FOREST 2015

Junichi HAMADA, President

The University of Tokyo

Society has entrusted the University of Tokyo with a wealth of intellectual resources. I believe that it is the University’s public duty to future generations to make the greatest possible use of these intellectual resources in collaboration with all spheres of society.

Soon after assuming office as president of the University of Tokyo in April 2009, I presented my basic approach to the management of the University under the title “Moving the Forest: A World-leading Center of Knowledge.” Drawing an analogy with a heavily wooded forest to describe the great breadth and diversity of intellectual activity at the University of Tokyo, I expressed my commitment to ensuring ever greater progress founded on the spirit and organizational structures of the national university corporation system. This Action Scenario clearly sets forth the objectives for my six-year tenure ending March 2015 and the specific actions the University of Tokyo intends to take in achieving them.

Based on my theme “Moving the Forest,” I decided to give this Action Scenario the title, “FOREST 2015,” highlighting the following six keywords: “Frontline” for always being at the forefront of Japanese academia; “Openness” for being wide open to people of diverse backgrounds and the world; “Responsibility” for fulfilling our responsibility to the future of Japan and of the world; “Excellence” for achieving excellence in education and research; “Sustainability” for maintaining a system of continued pursuit of excellence in education and research over time; and “Toughness” for the intellectual toughness required of internationally competitive University students, faculty, and administrative staff. With these key concepts in mind, the University of Tokyo is steadily advancing toward realizing the objectives of FOREST 2015.

FOREST 2015 builds on principles set out in earlier programs established by my esteemed predecessors and is firmly rooted in the culture of the University. Prior to our reorganization as a national university corporation in 2004, the Charter of the University of Tokyo was established under then President Takeshi Sasaki, laying forth basic principles for the University’s long-term management. Thereafter, a wide range of independent initiatives were carried out under its First Medium-Term Goals and Plans, and under Action Plan 2005-2008, mapped out by President Sasaki’s successor, President Hiroshi Komiyama. Beginning in our 2010 academic year, the University of Tokyo will begin to implement our Second Medium-Term Goals and Plans, paving the way for the realization of FOREST 2015. With these parallel undertakings, we will present to society our basic approach to the management of the University of Tokyo.

The FOREST 2015 Action Scenario is comprised of three integral elements*:“Vision for Action,” “Action Scenarios for Priority Areas,” and “Action Scenarios for Academic Organizations.” Vision for Action provides an overview of our entire program. It explains the basic philosophy underlying our vision for the future of the University and identifies the primary challenges that must be met in realizing that vision. The Action Scenarios for Priority Areas address ten university-wide themes and establish goals including numerical targets and major initiatives for each of these themes. Last, the Action Scenarios for Academic Organizations outlines plans for the University’s various faculties, graduate schools, and research institutions. The University will henceforth draw up and implement concrete steps in line with our priority issues and the basic policies of each academic organization, and follow up with a continual process of assessment and improvement.

FOREST 2015 thus provides a comprehensive picture of the basic policies and specific actions to be taken not only by the University’s central administration office but also by all other University organizational units. In drafting the FOREST 2015 Action Scenario, I sought opinions from a wide range of professionals from both inside and outside the University including members of the University’s Administrative Council, outside experts, and the heads of University academic organizations. The Vision for Action was formulated with the participation of seven promising members of the faculty whom I believe will play an important role in the future of the University. The Action Scenarios for Priority Areas were created by the Executive Vice Presidents of the University while the Departmental Action Scenarios were drawn up by the heads of each academic organization. I believe that FOREST 2015 provides a clear path to the future of the University, and I look forward to our journey ahead together.

*The last section “Action Scenarios for Academic Organizations” is not available in English.

The Publicness of Knowledge and the Importance of Internationalization

The university, more than any other institution, fulfills society’s need for knowledge. Indeed, universities continue to be called on to play a vital role in building prosperous and stable societies. In accordance with FOREST 2015 and my vision for the University of Tokyo, we are enhancing our international presence towards the realization of a sustainable society characterized by international cooperation and global awareness. Knowledge defines and shapes human society, and through our excellent, world-class research, the University of Tokyo is contributing to public knowledge and, through education, to the training of new generations, the critical inheritors of the existing body of knowledge.

The outlines of this new era, the 21st century, are gradually taking shape. While the forces of globalization continue to gather momentum, the security and prosperity of the world is increasingly being threatened by ethnic conflict and terrorism, widening economic inequality, and global warming. The global crises that have erupted in recent years have served to heighten the social value of knowledge as an essential public asset for providing scientific, technological, and philosophical insights for overcoming our current problems. The raison d’être and sense of social responsibility of universities are put to the test during such times as people again look to academia for answers.

As globalization accelerates, the world of academia is exposed to increasingly tough global competition for funding and talent, making internationalization our top-priority. The University of Tokyo currently serves as a hub institution in a network of prestigious Asian universities. We are tapping the strengths of Japanese scholarship to support a wide range of international projects that will sustain a globalized campus that is a core institution in the training and exchange of researchers and students from all parts of the world. Our vision for the University is cultivating a campus that is a premier platform for education and research and celebrates the world’s diverse languages, thoughts, and values.

The future is difficult to forecast in such turbulent times. Yet, as a university, we have a responsibility to ask ourselves what actions we can take to ensure the stable development and continued maturation of society. The Charter of the University of Tokyo states that the University recommits itself to being “a driving force for world-class academic research” and to being “an institution that nurtures intellectual citizens with a global outlook who will contribute to the realization of a just society, advancement of science and technology, and creation of new culture.” Indeed, now is the time for this commitment and these principles to be put to the test.

 

Building Partnerships with Society for the Joint Creation of Knowledge

An almost limitless number of interfaces exist between the University and society. Throughout our history, the University of Tokyo has contributed to the development of contemporary society by engaging in the highest levels of research and education spanning a broad range of fields. We have delved into the essence of life; sought to uncover the fundamental mysteries of human, natural and physical phenomena; developed technologies to support new industries; and designed systems to sustain the social and economic activities of the future. The knowledge created and accumulated through successfully challenging boundaries and acquiring the capabilities realized in the process, has served as a driving force for the transformation and evolution of society.

Yet we no longer live in an environment where the benefits of research flow one-way from academia to society. We have come to a stage that demands a collaborative effort between academia and society that can be characterized as the “joint creation of knowledge.” In recognition of this change, the University of Tokyo is positioning itself as the focal point of a vast and diverse network of partners ranging from the local community to partners in countries throughout the world. While remaining true to our mission as an independent academic institution seeking truth and nurturing human capacity for knowledge, we look forward to further developing structures whereby new discoveries and innovations can be achieved through the coordinated and collaborative efforts of people and institutions not only within but also from outside the University.

Through our social partnership programs, the University of Tokyo is further expanding and deepening an infinite “circle of knowledge” between academia and society. In keeping with FOREST 2015, we want to share openly the results of the world-class research being conducted at the University of Tokyo. We want to convey the excitement and the passion inherent in our leading-edge science and scholarship to inspire future generations with the enthusiasm to change the world for the better.

The single most important partnership linking academia and society is the education and training of promising new talent. The University of Tokyo stands proud of the many talented graduates we have nurtured, who now sustain all quarters of society. Our alumni networks provide a broad foundation for our activities and have a special significance in activating the “circle of knowledge,” linking academic knowledge with that in society. Through FOREST 2015, we are committed to developing an environment in which our alumni can continue to influence society as “intellectual citizens,” a goal which we are pursuing by expanding the opportunities and arrangements for alumni participation in the University’s activities. At the same time, the University of Tokyo remains open to our alumni who wish to use their alma mater to further enrich their intellectual lives.

 

Tough Students Equipped with True Liberal Arts Education

At the University of Tokyo, we instill our students with personal resilience. Our aim is to produce intellectually tough graduates, endowed with the benefits of a liberal arts education—a broad international perspective, a pioneering spirit, and a genuine concern for the vulnerable in society.

Change occurs, sometimes disruptively. To develop new insights into the issues facing society, we must be prepared to respond flexibly and courageously to today’s diverse and fast-moving environment. We believe that liberal arts education can help us do so, by teaching us to analyze current issues and problems from a historical perspective and prompting us to examine local phenomena in a universal context. This requires broad-based knowledge combined with deep specialization, world-class research ability, and the intellectual rigor and stamina to pursue solutions in unexpected locations and in the face of accepted wisdom—the very foundation provided by a liberal arts education, and the skills we aim to instill through education at the University of Tokyo.

University of Tokyo students open themselves to a wide variety of creative encounters that confront them with the intellectual challenge of engaging the world in all its diversity. Through their coursework, research, and opportunities including University extracurricular and social activities and studying abroad, our students develop stronger communication skills, greater awareness of the diverse values out there in the world, and a deeper sense of ethics and compassion for the disadvantaged. From this openness to diverse experiences our students acquire reinforced stamina and a determination to explore new intellectual and social frontiers.

In the University of Tokyo’s undergraduate program, our emphasis is on liberal arts education as an indispensable complement to practical and specialized knowledge. Our students focus on liberal arts during the first two years of their undergraduate program and move on to specialist fields in their second two years. While we continue to pursue reform in teaching methods and content of each, we also strive to link these two components into a single continuum.

The purpose of graduate school education at the University of Tokyo is to enable students to acquire world-class specialized and practical knowledge. The University of Tokyo’s graduate programs offer the optimal environment for graduate students to carry out their intensive study, specialized research, and attain full development of their abilities to fulfill key roles in society. At the same time, this environment must support the schooling of highly competent professionals and the training of researchers capable of the creation of new knowledge and learning for future generations.

Our renowned undergraduate and graduate programs are a gathering place for outstanding students from around the world and a springboard for graduates to realize their dreams in their chosen field. The University of Tokyo is dedicated to ensuring an educational environment on campus that facilitates active intellectual dialogue between our faculty and students.

The University will reconsider its entrance examination system to attract a more diverse body of promising students. To lead the way in producing world-class talent, the University is increasing our research support for graduate students and expanding the opportunities for international activities and exchange. Similarly, to best serve the University of Tokyo community, we are committed to expanding and improving our educational facilities, student dormitories, and to supporting students in all facets of their campus life.

Further, we are enhancing the capabilities of the University’s faculty, supporting student initiatives, and establishing new mechanisms to focus on uncovering and developing the potential of gifted students.

On this foundation of excellence, we are striving to produce tough graduates who are aware of and concerned about the great diversity of values that exist in the world, fully capable as articulate communicators, and inspired with the positive energy needed to explore new intellectual frontiers.

 

Distinguished and Dynamic Faculty

The University of Tokyo’s academic excellence is founded on the exceptional abilities and performance of our faculty. Distinguished in their fields, faculty dynamism is fundamental to their success as world-leading academics.

Achieving progress in the academic world and in society requires people to grapple with the strange, the inscrutable, and the seemingly irresolvable. The unique strength of our faculty lies in their ability to pursue two hares at once —that is, to fulfill the dual task of carrying out fundamental research and education in basic disciplines while also boldly pioneering new fields of study at the ever expanding frontiers of advanced knowledge. Their simultaneous efforts in these two directions, towards the fundamental and towards the unknown, spark fresh exchanges among faculty and generate new ways of integrating knowledge across academic disciplines.

The University of Tokyo is a prime arena where educators and researchers from around the world can realize their full potential. What brings them here is our commitment to the sustained development of advanced knowledge, which finds its expression in both our inquiring and tenacious faculty and the state-of-the-art campus facilities on our three campuses at Hongo, Komaba, and Kashiwa in and around Tokyo.

As a vibrant hub for education and research, the University bears a responsibility to sustain the foundation for academic progress in partnership with other universities and research institutions throughout Japan. To this end, we welcome and embrace faculty of diverse backgrounds, and promote the elimination of restrictions based on gender, language, or nationality. Such openness promotes flexibility and open culture in faculty and maintains the vitality of our entire organization.

We hold members of our university to a high standard. The University of Tokyo community, including students, faculty and administrative staff, is, in one way or another, involved in creating knowledge for the public good. Our members are dedicated to maintaining the highest ethical standards and a keen awareness of the responsibility of complying with laws and social norms in all matters related to scholarship and society. In addition to personal evaluations, all faculty members have external assessments of their performance regularly in education and research, ensuring transparency and strengthening the University as a whole.

What awaits the University in the near future? As FOREST 2015 is implemented, we can expect a more diverse student body on campus; an expanded support system for our distinguished researchers and scholars; more young researchers; and increased flexibility in our personnel systems. The University of Tokyo is readying itself for the challenges that lie ahead. The university environment in general is undergoing important changes, which have significantly increased the administrative burdens on faculty. To best serve the University community, we strive to find new ways to optimize University administrative efficiency, and to seek out new sources of funding for research in the face of shrinking government-allocated research funding and growth in competitive funding.

Our distinguished and dynamic faculty defines the University of Tokyo’s character and is our greatest asset. By maintaining an environment in which our faculty can thrive, we ensure that the University of Tokyo remains internationally competitive today and can nurture the distinguished and dynamic faculty of tomorrow.

 

Highly Capable and Expert Administrative Staff

The role of the university is creating and curating the knowledge that supports modern society, a role that cannot be fulfilled without a highly capable and expert administrative staff. Working closely with our faculty, our administrative staff is committed to serving the needs of the University community and to supporting and promoting the University’s goal of making our knowledge resources open to the public.

The form of the university is undergoing dramatic changes. Following the reorganization of the University as a national university corporation, we have seen a significant increase in the administrative load as we contend with new issues and challenges. The administrative environment has been rendered even more difficult by significant cutbacks in personnel. Overcoming the challenges posed by this transformation requires staff members who are flexible, open-minded, and committed to our mission. To meet this challenge head-on, the University of Tokyo ensures that opportunities for personal development are available for our administrative staff. Accordingly, as part of FOREST 2015, career development models that define specific skills for particular positions and time frames for achievement maintain momentum, and opportunities for learning will be made more readily accessible. Training opportunities include exchanges with domestic and international institutions and with the private sector.

We believe a varied and demanding working environment engenders pride and enthusiasm, which in turn drives staff development. Our efforts to maintain excellence in the administration of the University are reinforced by our recruitment process, which brings in new expertise to strengthen the administration, and consequently the research and education at the University. In addition, training executive staff with breadth and depth of expert knowledge is essential to our aim of building a strong administrative staff that can both drive forward and bear responsibility for reform.

A strong administrative staff requires a work environment that builds confidence and sustains motivation. At the same time, stability is essential to ensuring a sense of security, which enables long-term development and growth. Corresponding to FOREST 2015, the primary objective of our personnel system is ensuring a highly capable and expert administrative staff that is also creative, flexible and responsible, internationally aware, and able to support world-class research and education at the University of Tokyo.

 

Agile Management

The aim of effective university management is creating and sustaining a high-quality environment for education and research based on open intellectual dialogue among students, faculty and administrative staff. At the University of Tokyo we ensure this through agile management, maximum use of limited resources, and by encouraging all members of the university to reach their maximum potential. This requires constant review of University organization, facilities and processes; streamlining where possible; avoiding over-segmentation; and rationalizing whenever and wherever feasible. An acute awareness and concern about cost performance and responsible use of resources facilitate a dynamic response to change and ensure proper governance.

During my term as president, the use and management of the University’s various facilities will be carefully examined, and a sustainable campus facilities development plan will be formulated, paying due attention to such concerns as safety, comfort, and the environment. Systems will be implemented to facilitate the efficient use and management of our facilities from a university-wide perspective while also considering the diverse needs of individual university organizations. Special efforts will be made to promote the development of joint facilities and joint use of laboratory and experimental facilities. This will not only reduce our expenditures but also can be expected to promote greater communication across organizational lines and to contribute to interdisciplinary approaches to education and research. Plans will be implemented for augmenting available library space, a critical requirement in education and research in the social sciences and humanities.

A university cannot function without adequate and secure sources of funding. To guarantee the continued position of the University of Tokyo as one of the world’s leading universities, we have established an endowment fund and actively pursue external funding. Cooperation with industry further promotes research, education, and diversity at the University. Along with ensuring new sources of funding, the allocation and management of existing funding are constantly reviewed, with a focus on sustainability and ensuring support for areas of basic research and education that normally face difficulties raising external funds.

The University is constantly generating, transmitting, and absorbing a huge quantity of information, both academic and otherwise. Through the integration of information management systems and development of new modes of communication, the University will strive under FOREST 2015 to improve the efficiency and quality of administrative functions, which has the additional benefit of reducing costs; and the sharing of academic information, which creates new value by stimulating research and education.

For us to preserve the University’s leading edge, we must have agile management, strong governance, and sustained development. At the University of Tokyo, this is founded on a triangular structure emphasizing strong individuals, strong departments, and a strong central administrative organization. Effective communication and responsible, decisive action by everyone involved are essential prerequisites of strong governance; efforts by organizational units to utilize their specialized knowledge ensure diversity and strength; management leadership and coordination by a focused and lean central administration ensure efficiency. This is the foundation of the University of Tokyo’s high-quality education and research environment, facilitated by a solid financial footing and effective information management, but made possible by the efforts of individual members of the University.

Ensuring that the individual members of our University community can maximize their potential and commit themselves wholeheartedly to their responsibilities, whether as students, academics or administrative staff, is the only way for the University to maintain its vitality and best serve society as a whole. FOREST 2015 embodies the strategies by which the University of Tokyo and I will achieve these goals. The University of Tokyo is committed to supporting the role of knowledge for the benefit of Japanese society and all humanity. As president of the University of Tokyo, it is my honor to have this opportunity to play an active role in shaping the great future that lies ahead for us.

1. Ensure Academic Diversity and Pursue Excellence

[Objectives]

•     Assist researchers in pursuing academic excellence and becoming contributors of diverse scientific research to humanity’s intellectual capital. In particular, promote world-class scientific research through expansion of research support systems.

 

•     Encourage integration of academic disciplines to create new fields of scholarship, expanding the realm of human knowledge.

 

•     Strengthen international public relations efforts to boost our global presence as a comprehensive research university, and become a world leader in inter-university collaboration and scholarship.  (Example: aim to establish international research hubs in over 50 different fields)

 

•     Share the benefits of research with society at large, contributing to the development of a sustainable, fair, and peaceful domestic and international community, and deepen public understanding of the significance of scientific research.

 

[Main initiatives]

Enhance assistance for the pursuit of excellence in research

•     Improve the general research environment for conducting outstanding research.

                  Expand and assign joint-use space in an appropriate manner.Communize more facilities.
                  Support and promote large-scale research projects.
                  Train research administrators.
                  Ensure access to academic journals and electronic journals by cooperation with other national and private universities.
                  Improve the use of archives and digitize original texts or source books.

•     Enhance networks of world-class researchers.

                  Improve joint research hub facilities.
                  Revitalize inter-departmental research institutes.
                  Promote faculty and student exchanges with other prestigious global universities.
                  Examine exchange of faculty with partner universities.

•     Conduct proper evaluation and encourage greater disclosure of research to ensure, maintain and improve academic excellence.

 

Provide greater support to ensure diversity in scientific research, the bedrock of academic excellence

•     Highlight strengths, features, and specialties of research on the three campuses in Hongo, Komaba, and Kashiwa.
•     Identify areas of improvement at every university organizational unit, and advance collaboration among units.
•     Provide greater assistance to the humanities and social sciences through publishing and translating more research findings.
•     Make greater use of operating funds and the University of Tokyo Foundation to finance fledgling research.
•     Promote interdisciplinary exchange and collaboration inside and outside the University to create new fields in science and research.

 

Foster and offer more assistance to promising, young researchers and female researchers

•     Promote recruitment of young researchers through personnel system reform.
•     Encourage personnel transfer across universities or university-organization units.
•     Extend assistance when launching new research laboratories and provide young researchers greater support to acquire external funds.
•     Encourage more applications from female researchers and provide an appropriate support system for research.

 

Make greater internationalization efforts to support world-class research

•     Promote employment of top-level foreign researchers.

                 Establish an internationally-open recruitment process.
                 Improve living conditions through better housing services and expanded foreign-language services.
                 Expand opportunities to submit Ph.D. dissertations in English and include foreign researchers in degree-awarding committees.

•     Make greater efforts to publicize our research activities globally.

                 Enhance international public relations activities.
                 Extend support for hosting international conferences.

•     Expand UTokyo Institute for Advanced Study.

 

2. Build a Truly Global Campus

[Objectives]

•     Broaden student horizons by building a truly global campus with a diverse community of faculty and students from around the world.

 

•     Expand the scope of student international experience, turning the whole world into their classroom.  (Example: by 2020, increase the number of international students to at least 12 percent of the student body, the number of foreign faculty members to 10 percent or more, and the number of courses taught in English three-fold. By 2015, provide all students with some form of international learning opportunity including study abroad programs)

 

•     Develop strategies to advance international education and research collaboration while improving systems for global public relations.

 

•     Create educational, research, and living environments appropriate for a global campus.

 

•     Fully implement “The Internationalization of UTokyo 2010-2020,” aiming to broaden exchange of faculty and students with prominent universities in other Asian countries.

[Main initiatives]

Accept a greater number of international students and foreign researchers

•     Increase the number of courses taught in English and expand the number of English-only degree programs.
•     Diversify the University’s educational offerings by increasing the number of foreign faculty.
•     Align our curricula and general education system with internationally-accepted standards, and strengthen cooperation with overseas partner universities for credit transfer and double degree programs.
•     Secure funds for accepting more international students and foreign researchers, and make more scholarships available to such students prior to their arrival.
•     Provide more opportunities for exchange among international students, foreign researchers, and domestic students.
•     Offer assistance to international students and foreign researchers in adapting to living in Japan.

 

Increase opportunities for study-abroad and other international experience

•     Positively promote study-abroad programs and offer extensive study-abroad information (including enrichment of scholarship programs, expansion of student dispatch based on exchange agreements, provision of effective information via the internet and study-abroad seminars).
•     Institutionalize and expand a variety of short-term overseas programs including summer programs, international internships, and volunteer activities. Extend more assistance to student-led international initiatives (student forums, etc.).

 

Enhance international cooperation and global public relations efforts

•     Implement strategic international events such as the “UTokyo Forum,” produce multilingual publications, improve academic databases and other tools to publicize research findings internationally, and increase exchange of researchers.
•     Make the University of Tokyo website more user-friendly and multilingual.
•     Use overseas offices to recruit outstanding students and promote public relations efforts.
•     Organize study-at-UTokyo fairs and other seminars around the world.
•     Train more staff specializing in global public relations to enhance such efforts worldwide.

 

Reinforce ties with other Asian countries

•     Strengthen bilateral relations and regional networks with other Asian universities.
•     Promote multilateral frameworks for cooperation among Japan, China, South Korea, and other countries.
•     Enhance cooperation with other Asian countries, including China and India, in education and recruitment.
•     Encourage education and research focusing on Asia (Asian language studies, area studies, etc).

 

Build infrastructure for advancing internationalization at UTokyo

•     Building infrastructures to create a truly global campus.
•     Set up “International Centers” to offer international students and foreign researchers one-stop services including registration procedures and information on daily life in Japan.
•     Offer more Japanese language courses to international students and foreign researchers on the three campuses of Hongo, Komaba, and Kashiwa.
•     Issue internal documents and notices in both Japanese and English.
•     Provide administrative staff with foreign language training and workshops to improve their capacity to handle international tasks.

3. Further Develop Collaboration with Society: From “Contributing Knowledge to Society” to “Joint Creation of Knowledge with Society”

[Objectives]

•     Create “an open forum” for society that helps strengthen two-way communication between the University and society at large. Encourage people of diverse backgrounds to identify and share tasks, and work together to find creative solutions, in what is known as the “co-creation of knowledge.”

 

•     Accelerate the contribution of research findings to society through university-industry cooperation, and generate further innovation by enhancing the level of university-industry knowledge sharing or “joint creation of knowledge.” (Example: aim to double the number of researchers engaged in university-industry joint research projects to over 1,000)

 

•     Increase public understanding of academic research by publicizing a wide array of University research and research outcomes both domestically and internationally through outreach programs.

 

[Main initiatives]

Activate a university-wide environment for“joint creation of knowledge” that is open to society

•     Explore how best to establish channels of communication with society in general based on the University of Tokyo’s mission.
•     Consider how to set up an overall system and define its core functions for promoting a range of “co-creation of knowledge” activities.

 

Contribute research findings to society and enhance university-industry cooperation to promote innovation

•     Provide a legal framework for producing, protecting and applying intellectual property.
•     Make strategic use of intellectual property in cooperation with UTokyo TLO (Technology Licensing Organization), Ltd.
•     Help launch University-associated venture companies by collaborating with the University of Tokyo Edge Capital (UTEC), and by promoting greater service for venture companies through the University of Tokyo Entrepreneur Plaza.
•     Distribute information through schemes including the University-Corporate Relations Proposal (UCR Proposal) or the University-Corporate Relations Network.
•     Promote international university-industry cooperation while strengthening systems of university-industry-government cooperation.
•     Develop talented individuals capable of managing university-industry cooperation and creating new industries.

 

Initiatives to promote “joint creation of knowledge” through university-industry cooperation

•     Establish a framework for devising and implementing joint-research projects aimed at creation of new value.
•     Provide better assistance for research that supports seamless university-industry cooperation.
•     Provide a university-wide forum that is open to the world to advance leading and interdisciplinary joint research projects.

 

Encourage education based on cooperation between the University and society

•     Promote education and research projects jointly created by the University and society, and consider increasing the number of credit-approved courses.
•     Improve continuing education for working people and expand overall cooperation with society in education and research (such as through the University of Tokyo Executive Management Program).

 

Promote various outreach activities befitting the University of Tokyo

•     Increase University support for such outreach activities.
•     Contribute benefits of research and education to society on multiple levels, including contribution to the local community, assistance to elementary and secondary education, and proposals for policy vision.
•     Provide an overview of research subjects and output of all faculty.

 

4. Develop UTokyo Students with Intellectual Toughness and Personal Resilience

[Objectives]

• Provide opportunities for all students to develop a rich foundation in liberal arts combined with rich, practical expertise. In particular, offer students international or cross-cultural experience to strengthen their communication skills and vitality.  (Example: helping students acquire proficiency in foreign languages that is sufficient to engage in tasks required on the global stage)

 

• Strive for a more diverse student body to create a more competitive educational environment.  (Example: aim for female students to be 30 percent and international students 12 percent of the student body by the year 2020)

 

• Help excellent students to realize their maximum potential and develop personal growth.

 

• Offer a wide range of student support programs that will help all students to define their future plans and work toward them in a conducive living environment.

 

[Main initiatives]

Enhance the late specialization system and improve the education system overall

• Specify academic goals to be met through the junior and senior divisions of the undergraduate program.
• Organize curricula while developing a system for the promotion of broad-based education.
• Provide more opportunities to learn foreign languages in both undergraduate and graduate programs.
• Increase opportunities for small-group teaching; promote active learning and education centered on student participation.
• Increase short-term study abroad programs many-fold.
• Enrich the 1st-year education program, including extracurricular activities.
• Expand educational offerings in the undergraduate senior division and graduate programs to instill students with a broad knowledge of liberal arts.
• Examine the introduction of multiple screening criteria for classifying students into specialization fields in the senior division of the undergraduate program.
• Improve self-study rooms and school libraries to support the active learning of students.

 

Accept students of diverse backgrounds and encourage greater exchange

• Launch a vigorous public relations campaign to high school students both at home and abroad, particularly aiming to raise the number of female applicants.
• Make the University admissions policy clearer and consider ways to improve the entrance examination system (including examining how to introduce multiple evaluation methods to gauge the level of learning achieved at the high school level).
• Provide opportunities to stimulate exchange between domestic and international students (including working on ways to combine course schedules).
• Offer more accessible (barrier-free) education.
• Expand systems whereby interaction between domestic and international students can enhance their understanding of different cultures.
   

Establish a system to strengthen excellent students academically and intellectually

• Offer assistance in planning and implementing programs for excellent University of Tokyo students to exchange opinions with students at other world-class research universities.
• Consider setting up a more flexible program that enables excellent students to stimulate others while realizing their own full potential.
   

Ensure diverse activities for students

• Provide support for activities for public causes and opportunities for hands-on experience such as internships.
• Improve student lounge areas and sports and other facilities as part of supporting student activities.
   

Expand student support

• Offer more extensive financial assistance, including scholarships.
• Secure more dormitories to accommodate more students.
• Offer more assistance to students in their career development in cooperation with the University of Tokyo alumni organization.
• Provide more student support and counseling services at each department, graduate school and institute while strengthening the university-wide counseling and support network.
• Improve facilities for maintaining student health.
• Make the University campus environment more welcoming to female students
• Make University facilities more accessible to students with disabilities.
• Offer the same welfare programs across the three campuses in Hongo, Komaba, and Kashiwa.
   

Promotion of comprehensive education reform

5. Enhance Faculty’s Educational Skills and Sustain Academic Vigor

[Objectives]

•     All faculty strive for research output that can be widely acclaimed at home and abroad, and to demonstrate their ability to help students, under attentive guidance, grow into intellectually-tough individuals.  (Example: improve the current teacher-student ratio)

 

•     Top-level faculty demonstrate outstanding performance in education in the University educational environment that meets global standards.

 

•     Achieve a more diverse faculty to revitalize education and research.  (Example: aim for female faculty members to be 20 percent and foreign researchers to be 10 percent of faculty by the year 2020)

 

•     Rejuvenate the faculty organization to breathe new life into education and research.  (Example: lowering the average age of faculty)

 

[Major initiatives]

Reinforce the overall educational support system to enhance faculty capabilities

•     Review the university-wide management system of education (including offices, committees, and centers).
•     Introduce student evaluation to more undergraduate courses and ensure that the results are used for operational purposes.
•     Set forth policy for faculty development and ensure its effective implementation.
•     Improve and strengthen university-wide support for faculty research and development and students’ learning (Center for Teaching and Learning or CTL).
•     Design a faculty evaluation system and implement it appropriately (including giving positive evaluation of faculty performance such as textbook publication).
•     Support excellent educational practices by faculty, and create an award to acknowledge such efforts.

 

Reinforce the overall education system by enhancing the quality and number of support staff

•     Secure more professional administrative staff to support improvements in education quality.
•     Expand and improve the teaching assistant (TA) system and TA development program.
•     Achieve a well-balanced teacher-student ratio to give more attention to individual students.

 

Set forth and implement the University of Tokyo faculty code of conduct

Increase hiring of women and foreign academics, and establish a system that helps them fully apply their abilities

Revitalize the faculty organization by attracting more young researchers

• Review the treatment of faculty aged 60 or older.
• Consider the introduction of a tenure system.
• Make sabbatical leave readily available.
• Use the University of Tokyo Foundation to support more young researchers.
• Utilize a pool of retired faculty members with excellent educational skills.

 

6. Train Administrative Staff as Professionals

[Objectives]

• Encourage capable administrative staff to develop their management and planning skills through a wide range of work experiences and further involve them in university management. Simultaneously enhance the necessary skills of faculty members engaged in managing the University so that academic and administrative staff better complement one another in university operations.


• Support faculty through good teamwork among administrative staff to conduct world-class education and research in a smooth and flexible manner.


• Strengthen the expertise and management skills of administrative staff, and substantially increase the ratio of administrative staff with qualifications and degrees.  (Example: increase the number of English-speaking administrators three-fold)


• Introduce a merit and performance-based appraisal system, and equally provide more opportunities.  (Example: increase participation of high-level administrators in the decision-making process, raise the ratio of female managers to 20% by 2020)


• All administrative staff should perform their duties bearing the University’s public duty and responsibility in mind while streamlining and rationalizing administrative inefficiency.

 

[Main initiatives]

Present a clear career path for administrative staff

• Define expected skills and experience.
• Cultivate a professional attitude and work ethic.
• Offer administrative staff opportunities to plan and work toward career goals.

 

Offer greater staff training and personnel exchanges

• Organize staff training sessions systematically and offer training programs that meet the needs of the academic and administrative staff.
• Provide manager-level faculty and administrative staff with training sessions on university management and operations.
• Expand opportunities for foreign-language or overseas training programs.
• Plan to make taking an English-proficiency test mandatory for administrative staff.
• Provide more opportunities to study university management at a graduate level, and encourage self-learning and development.
• Plan to provide assistance (financial aid or exemption from work, etc.) to those staff working to obtain job-related qualifications or skills.
• Increase the number of personnel exchanges and of counterpart organizations.

 

Review the HR system better to train outstanding administrative staff

• Create new professional positions that require the use of expertise to support education and research.
• Consider a wide variety of factors in deciding on promotion to managerial posts (special qualifications, foreign language skills, etc.).
• Establish a system that facilitates promotion regardless of age and/or gender.
• Improve administrators’ planning skills (introducing a system for encouraging bottom-up planning).

 

Build an organization structure harnessing the skills and creativity of administrative staff

• Revamp the administrative organization to promote faculty-administration cooperation further.
• Rationalize administrative operations by reforming and outsourcing some administrative operations.
• Plan to grant manager-level administrators the right to take part in University presidential elections.
• Promote a gender-equal and a barrier-free working environment for academic and administrative staff.
• Offer proactive mental health support: early detection of and response to symptoms, and a process of gradual return to work.

 

Review the organization of and other issues concerning technical staff

• Plan to address issues facing technical staff: organization, compensation, transfer, training, etc.

7. Build a Close-knit Network with Our Alumni

[Objectives]

•     Maintain a long-lasting link with all University alumni, and support their continued contribution to realizing a just society, and creating science and culture on the global level through their work and social lives.  (Example: raise the number of contactable alumni members to 65%)

 

•     Offer a variety of continuing education and volunteer programs to help alumni engage in further intellectual activities, and create a system that allows their voluntary participation in University activities.  (Example: aim to have a total of some 10,000 alumni members joining in continuing education or volunteer programs annually)

 

•     Lend strong support to alumni activity, and expand and deepen the alumni network based on the University’s concept of an “infinite circle of knowledge.”

[Main initiatives]

Develop continuing education programs for alumni

•     Implement high-standard liberal arts education programs that are tailored to global leadership training.
•     Launch a platform for globally active alumni to share and pass their intellectually-challenging experiences and wisdom on to succeeding generations of the University community (including the online community).
•     Provide online digital content of continuing education programs that meets a wide variety of needs.

 

Offer and support alumni participation in a wide range of volunteer activities

•     Establish a system whereby alumni can offer advice to students, particularly providing international students with counseling on their student life and career choices.
•     Offer support for alumni association activities.
•     Provide alumni with opportunities to become involved in community service activities.

 

Alumni-funded financial support programs

•     Establish a new scholarship fund that accepts even small contributions from alumni.
•     Create a scholarship program supporting students’ overseas education.
•     Provide financial support to students’ extracurricular activities.

 

Offer increased services to alumni

•     Maintain an updated alumni membership list and share alumni personal information among members effectively.
•     Offer wide-ranging services to the University of Tokyo graduates, such as the provision of lifelong online accounts for alumni that enable them to use the University’s resources throughout their lives.

 

Support alumni group activities

•     Provide service to alumni organizations in developing, launching, and sustaining their activities.
•     Extend support to a university-wide alumni network.
•     Stimulate alumni group activities by encouraging them take part in student support.
•     Strengthen outreach to the University of Tokyo graduates living overseas.

 

8. Enhance Agility of Management and Reinforce the University’s Foundations

[Objectives]

•     Review the University’s organizational structure constantly to improve management quality.

 

•     Solidify a sustainable financial footing through enhancing the self-generating portion of revenue and enriching the fund while making efforts to ensure stable sources for basic expenses such as Management Expenses Grants.  (Example: Achieve the long term goal of UTOKYO2000 (foundation of 200 (about US$2bn) billion yen by 2020)* by first achieving the mid-tem goal of accumulating a total of 20 billion yen of unrestricted donation and 40 billion yen of overall foundation by March 2015.

 

•     Rigorously review overall administrative operations for further cost-cutting means.

 

•     Conduct the world’s foremost education and research by systematic improvement of infrastructure and maximizing use of existing facilities and assets.

 

•     Restructure our information systems and create new and improved modes of communication.

 

•     Implement more eco-friendly management strategies.  (Example: based on the UTokyo Sustainable Campus Project, or TSCP, cut CO2 emissions in AY2017 by 15% compared to 2012 level, excluding advanced experimental facilities.)

        *1 US dollar = 100 Japanese yen

[Main initiatives]

Promote plans for restructuring University organizations

Diversify the pool of endowment donors and enhance the self-generating portion of revenue

•     Expand operations of the University of Tokyo Foundation.
•     Seek new self-generating revenue including fees arising from advertising, naming rights, etc.

 

Ensure effective use of funds for steady promotion of education and research projects

•     Save costs and resources through stricter cost management (more efficient procurement; set and implement rules about printing and bookbinding)
•     Diversify fund management.
•     Collect facility use and commission fees taking into account proper cost burden.
•     Set reasonably-priced tuition, admission and accommodation fees based on our belief in equal access to education.
•     Implement a comprehensive review of personnel cost management (a more flexible budget structure for faculty payroll, 9-to-10-month-based salary, relaxing rules regarding outside employment, including retirement payments into the annual budget, etc.)
•     Enforce effective capital-allocation such as improving our education and research environment by providing financial support and indirect finance in light of the diversity and character of each education and research field.

 

Maintain, manage and maximize facilities and resources from a long-term perspective

•     Improve accommodations for researchers and students.
•     Keep track of use of utilities and charge such fees to each university organization appropriately.
•     Set up a system of a reserve fund in order to secure sufficient resources for the maintenance of University buildings and facilities and the creation of pleasant surroundings.
•     Expand university-wide joint-use spaces for more efficient use of facilities.
•     Determine a long-term repair plan to maintain the commercial value of the enormous stock of assets comprised of existing facilities, and repair and renovate them accordingly.
•     Expand multi-purpose facilities and equipment, and consolidate laboratory facilities and equipment.
•     Establish a university-wide housing office to provide and improve high-standard accommodations.

 

Maintain a safe and comfortable campus

•     Set building design regulations suited to the individual natures of each of our three campuses.
•     Develop a traffic control plan to ensure safety and comfort on campus.
•     Make the University environment more comfortable and improve outdoor facilities on campus to become a local communal space.

 

Integrate our information systems and develop new modes of communication

•     Streamline administrative load through simplifying data entry and enhancing integration in data management processes.
•     Optimize our information system by making the administration process more transparent.
•     Introduce integrated authentication to provide a more integrated communication system.
•     Develop individuals who understand and are capable of using the information systems.

 

Assure an environmentally-friendly campus

•     Implement greenhouse gas-reduction measures based on a university-wide plan.
•     Set guidelines for reducing environmental load.
•     Reinforce systems for operating, maintaining, and managing the University buildings for a low-carbon campus.

9. Reinforce Governance, Compliance and Environmental Safety

 

•     Enable speedy decision-making and provide necessary information to every member of the University with greater accountability (streamlining the University management for more efficient operation).

 

•     Ensure that all members of the University of Tokyo are aware of the University’s social and public role, comply with the law, respect human rights and act with high ethical standards.

 

•     Sustain the University’s existing functions and the trust bestowed by society through prevention of crises and crisis management measures.

 

•     Review problems precisely and properly, and take thorough effective prevention measures.

 

•     Strengthen disaster prevention schemes based on the experience of the Great East Japan Earthquake.

 

•     Ensure environmental security and hygiene within the University.

 

[Main initiatives]

 

Strengthen University’s governance

•     Review the role and division of work in the central administration office and other university organizations, and define their responsibilities clearly.
•     Improve the University’s risk management system (including applying basic rules on risk management appropriately).
•     Streamline our administrative organization, including various offices and divisions.
•     Review and rationalize various institutes and centers.
•     Expand our management support function (Institutional Research) and provide more detailed management information.
•     Determine and implement a basic policy for self-evaluation.

 

Reinforce the system to promote basic policy concerning compliance

•     Strengthen the supervision of compliance activities.
•     Define the central administration office’s role, including legal affairs and internal audit groups.
•     Establish a compliance mechanism in every University organization.
•     Reinforce compliance training so as to prevent the violation of law and human rights.
•     Provide information on relevant laws and regulations, and inform members of the University about internal rules widely.
•     Offer better consulting and reporting services.
•     Seek a higher degree of strategic advice from University counsel, including lawyers, and strengthen our legal affairs function.
•     Establish an internal system for investigating legal and human rights violations in a fair, rigorous, and reasonable manner.

 

Respond strictly to those who violate compliance

Address priority issues regarding compliance

•     Review systems for investigating and preventing misuse of research funds, and implement a plan to prevent research fund misuse.
•     Improve degree-evaluation systems for greater transparency and objectivity.
•     Inform other organizations about changes in rules and regulations and build a stronger cooperation network.

 

Efforts to promote Environmental Security and Disaster Prevention

•     Strengthen disaster prevention schemes based on the experiences gained from the Great East Japan Earthquake.
•     Reinforce chemicals-management to eliminate the use of unsupervised chemicals.
•     Enrich safety education and courses through effective use of programs such as e-learning.
•     Activity to revise the law that implements suitable environmental safety for the University.

 

10. Develop Activities for Relief and Reconstruction Assistance to Rebuild Japan

[Objectives]

•     Support the many people who suffered from the Great East Earthquake so that they can rebuild their life and live with hope.

 

•     Students, academic and administrative staffs are to engage in various activities to realize the ideal “Live. But not alone,” the principles underlying the University’s Relief and Reconstruction Assistance, and through these activities increase the support that science and education receives from society.

 

•     Share the consciousness of “Live. But not alone” with people here and abroad and enhance the momentum to rebuild Japanese society to ensure security and safety.

 

[Main initiatives]

Develop activities for relief and reconstruction with the underlying idea of “contributing to society through knowledge”

•     Promote relief and reconstruction projects carried out by the members of the University.
•     Expand network of variety of activities and provide them with support.

 

Promote activities to work together with local governments in disaster-affected areas

•     Provide advice and support to plans and evaluations of reconstruction of towns.
•     Promote organized initiatives which meet the needs of local governments.

 

Promote volunteer activities of students, academic and administrative staffs

•     Send organized volunteer groups constructed of students, academic and administrative staffs to help disaster-affected areas.
•     Promote systems to support variety of volunteer activities of students.

 

Promote education and research activities towards the realization of safe and sustainable society