On Leaving SFC at Retirement Age | Nobuo Saito (Professor, Faculty of Environment and Information Studies)
2006.03.27
At the end of March this year (2006), I will be concluding my 27 years of service at Keio University. Starting in April, I will be moving to Komazawa University to serve as the dean of the new Faculty of Global Media Studies.
Twenty-seven years is a long time, looking back. The most interesting part of my time at Keio was the founding of SFC. Life is a waste if you don't enjoy your work. In that sense, I feel I have gained a great deal. A legend arose that ashtrays were thrown during the new faculty planning committee meetings held for its establishment, but in reality, it was harsh words and insults that flew back and forth instead of ashtrays. That just shows how much passion and motivation the people involved had. Nowadays, while mantras like "transformation" and "structural reform" are frequently heard at every university, it seems few people are truly tackling these issues with passion. It's only natural if they are just reluctantly doing what they are told from above.
SFC was founded over 15 years ago, and the context of that era has changed dramatically amidst the rapid changes of modern times. IT has advanced, environmental awareness has deepened, and the importance of policy has grown ever greater, but wouldn't you say the international environment has changed the most? Japan's presence is rapidly diminishing, while in the Asian region, countries like China, South Korea, and India are expanding their own. In Europe, too, EU integration is progressing steadily, and unified research and development efforts are actively being pursued to overtake the United States and Japan. SFC was supposed to cultivate individuals who could anticipate these changes, identify challenges, and propose solutions. Have we succeeded in doing so? The pace of change is so rapid that I fear even SFC may not be able to keep up. I believe SFC's role is to pursue practice and substance rather than just principles, but isn't it now facing a crisis?
It's difficult to answer if you ask me what should be done, but SFC, which was a leader among Japanese universities 15 years ago, surely needs to propose and implement major structural reforms. I would like to offer a parting shot that might serve as a starting point for that.
(Date Published: 2006/03/27)