being undertaken to increase member universities from other areas and this time Jonkoping University, Sweden, attended as an observer. At this Council Meeting discussions were made about promoting exchange between students, faculty and staff, the appointment of a project manager, creation of a work plan and the possibility of creating a joint Master's program. President Muta was officially appointed as Vice-President of the INU.



On 18 October a Senior Administrators Workshop was held. After each university made a presentation about their administrative structure and financial management, a discussion was held about management of the quality of education and research and the acquisition and allocation of resources.



The next meeting of executives will be held at James Madison University, U.S.A., in April 2005.