Plans for Academic Year 2010

Ensuring the Achievement of our Midterm Goals

Academic Year 2010 represents the final year of the 6-year midterm goal period of the first phase of our incorporation. Along with establishing a yearly plan for facilitating the achievement of the items set out under the Midterm Goals/Midterm Plans, we must work to resolve the issues that have been raised through the interim evaluation.
With this mind, we will continue to work aggressively in 2010 to build upon the work already done in 2009 and focus on the following 5 priority items.

Priority Items for Academic Year 2010 (Overall Plan)

1 Further Improvements in Our Educational Capabilities

Along with setting up the basis from which to institute “human education” by combining the liberal arts studies and specialized studies, we will work on an ongoing basis to build an educational system that produces “Leaders of Local Communities”, who would possess a combination of highly specialized knowledge and broad social knowledge.

1. Enhancements to academic guidance
2. Organizational and systematic FD initiatives (*1), including course evaluations
3. Review of liberal arts format
4. Promotion of international exchange
5. Considering adjustments to graduate school enrolment limits

(*1) FD (Faculty Development) Activities: General term indicating organizational measures aimed at improving and raising the quality of the content of education and teaching abilities in order to allow the faculty to provide an even higher-quality education.

2 Research Activities that Consider Local Issues

In order to further contribute to the local community as a prefectural university that is deeply rooted in the community, we will take specific steps to resolve the issues that are facing the local community based on our past research activities. In addition, we will work to build a framework for making recommendations as well as public policy proposals that will provide leadership to the Prefectural administration.

1. Overhaul the JST Industry-University-Government Joint Research Center
2. Strengthen the think-tank function for prefectural citizens
3. Increase the procurement of outside funding, such as the Sciences Research Grant, etc.
4. Share activities that are contributing to the local community in a proactive manner
5. Further enhancement of open lectures

3 Building a Solid Relationship with Secondary Schools in Iwate

In terms of nurturing human resources at the local level, we aim to raise both academic performance and academic interest among secondary students. By promoting the linkage between secondary and post-secondary education, we are developing a wide range of joint projects between the secondary and post-secondary institutions in an effort to increase the number of applicants to our university.

1. Improve joint projects between the secondary and post-secondary institutions
2. Consider an educational system that accommodates academic performance resulting from differences in entrance exam classification
3. Ongoing review of the overall entrance exam system
4. Securing admission applicants

4 Maintaining High Rates of Graduate Employment Even in Times of Economic Downturn

Through the fostering of career development awareness on the part of students and the establishment of an efficient and effective job-search environment, we will strengthen our support initiatives for student job-hunting endeavors to maintain a high rate of graduate employment, even in times of economic downturn. As part of this effort, we are developing relationships with local companies and promoting mutual interests between the local companies and the University in order to promote the idea of our graduates settling in Iwate.

1. Support for career education
2. Expansion of thorough job-search support measures
3. Cultivation of potential employers and promoting mutual interests therewith
4. Promoting the idea of our graduates settling in Iwate

5 Fundamental Strengthening of Our Educational and Research Driving Force

Along with a more aggressive development of the various educational and research activities that form the basis of the University’s operations, we will work to establish a better environment for these educational and research activities while aiming to optimize the university’s operational procedures in order to adequately make improvements to our educational abilities, deal with local issues, strengthen our relationships with secondary schools, and improve the graduate job-search support initiatives.

1. Optimize operations by clarifying the roles and jurisdictions of university operational units
2. Adjust the management of faculty and staff quotas and implement an instructor evaluation system
3. Enhance PR and promotional activities
4. Improve the financial situation
5. Strengthen facility management as well as safety measures

Plan for Academic Year 2010 (Abstract of the Detailed Plan)

  • As part of practical measures for verifying the outcomes and efficiencies of education, the academic intents of the student are explored and defined shortly after admission, and academic advising methods are enhanced through the use of a “Student Chart System”.
  • As part of the liberal arts education implementation review, we will act as the lead school in implementing the “Local Human Resources Development Course (Iwate Studies)”, based on the “Strategic University Partnership Support Project”, which promotes proactive linkage between public and private universities.
Featured Topic What is this Comprehensive
Study of Iwate Prefecture called
“Iwate Studies”?

Based on specific conditions that surround the University, such as international transferability and ensuring the quality of education, “Iwate Higher Education Consortium” has been developed based a stronger linkage among the member institutions of the Iwate 5 Universities Presidents’ Council (Iwate University, Iwate Prefectural University, Iwate Medical University, Fuji University and the University of Morioka) with the aim of improving training for those that will assume social leadership and increasing the number of students that choose to pursue post-secondary education. “Iwate Studies”, with our institution acting as the lead school, is one initiative that is being undertaken to readjust the educational and research environments, improve educational capabilities, raise university entrance rates, and to revitalize the local communities.
We offer lectures that provide students with the opportunity to learn about Iwate prefecture’s history, culture, philosophies of coexistence, industry and so on in a comprehensive manner, and students from the 5 universities are eligible to receive credits in liberal arts studies through partaking in this program. We also offer public lectures, which are taught not only by faculty members from each of the universities, but also by professionals, such as the Governor of Iwate Prefecture, etc.

  • In addition to providing information on outside funding and hosting briefing sessions, we will improve our measures taken specifically for each faculty research topic, and implement support initiatives aimed at assisting in the procurement of competitive outside grants.
  • In addition to having the people of Iwate share in the fruits of our research and embarking upon new open-type research to resolve local issues, we will implement initiatives aimed at assisting in the review of contributions made to the local communities in order to nurture the community activities that are closer to the people.
  • We will restructure the think tank system which has been established for the people of Iwate in order to ensure that it functions as an investigatory research organization to handle local governmental policy issues, a databank for the development of public policy, and as a consulting agency for accepting commissioned research from the local government bodies, etc.
  • In order to realize a stronger connection between secondary and post-secondary schools, we will implement visiting lectures based on the Menu, and will welcome campus visits by secondary schools.
  • We will work to clarify the roles of the Board Chair and the President in order to improve and streamline the University’s operations management. Furthermore, in order to expedite decision-making and streamline the University’s operations, we will shift from a 3-Office system to a 4-Office system and will work to clarify the roles of the Offices and the Office Directors, as well as the scope of the Vice-President’s roles and responsibilities.
  • In the interests of establishing a proper framework for conducting research, we will move forward with setting up a cross-sectional framework within the University for local Industry-University-Government Joint Research Center initiatives, and we will also aim to employ an extended research assistant system.
  • We will set up a Cancer Nursing Research Committee and we will endeavor to strengthen the studies of the CNS (*2) course graduate students and those who have completed the course, and we aim to share our information with clinical practices. We will give visiting lectures to health care facilities in Iwate in collaboration with the CNS graduates.(Graduate School of Nursing)
  • In order to allow students to enhance their specialized skills based on their diversified experiences, we will enter into a Community Framework Agreement with Nishiwaga Town in an effort to systemize learning and work towards establishing a base for this. (Faculty of Social Welfare)
  • We will continue to promote “Research into Software for the Realization of a Ubiquitous Information Society”, a project set up under the common theme of the “ubiquitous”, as a faculty project. (Faculty and Graduate School of Software and Information Science)
  • Since the Research Committee on Local Contribution, set up as a Faculty project to tackle local issues, is moving into its final investigative and research year, we will compile the results of our research as an outcome of the fieldwork that has been carried out to this point. (Faculty of Policy Studies)
  • We will continue with the introduction of e-learning in order to cultivate communicative abilities in Japanese. E-learning has already been implemented in the English section of the International Cultures Department and has begun to be used for some qualifications in the Dietary Nutritionist program in the Life Sciences Department, but we aim to broaden its use in other subjects and specializations as well. Furthermore, we feel that e-learning is first and foremost a supportive tool, and will use it to enhance self-study and self-learning. (Morioka Junior College)
  • In the interests of heightening the students’ appetites for learning and fostering interest in career options, we will establish and implement a seminar framework that involves educational visits to organizations of various types, mostly in the Sanriku Region. (Miyako College)

(*2) CNS: Certified Nurse Specialist