A Day in the Life of the Dean, 24/7 | Tomoyuki Kojima (Dean of the Faculty of Policy Management)
2004.06.24
How does a dean spend his day? The person in charge of the "Okashira Diary" requested that I write on this topic.
Every other week, a joint steering committee meeting is held for the Faculty of Policy Management, the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, the Graduate School of Media and Governance, and the Keio Research Institute at SFC. Various other committees also convene, such as the admissions committee, the personnel committee, and the student affairs committee. Furthermore, as a member of the Board of Councillors of Keio University, I must also attend the Board of Councillors meetings, Board of Directors meetings, informal meetings of university directors, and various other university-wide committees and conferences held at Mita. I also attend events for the Rengo Mita-kai and the Diet Members' Mita-kai, as well as luncheons, research seminars, and management forums for the SFC Forum, which supports SFC. Of course, I must also attend various official ceremonies, from the two annual entrance ceremonies to the graduation ceremony, where I go up on stage and give speeches. Since SFC aims to be a student-first campus, I especially want to set aside time to meet with students. Since becoming dean, I have been holding dinner meetings with groups of five or six students every two months to listen to their various requests.
Listing it all out, the job of a "dean" is much more demanding than I had imagined. Let me look back on my day yesterday, Tuesday, June 22. As usual, I woke up at 4:30 a.m., read and replied to emails while drinking coffee, and, much to my family's disapproval, read six morning newspapers and finished making clippings. I finished writing a manuscript that was past its deadline and emailed it. It was already past 7:00 a.m. After breakfast, I worked on a draft for "Trends in China," a monthly column I have been writing for the past 21 years. Just after 9:00 a.m., I went to a nearby dentist to treat a painful tooth, and then attended a council meeting of the Research Institute for International Affairs in Onarimon to discuss policy proposals to be submitted to the Cabinet Office. Incidentally, the theme this time was "The Situation in Iraq and Japan's Response." When the meeting ended at 2:00 p.m., I headed to Mita Campus for a meeting with Vice-President Kudo, who is in charge of personnel affairs. After the meeting, keeping an eye on the time, I went to Hibiya for an interview with Senior Managing Director Koizumi of Dai-ichi Life for the SFC Forum News. He expressed high expectations for SFC, and I asked him to hire more SFC graduates in the future. In the evening, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Japan-U.S. Study Group was held, where I listened to a report on the recent G8 Summit at Sea Island and participated in the discussion. Afterward, I had dinner in Ginza and returned home just before 11:00 p.m.
After taking a bath, I was overcome by drowsiness while reading my emails. On the 23rd (today), starting at 9:00 a.m., I am scheduled to meet with Dean Kumasaka and Mr. Tamamura and others, who are from the third graduating class and are now full-time lecturers at Chiba University of Commerce. The purpose is to discuss a memorial gathering for Professor Magofuku, who passed away suddenly. "I should get to bed early."
(Date Published: 2004/06/24)