A New Graduate Hire, Handling General Student Life and Scholarship-Related Duties as a Student Life Coordinator

After graduating from Keio Shiki Senior High School and then the Faculty of Letters at Keio University, Kazuki Tojima joined Keio University as a new graduate hire. Drawing on the proactive nature he developed in a school culture that encourages independent thought, active challenges, and taking action, as well as his own thoughtful personality, he now supports students at the Faculty of Science and Technology. We asked him about his work at Keio University as a student life coordinator.

I spent my high school years at Keio Shiki Senior High School, which is located in a lush, natural environment. As Keio has an integrated school system, it provided an environment where I could engage in various activities. In high school, there was a club called the Keio Shiki Wagner Society, which I joined right after enrolling. Immersing myself in song and being part of the male choir at the Wagner Society from then until my graduation from Keio University became a wonderful experience and a cherished memory.

When I started job hunting, I wanted to find a job with a strong public service aspect. Given my personality, I envisioned myself in a calm desk job or as a civil servant, where I could diligently focus on the tasks at hand. One day, I heard from a senior student in my seminar that they had become a staff member at Keio University, and I learned that this was also an option. Until then, although I had visited the Office of Student Services for various errands, I had never paid much attention to the work of the people there and had never imagined myself working in that capacity, so it came as a surprise. I decided to give it a try and applied, and after receiving a job offer, I began working at my alma mater, Keio University.

My current job is as a student life coordinator in the Office of Student Services at the Yagami Campus in Yokohama. The Yagami Campus is where third- and fourth-year undergraduates from the Faculty of Science and Technology and graduate students from the Graduate School of Science and Technology study. There are about 3,800 students, and my main duties involve supporting all of them with their general student life and scholarship-related matters.

As part of my duties, I am involved in the management of the Yagami Festival, the campus festival at Yagami Campus. I act as a liaison between the university and the students who directly run the festival, providing them with daily support. Being able to engage with these proactive students on the front lines allows me to learn a lot from them as well.

Also, as a student life coordinator, I rush to the scene whenever there are troubles or problems to meet with students, handle the situation, and provide support. In the unlikely event that something socially unacceptable occurs, I must face the students, discuss the situation thoroughly to understand why it happened, and provide maximum support to guide them in the right direction if they are heading down the wrong path. I believe our role is to guide students with their future in society in mind.

I also handle scholarship support services. There are various scholarships available at Keio, but I am mainly in charge of the Japan Student Services Organization (JASSO) scholarship. I handle the procedures for this loan-based scholarship, which many students receive, here at Yagami. This work involves a lot of routine tasks, but I feel that my training experience in the corporate division has been very useful.

I used to think that being a university staff member meant that the work was mainly administrative, consisting almost entirely of desk work in front of a computer all day. However, I was pleasantly proven wrong. In reality, I often have to rush to the scene to handle emergencies when trouble arises, and there are many opportunities to attend various training sessions, so I spend less time at my desk than I expected. My duties involve simultaneously handling two tasks with conflicting natures: scholarship procedures, which must be processed according to set rules every time, and student life support, where no two cases are ever the same. This is what makes the job both rewarding and what I find most challenging. I have always liked history, so I was in the habit of interpreting events and thinking about things from different perspectives, and this way of thinking has been useful in my current job.

After joining, there was a two-week introductory training program in April centered on classroom lectures and fieldwork. Since I had just graduated from university, I think I would have been lost if I had been thrown directly into work. This training helped me transition from being a student to a working professional. It provided detailed instruction on business etiquette, how to use software like Word, Excel, and Access, and explanations of systems used only at Keio, all of which have been extremely useful in my current duties. After the introductory training, there was an on-the-job training period of about two months. In my case, I was trained at the Accounting Division and the School of Medicine Planning Office on the Shinanomachi Campus, where the School of Medicine and the University Hospital are located. Gaining insight into the management of the university and hospital there was a very valuable experience. From there, I was officially assigned to my current department, which deals with students. The duties in the corporate division and the academic affairs division are completely different, which made me realize once again the vast scale of Keio University.

As a workplace, I believe Keio University is, above all, "a place with good relationships and a very supportive work environment." I am about to enter my second year, but even in my first year, I was given the opportunity to take the lead and challenge myself with various tasks. When interacting with students, I sometimes find areas for improvement, thinking that there might be a better way to do things. In such cases, I look for better methods for the students' sake, consult with my supervisor, and propose what I want to try. My supervisor then gives me the opportunity to take on the challenge. I make small mistakes along the way, but I can work with peace of mind because my colleagues are always there to warmly support me. I also feel that it is a very fortunate environment in terms of being able to approach new tasks.

Having experienced work in both a corporate division and a student-facing role, I would like to take on any job in the future where I can leverage this experience. Even if it's a task I've never done before, I want to challenge myself with any kind of work to improve my skills.