INFORMATION AND INSTRUCTIONS ON THE STUDENTEXCHANGE AT GRADUATE SCHOOL OF HUMANITIESAND STUDIES ON PUBLIC AFFAIRSFor 2024 Academic Year
This brochure contains information and instructions that graduate students in sister
universities of Chiba University should know if they wish to apply for the student
exchange at the Graduate School of Humanities and Studies on Public Affairs(abbreviated as GSHSPA), Chiba University. Here, sister universities means thosethat have effective agreements for student exchange with Chiba University.
I. An Introduction of Graduate Student Exchange
1. What is an Exchange Student?
An exchange student (in a broad sense) is a student who is registered as a fulltime student in the sister university to which he/she belongs but studies at Chiba
University for a non-degree purpose.
Chiba University offers two kinds of exchange student status at the graduate level,an exchange research student and an exchange student (in a specific sense). An
exchange research student engages in his/her research under a supervision of aprofessor at Chiba University. An exchange student (in a specific sense) takes
classes in a graduate program at Chiba University for credits. The credits obtained
can be transferred to the graduate program at his/her home university, according to
the agreement for student exchange between Chiba University and its sister
university.
Please note that an applicant cannot change his/her exchange student status after
the application in any case.
2. Exemption
By the agreement for student exchange, all exchange students are exempt from paying
the application fee, the enrollment fee, and the tuition.
3. Eligibility
To be eligible for graduate student exchange, students must be enrolled in a graduate
school master's program at a university that has a student exchange agreement with
Chiba University or the Graduate School of Humanities and Studies on Public Affairs.
It is also required that each applicant must be formally recommended to GSHSPA by
the graduate school at his/her home university to which he/she belongs.
After completing the study abroad period at Chiba University, return to your home
university to continue your studies. It is not possible to graduate or obtain adegree from the university in your home country while you are enrolled (studying
1abroad) at Chiba University.

4. Period of Study
You can choose one of the following for the period of study abroad.
・1 semester (6 months from October 1, 2024 to March 31, 2025)
・2 semesters (11 months from October 1, 2024 to August 31, 2025)
All exchange students enter to GSHSPA in October, in each academic year.
5. Proficiency in Languages
Chiba University requires for all exchange students to have a proficiency in alanguage or languages that is sufficient to communicate with professors and students
on their studies and researches. At GSHSPA, a proficiency in a language other thanJapanese may be required. There may be a case that a proficiency in Japanese is not
required, while that in English is. If an exchange student takes only classes taught
in English and/or communicates with professors and students only in English, then
only a proficiency in English, not in Japanese, is required. Besides English andJapanese, a proficiency in other language may be required in addition. Thisrequirement will depend on the area of studies and/or researches that an exchange
student chooses. For example, the area of French Literature requires a proficiency
in French, that of Regional Economies in Brazil requires a proficiency in Portuguese,etc.
II. Outline of the Process to Become an Exchange Student
The whole process begins at obtaining information on the student exchange at GSHSPA.
For a graduate student who enters Chiba University as an exchange student, it ends
with the registration to GSHSPA. The flow of the procedures is outlined as follows.
(1) Obtain information on the student exchange at GSHSPA from a responsible office
at your home university and/or the adviser of your research.
⇓(2) Obtain materials for application (this brochure and document forms forapplication) from a responsible office at your home university and/or the adviserof your research.
⇓(3) Ask the adviser of your research to arrange an academic staff at GSHSPA who
would meet you for an interview either directly or indirectly with a video call.
⇓(4) Take an interview by an academic staff at GSHSPA and obtain his/her informal
consent of acceptance. This academic staff, if he/she issues an informal consent of
acceptance, is your prospective academic supervisor at GSHSPA.
⇓(5) Ask the dean of the graduate school to which you belong to recommend you formallyto GSHSPA. Ask the adviser of your research to recommend you to GSHSPA.
⇓(6) Receive the letters of recommendation from both the graduate school and the2adviser. Prepare other documents, mostly by properly filling out the forms provided
by GSHSPA. Obtain a certificate of student status from your home university and atranscript from the graduate school.
⇓(7) Hand all documents for application to the adviser of your research. Youradviser must send them directly to your prospective academic supervisor at GSHSPA.
⇓(8) If you are accepted as an exchange student, you receive a Letter of Acceptance(abbreviated as LOA). Apply for any scholarship in your country available forexchange students with this LOA, if you wish.
⇓(9) Submit the documents for your financial status before the deadline set by GSHSPA.
Along with them, provide other materials asked by Chiba University in order to apply
for a Certificate of Eligibility (abbreviated as COE).
⇓(10) If you are not denied of admission, you receive a COE and a Certificate of
Admission. With them, apply for a visa to study in Japan.
⇓(11) After receiving your studying visa, come to Japan before the period ofregistration.
⇓(12) Complete the registration to Chiba University.
III. Deadlines and Materials to be Submitted.
1. Deadlines
The following lists all deadlines set by GSHSPA, which all prospective applicantsshould remember.
Deadline for Submission of Documents for Application: March 1, 2024 (must arrive).
Deadline for Submission of Documents for Financial Screening and other Materials to
Apply for COE: May 15, 2024 (must arrive).
Registration for Enrollment in October 2024: From October 1 to October 10, 2024.
2. Documents for Application
GSHSPA requires for all applicants to submit the following documents.
(1) An application form, properly filled out. A form is provided by GSHSPA.
(2) A research plan, properly filled out. A form is provided by GSHSPA.
(3) A curriculum vitae, properly filled out. A form is provided by GSHSPA.
(4) A letter of recommendation by the applicant's adviser of research, written ineither Japanese or English. A form is provided by GSHSPA.
(5) A formal letter of recommendation by the graduate school to which the applicant
belongs, written in either Japanese or English.
(6) A certificate of student status issued by the applicant's home university.
(7) A transcript issued by the graduate school to which the applicant belongs.
(8) A certificate for an informal consent of acceptance written by the prospective
academic supervisor. A form is provided by GSHSPA.
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(9) A certificate of guarantee written by the prospective academic supervisor. A
form is provided by GSHSPA.
The documents (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6) and (7) must be sent to the prospective
academic supervisor by the adviser of his/her research. Then the prospective
academic supervisor submits them to GSHSPA with (8) and (9).
The letter of recommendation by the adviser of the applicant's research must beplaced in a sealed envelope with his/her signature across the seal. The formal
letter of recommendation by the graduate school must be written on its official
letterhead and placed in a sealed envelope with the signature of the Dean of thegraduate school across the seal.
3. Certificates and Statements for Financial Status
If an applicant is accepted to be an exchange student, this successful candidate
must submit valid certificates and statements for his/her financial status. The
following is the list of these documents.
* In principle, the following documents are in Japanese or have a Japanesetranslation. English is acceptable if it is difficult to prepare.
(1) Statement of financial support (in proper form)(2) Documents proving the relationship between the financial supporter and theapplicant(3) Bank balance certificate (Original)(4) Materials clarifying the history of fund formation over the past three years(5) Documents proving the occupation of the financial supporter(6) Documents proving the income of financial supporter for the past 3 years
4. Materials for COE
To apply for a COE, Chiba University requires for a successful student to provide
the following materials.
(1) Applicant's upper body photo (4cm x 3cm) 1 piece(2) Passport identification information (name, nationality and date of birth) page
(copy) and passport page with additional information (copy)(3) If the applicant has entered Japan in the past, a copy of the page with theimmigration record of the passport(4) Graduation certificate from final school (original)(5) If the applicant can prove Japanese language proficiency with the score of theJapanese Language Proficiency Test, the certificate of the score in the test(6) If the applicant has received education in Japan in the past at an educational
institution with a history of staying with a status of residence of "Student", atranscript and a document certifying attendance at the time of enrollment at theeducational institution at that time (original)
The photo must be taken within 3 months prior to submission, in a way that thestudent faces squarely to the front without any head coverings (such as hats, caps,
veils etc.), and without any posing. It should not have any background. It must not4

be shaded either. The student's name should be written at the back of the photo.
IV. Instructions by Steps
1. What to Do before Preparing Documents for Application
If a prospective applicant is seriously interested in applying for student exchange
at GSHSPA, the first thing he/she must to do is to take an interview by an academic
staff at GSHSPA in his/her area of studies, and receive his/her informal consent of
acceptance. A candidate for the interviewer must be arranged by his/her current
adviser of research at his/her home university, through his/her personal connection
on research activities. The interview can be done either directly or indirectlywith a communication device such as Skype. In the interview, the academic staff
evaluates the applicant's comprehensive ability to study and research in his/herarea of studies. Not only an excellence in his/her specific academic field but
also a general ability to be a graduate student, such as a proficiency in a language,
an ability to cooperate with the academic staff and his students etc., are evaluated.
The academic staff who interviews an applicant has a total discretion over thedecision to issue an informal consent of acceptance.
If one applies for an exchange research student, he/she should be aware that GSHSPA
guides its faculty members strongly that a completion of a graduate program for amaster's degree before the interview should be respected significantly in theirdecision on acceptance, though a master's degree is not officially required.
The academic staff who has issued an informal consent of acceptance becomes theprospective academic supervisor of the prospective applicant if he/she applies. To
complete the application, the prospective academic supervisor is required to prove
his/her consent to GSHSPA by submitting a certificate of his/her consent withhis/her signature. Therefore an applicant must ask him/her to fill out and sign
the form of certificate at the end of the interview.
The next thing to do is to ask the graduate school to which an applicant belongs
and his/her current adviser of research to recommend him/her to GSHSPA. An applicant
must receive a formal letter of recommendation by the graduate school, and a letterof professional recommendation by his/her adviser. The quality of these letters is
crucial for his/her acceptance. A chance to be accepted will be doomed by just one
slightly bad letter, even if an applicant has already found a prospective academic
supervisor at GSHSPA.
2. Preparing and Submitting Documents for Application
An applicant for student exchange must prepare documents as GSHSPA requires, andsubmit them to his/her prospective academic supervisor at Chiba University, throughthe current adviser on his/her research. The list of these documents was provided
in III.2.
Note that applicants cannot send any documents for application directly to theirprospective academic supervisors or the office of GSHSPA. No member of GSHSPA
reviews the documents if they are sent from an applicant himself/herself. GSHSPA
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has a total discretion to turn down the applicant if it finds a fraud in the
documents submitted.
As indicated in III.1, all documents for application must arrive no later than March
1, 2024. They should be sent by registered mail. They are not returned in any
circumstances.
3. Conditions for Acceptance
There are two basic conditions that Chiba University requires for an acceptance asa graduate exchange student. First, an applicant must submit a meaningful plan of
his/her study and/or research at Chiba University. Secondly, he/she must provide
a proof that his/her study and/or research at Chiba University are considered to bevaluable at the graduate program of the sister university to which he/she belongs.
The first condition is satisfied by completing the application form and the form
for a research plan in a level that GSHSPA regards them as adequate. An applicant
for an exchange student (in a specific sense) must list several classes you wish to
take. In each term (the 4th and 5th terms in the second (autumn) semester, and the
1st and 2nd terms in the first (spring) semester), you should take at least 7classes. An applicant for an exchange research student must state clearly a purposeof his/her research, an achievement that he/she expects to have in the period ofstudy he/she has chosen, a description of steps toward the achievement etc. in theform for a research plan. GSHSPA has a total discretion to decide the adequacy ofcontents in these forms.
If one applies for an exchange research student, the proof in the second condition
must be provided extensively in the letter of recommendation by the adviser ofhis/her research. If one applies for an exchange student (in a specific sense), it
is provided partly by the agreement for student exchange between Chiba University
and his/her home university, through the agreement on unit exchange. However, GSHSPA
recommends strongly that the letter of recommendation by the adviser of his/herresearch also provides an extensive explanation.
These are just basic ones that GSHSPA expects for all applicants to satisfy quite
easily. Much more important conditions in the decision on acceptance are that an
applicant has found a prospective academic supervisor with whom he/she is acquainted
closely, and that he/she is highly esteemed for a comprehensive academic ability inthe letters of recommendation.
4. Announcement of Acceptance
GSHSPA has a total discretion over decision on acceptance. If GSHSPA decides anapplicant to be accepted, his/her prospective academic supervisor issues a Letterof Acceptance (abbreviated as LOA) and sends it to this successful candidate. The
LOA states that the candidate has passed the screening on academic ability by GSHSPA
so that the prospective academic supervisor accepts the candidate as an exchange(research) student. The LOA will be signed by the prospective academic supervisor
and co-signed by the Dean of GSHSPA. The LOA can be used only to apply for ascholarship. A style and a form of LOA can be arranged upon an official request
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from the graduate school to which a successful candidate belongs. No individual
can negotiate with GSHSPA over the style and the form of LOA personally.
5. Screening on Financial Status and Condition for Admission
GSHSPA screens a financial status of a successful candidate toward its decision on
admission. A successful candidate is required to submit certificates and statements
for his/her financial status which GSHSPA regards as valid to support his/her study
at Chiba University. The list of these documents was provided in III.3.
GSHSPA does not admit a successful candidate to enter Chiba University if he/she
fails to submit the certificates and statements that GSHSPA regards as valid.
GSHSPA has a total discretion to decide their validity.
For example, if a successful candidate is awarded a scholarship which, combinedwith his/her private sources of fund, is sufficient to cover the standard cost of
studying and living for the period of study he/she has chosen, and he/she provesthat successfully by the documents, then GSHSPA regards them as valid.
If the documents do not prove that total fund available to the successful candidate
is enough to cover the standard cost of studying and living, then GSHSPA regards
them as invalid. GSHSPA also regards them as invalid if it finds a fraud in them,such as a lack of original documents, a fabrication of documents, an improper and/or
illegal source of fund etc.
As indicated in III.1, all certificates and statements for his/her financial status
must arrive at GSHSPA no later than May 15, 2024. They should be sent by registered
mail. They are not returned in any circumstances. GSHSPA notifies to the candidate
if his/her documents are judged as invalid by GSHSPA so that he/she is not admitted
to Chiba University, as soon as the decision is made.
A successful candidate may estimate individually the standard cost of studying andliving in Japan by referring to the website of the Japan Student Services
Organization (abbreviated as JASSO). The address of the JASSO's website is:https://www.jasso.go.jp/en/index.html.
6. Obtaining a Visa
If a successful candidate is not denied of his/her admission as a result of screening
on financial status, then he/she should obtain a Certificate of Eligibility forJapanese Residency (abbreviated as COE) from the Immigration Bureau of Japan. Chiba
University takes care of the application for a successful candidate. A successful
candidate is required to provide all related materials as Chiba University asks for,properly and promptly. The list of these materials was provided in III.4. Sinceparts of these are the documents for his/her financial status, GSHSPA requires fora successful candidate to submit these materials along with the documents for
his/her financial status, in order to economize on time for application. Therefore,
all materials must arrive at GSHSPA no later than May 15, 2024. They are not
returned in any circumstances.

7

In order to fill out an application form for COE properly, a successful candidate
may be required to answer several questions by his/her prospective academic
supervisor. Also, he/she may be required to resubmit a part of materials in casethat it is not properly prepared. Because of these, a successful student mustsecure a way (ways) of communication by which his/her prospective academic
supervisor can reach him/her for a while.
GSHSPA finally approves the admission of a successful candidate when it receives
the COE for him/her issued by the Immigration Bureau. After receiving the COE fromthe Immigration Bureau, GSHSPA sends it to the successful student, with theCertificate of Admission issued by GSHSPA. With these documents, he/she applies
for a studying visa to the Japanese Embassy.
The whole process, from preparing materials to apply for a COE to obtaining a visa,
may take up to 3 months. GSHSPA strongly advises for all successful candidates tosubmit these materials as soon as they are ready for the screening of their financial
status.
7. Coming to Japan and Registration
All exchange students (in a broad sense) are required to complete their registrationon the period specified by Chiba University. The registration can be completed
only at the campus of Chiba University, so that all successfully admitted students
should come to Japan before this period. Any delay in the registration is not
acceptable to Chiba University. For admission in October 2024, the period is from
October 1 to October 10, 2024.
To complete the registration, all exchange students at GSHSPA are required topurchase an insurance policy offered by Chiba University, called as "Personal
Accident Insurance for Students" ("Gakkennsai", in Japanese).
It covers for
accidents related to students' school activities. The International Support Deskat Chiba University (abbreviated as ISD) provides a useful information on the net.
The website address of ISD is:https://www.chiba-u.ac.jp/international/isd/en/index.html.
The section for Insurance Policies of this website explains this particularinsurance policy extensively. If a student has a question on the insurance policy,
one should contact the representative at the Student Support Office. His/Her email address is ddc2162@office.chiba-u.jp.
Chiba University advices strongly for a foreign student to carry enough money tocover a set-up cost, much more than that he/she thinks enough. The expense in thefirst month of his/her stay is likely to be much more than those in other months,
and there may be some payments to be made that one has not expected abroad due tothe difference in business practice. The website of JASSO and that of ISD will
provide some useful information.
https://www.jasso.go.jp/en/index.html
https://www.chiba-u.ac.jp/international/isd/en/index.html

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V. After Entrance
1. Miscellaneous Support to Foreign Students by University
Most of supports to foreign students studying at Chiba University, other than thoserelated to studies and researches, are offered by ISD. Chiba University advices
strongly that all exchange students maintain close contacts with ISD. The website
of ISD provides comprehensive information about studying and living in Japan.
The issue that a foreign student concerns the most for his/her living is anaccommodation during the periods of study that he/she has chosen. Chiba University
does have a dormitory facility at the International House, but available rooms arelimited in number, so that Chiba University DOES NOT guarantee that rooms at theInternational House are allocated to all exchange students. In case that a room is
not allocated by Chiba University, a student needs to find an apartment byhimself/herself.
The Housing section of the ISD's website provides useful
information on this matter.
2. Working in Japan
Chiba University strictly advises for all exchange students (in a broad sense) not
to work outside the university. However there may be some part-time jobs at thecampus which are open to exchange students (in a broad sense). To be eligible forthese jobs, an exchange student must obtain a Permission to Engage in an Activity
Other Than Those Permitted by the Status of Residence, from the Immigration Bureau.
To be specific, he/she needs to obtain a "Comprehensive" Permission to Engage in an
Unauthorized Activities without Restrictions on (Authorized) Activities. A foreign
student with a studying visa can apply for this permission at the airport when
he/she arrives, so anyone who wishes to be eligible for part-time jobs at the campus
should apply for it on his/her arrival.
Chiba University does not guarantee the availability of part-time jobs at the campus
open to exchange students. Chiba University is not held responsible for any troublecaused by exchange students related to working outside the university.
3. Scholarship
There is no scholarship in Japan for which an exchange student (in a broad sense)
can apply. If one wishes to receive a scholarship, he/she must apply for that in
his/her home country. To apply for a governmental scholarship in a student's homecountry, it is usually required that LOA to be submitted. Hence one should start
the process of application for student exchange very early if he/she needs afinancial aid sponsored by the government of his/her home country.
VI. Inquiries on the Student Exchange Program at GSHSPA
If a prospective applicant at a sister university has a question on student exchange
at GSHSPA, it is strongly advised that he/she makes the adviser on his/her research
ask it to a n academic staff at GSHSPA with whom he/she is acquainted closely.
GSHSPA advices strongly not to ask a question directly to the representative at
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GSHSPA.
Graduate School of Humanities and Studies on Public Affairs, Chiba University
Mailing Address: 1-33 Yayoi-cho, Inage-ku
Chiba-shi, Chiba 263-8522
JapanE-mail: gah2352@office.chiba-u.jp10