On Assuming the Presidency
It is a great honor to have been appointed president of Tokyo Gakugei University as of April 1, 2010. The world today is filled with great uncertainty, and I will be faced during my tenure with many difficult decisions regarding the best avenue forward for us. To guide the university properly, I have set three basic operational policies.
First is to become a university that students are proud to have enrolled and studied at. Listening to students’ views, I will place priority on creating a university of which students can say at graduation they are sincerely happy to have chosen for their education.
Second is to make the university a place where every academic and administrative staff member finds his or her work meaningful and has a personal commitment to further improving the university. The university’s decision-making process has changed since its incorporation, and I hear people comment sometimes that it is hard to know where the university is heading. I would like to create a framework for utilizing the ideas and dynamism of each academic and administrative staff member in the further development of the university.
Third is for Tokyo Gakugei University to strengthen the network of teacher-training universities in Japan and overseas and to play a central role in that network. Fulfilling our responsibilities as the president of the Japan Association of Universities of Education, we shall work to enhance the quality of teacher preparation in Japan, in partnership with the various related parties.
Based on these three policies, I would like to create a university-wide cooperative framework, which includes our affiliated schools, to more effectively promote education and research at our Faculty and Graduate School of Education, with the aim of graduating outstanding teachers who are equipped to provide education in schools and other educational settings as well as educators who can spearhead lifelong learning in Japan.
The 2010 academic year marks the start of our six-year stage 2 midterm goals and plans, and we are being called today to post tangible results and clarify the significance of having national universities that specialize in education. Building on our past results and record, I intend to do everything I can to create a new kind of university, one that is able to respond adeptly to changes in the times. I ask for both members of the university and people outside our community to offer their frank views as well as their cooperation and assistance in our initiatives to achieve that.
April 1, 2010
Yasuko Muramatsu
President
Tokyo Gakugei University |
