About C-Hub
Mission
The Center for Professional Development and Inclusive Excellence (C-Hub) provides the OIST community with a centralized place where:
- faculty, students, postdocs, research staff, administrative staff, and administrative leaders can explore opportunities for personal and career growth;
- evidence-based practices and research are applied toward professional development to support all careers in a diverse, equitable, and inclusive climate;
- connections and collaborations can be created across and beyond the university.
C-Hub enacts its mission by engaging the diverse experiences, perspectives, and contributions amongst the broader OIST community to foster productive dialogue and exploration, and ultimately support OIST’s mission toward scientific and educational excellence.
Vision and Values
As a uniquely positioned professional development center committed to fostering inclusive excellence in a scientific graduate university, C-Hub serves an international community of faculty, students, postdocs, research and administrative staff, administrative leaders, and alumni. C-Hub enacts its mission through meaningful dialogue and synthesis with a community of colleagues and students across the university to create:
- Interdisciplinary, inclusive, and collaborative environments that foster high impact outcomes for all, during and beyond their time at OIST.
- Opportunities for exploration and experimentation informed by research and evidence-based practice.
- Opportunities for intersections across the research units, administrative divisions, and the graduate school.
- An appreciation for and focus on concepts and ideas— when initiating production- or outcomes-oriented work, we start by considering the intellectual and empathetic significance rather than the product.
- Inclusive “design thinking” and “systems thinking” as methods and processes for approaching complex problems to support initiatives across the institution.
Logo
The logo for the Center for Professional Development and Inclusive Excellence is inspired by the seed pod of the indigenous sannin (muuchiigaasa) plant, or shell ginger. The seeds of the sannin plant are encased in a bright orange shell. Okinawans use sannin in traditional cuisine.
The C-Hub logo draws inspiration from the individual seeds encased in the sannin pod to represent the potential of every individual. Yet, seeds require nourishment and cultivation to grow and flourish. It is in this spirit that C-Hub aspires to bring our community together to create inclusive, productive environments for the ongoing development of all individuals. In so doing, we can foster the growth of future generations across our global community.
C-Hub is grateful for the collaboration and generous guidance of our OIST Eedee* Group colleagues for the inspiration of our logo. The Eedee Initiative engages the OIST community to further embrace local Okinawan culture and become an integrated part of the local society.
*Eedee means ‘working together’ in Uchinaaguchi, the Okinawan language. For further information about Uchinaaguchi, please visit this website.
Sannin seed pods
Sannin plant
C-Hub Team
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Ayumi Nagai (she/her) Professional & Culture Development Specialist ayumi.nagai With over 10 years of human resources experience in global financial institutions in Tokyo and the Asia Pacific, Ayumi has specialized in dynamic and engaging talent development expertise for professionals from diverse backgrounds in international, cross-cultural environments. After shifting her career to academia, Ayumi is enthusiastic about applying her background to facilitate exchanges across diverse members of the OIST community toward the enhancement of an inclusive and equitable culture at OIST. She works expansively across the university to support the professional development needs of administrative staff, and also collaborates with her C-Hub colleagues to develop cross-divisional programs and initiatives. Originally from Kyoto, Ayumi has heritage in Okinawa and enjoys traveling, reading, cooking, and outdoor activities with family and friends. |
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Oksana Burduzhan (she/her) C-Hub Office Assistant oksana.burduzhan Oksana brings a distinctive combination of analytical expertise and creative energy to her role at OIST, drawing on a solid background in corporate accounting across Ukraine and England. Since joining the institution in July 2019, she has contributed to a variety of administrative and professional development initiatives—beginning in the Postdoctoral Development section of the Faculty Affairs Office. In December 2021, she became a founding member of the newly established C-Hub, where she continues to play a key role in advancing cross-divisional collaboration and supporting staff development across the university. In her current position, Oksana provides administrative support to the Executive Director and works closely with colleagues to implement C-Hub’s professional development programs. Her commitment to fostering a positive, inclusive, and creative environment is evident in both her day-to-day work and her broader engagement with the OIST community. Originally from Ukraine, Oksana holds a degree in economics and has a lifelong passion for the arts. Her creative interests led to the curation of OIST’s inaugural community art exhibition, Synergy, which celebrated the intersection of science and art by showcasing the talents of the OIST community to local and international audiences. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time by the sea and participating in art-related and educational activities with her family in Okinawa. |
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Brandon Conlon (he/him) Assistant Director for Graduate Student and Postdoctoral Professional Development brandon.conlon Brandon completed his undergraduate education at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, in linguistics and philosophy, and while working as a lecturer at the University of Liverpool’s joint-venture university partnership with Xi’an-Jiaotong University in China, completed his MA in applied linguistics. Prior to joining OIST, Brandon served as Director of the Center for Teaching Innovation at D’Youville University in Buffalo, New York, an historically women’s college that is now a university specialized in applied health sciences. Before serving in that post, he was the head of the English for Academic Purposes Program and a senior lecturer at New York University’s joint-venture university campus, NYU Shanghai, a partnership with East China Normal University and the Shanghai Municipal Government. He started at NYU Shanghai as a founding faculty member in 2013. He has nearly 20 years of rich teaching experiences in international higher education environments. Brandon holds an EdD in higher education from the University of Liverpool, where he researched the student experience in the context of the organizational mission of NYU Shanghai. His interests in professional development start with an eye to the way different stakeholders, while pursuing their own personal development, contribute to the overall learning of the organization, especially organizational identity dynamics in relation to organizational mission and values. He is also the founding editor of the website Liberal Arts Global Lens, which is currently in a partnership with the Pacific Alliance of Liberal Arts Colleges. Brandon is a member of the Professional and Organizational Development Network, Human Development and Capabilities Association, and the World Council on Intercultural and Global Competence. At OIST, Brandon will be working alongside the director to review professional development needs of faculty and postdocs, developing training curricula and providing consultations to meet these identified needs. |
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Annual Reports
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