Prefectural Advisor

The Prefectural Advisor (PA) System was originally created in 1991 to help better support the participants of the JET Program. In Japanese, they are referred to as 取りまとめ団体アドバイザー (torimatome dantai adobaizaa).

The PA cohort works together to provide resources and support the Akita JET Program community. PAs have experience and knowledge of Japanese culture, language, workplaces and education that you can draw on to make decisions and address problems. You can find their contact details below.

Please feel free to contact any of your PAs anytime, regardless of their proximity to you in the prefecture.

What do PAs do?

Akita's Prefectural Advisors provide a variety of services for JETs, the most important of which are listed below.

Conference Planning

The PAs are in charge of planning the many conferences that take place in the prefecture. Together with the JPA, they are in charge of proposing workshops, drafting conference schedules, and arranging presenters, as well as running the show the day of.

Consultation

Living and working as a foreigner in Akita can be extremely stressful at times. Problems can be furthered by culture shock, language difficulties, and Akita's harsh winters.

Your PAs can offer basic consultation services to help you overcome these difficulties if and when they arise. Depending on the situation, you may need to consult your contracting organization before contacting a PA, and PAs will not provide counseling for mental health issues; in such cases, they will refer JET participants to the JET Online Counseling System, support hotlines, or other mental health resources.

Confidentiality is strictly upheld in all consultation situations. The only exception to this is if a JET poses an imminent threat to themselves or others. It's important to note, however, that PAs are not professional counselors. In a case where a PA feel the situation requires more expertise the PA will, with your consent, help arrange for a referral to an appropriate professional.

Mediation

If you face a dispute with another party, for example a fellow JET or a supervisor, your PAs can offer mediation services to ensure effective communication and dialog to help address the problem. We can also offer a listening ear and advice on approaching the problem. If all parties agree, we can sometimes offer our services in person to the parties involved or arrange for an appropriate mediator. This would involve identifying common and individual needs, and then ways to achieve as many of them as possible. During mediation, PAs represent all parties involved and therefore cannot assure confidentiality.

Crisis Response and Management

Although it is best to contact us during normal working hours or schedule an appointment, if a crisis situation or emergency occurs, you can contact us immediately and at any time. Such situations could include medical emergencies, crime incidents, bereavement, natural disaster, physical or mental trauma and personal crises, including suicidal or violent thoughts. We will try to help you manage and deal with any such crises.

Interpretation Support

If you need language assistance for medical treatment, driver's licence interviews, legal processes, etc., we can sometimes provide interpretation assistance within work hours. Please contact us at the Akita Mailing List for further information.

Other PA Activities

  • Although anyone can edit this wiki, the PAs in particular try to keep pertinent information up to date. Akita's wiki is a treasure chest of useful information regarding local information, important documents, travel, language and more!
  • Our Mailing List [1] is also available so that you can pass information and ask questions to other JETs easily.

Kinds of PAs in Akita

  • JET Prefectural Advisors: JET-PAs for short, JET-PAs are JET participants who also serve as PAs for Akita Prefecture. The PAs are also the primary organizers of Akita JET Conferences. They are first and foremost JETs, but have additional responsibilities incorporated in their ALT/CIR jobs as PAs.
    • The English CIR at the International Affairs Division (IAD) and the ALT at the Education Center are automatically also made PAs by their title.
    • The remaining JET-PAs are all Block PAs, who are selected via a written application process, where their applications are reviewed by the incumbent PAs and members of the Akita Prefectural Government that are involved in JET affairs.
  • Japanese Prefectural Advisor - The Japanese Prefectural Advisor (JPA) is primarily in charge of the CIR aspects of our JET Conferences. The JPA is also in charge of communicating with your BOEs regarding conferences and other important announcements from CLAIR, MEXT, the Akita International Affairs Division, and the Akita Prefectural Board of Education. The JPA and the PAs work closely throughout the year.

Contact Information

Stephanie Daugherty

Alex Hennen

Aaron Kern

Allyson Roberts

Caitlin Wilcox

Catherine Johnson

Yoshihito Saitou (斎藤 由人)

Historical Prefectural Advisors

Block PA System (2019~)

School
Year 		Int'l Affairs Division Education
Center PA 		Block PAs
Japanese PA JET-CIR PA North Capital South Yuri
2020 Yoshihito Saitou (斎藤 由人) Alex Hennen Pimms Hubbell / Stephanie Daugherty Aaron Kern Allyson Roberts Caitlin Wilcox Catherine Johnson
2019 Yuusei Ito (伊藤 裕誠) Josephine Chiao Pimms Hubbell - -

Elected PA System (2009~2019)

School
Year 		Int'l Affairs Division Education
Center PA 		Elected PAs
Japanese PA JET-CIR PA
2018 Chika Suzuki (鈴木 千賀) Josephine Chiao Pimms Hubbell Aaron Kern Kathryn Ross -
2017 Kaori Akagawa (赤川 香里) Jennifer Campbell Alexander Dao Micheal Aubrey Brianna Hom
2016 Jonathon Morris Lynne Francis Nicholas Asquith
2015 Rachel Youngblood
2014 Kumiko Sato (佐藤 久美子) Randy Umetsu Taylor Fustin Josh Drewry Stephanie Hupp
2013 -
2012 Renaud Davies Derek Lemieux Nikki Zywina
2011 Casey Kuester Anne Smith Kaydene Carty
2010 Rumi Sasaki (佐々木 留美) - -
2009 Mie Ishikawa (石川 未英) Dan Dooher Rob Evans (Asst.) Tapo Mandal (Asst.)

See also

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