A Call from 0466 | Motohiro Tsuchiya, Dean, Faculty of Policy Management
2020.10.06
Just before 6:00 p.m., I arrived at a large conference room where desks and chairs were spaciously arranged. On the desks were acrylic partitions and bento boxes. As I was chatting before the study group began, my cell phone vibrated in my pocket. I looked at the number and saw it started with the area code 0466. A call from SFC at this hour is never good news.
I stepped out into the hallway and called back. I was told to get back online for an emergency meeting. I apologized to the study group's chair, organizer, and presenter and quickly left the room. I missed out on the study group's bento box. I rushed into a Chinese restaurant in the building's basement and had them make me a takeout bento. I thanked the owner for the discount and hurried to the now-dark Mita Campus. I found a room where the sound wouldn't leak and joined the online meeting at 7:00 p.m. The seriousness of the incident was overwhelming.
As it approached 11:00 p.m., a patrolling security guard came and urged me to leave. The online meeting was still going on. At SFC, many staff and faculty members were staying late to work on a response. A conclusion was emerging, but not everyone was convinced yet. After reaching a tentative conclusion, the online meeting was adjourned. I hurried home.
Even on my way home, my phone kept vibrating with Slack notifications. Once home, I rescheduled an online meeting planned for 11:30 p.m., made a few calls, and then got into bed. But I was too worried to sleep soundly.
I checked the information from those who had been handling the situation overnight and participated in four online meetings between 8:30 a.m. and noon. In the 9:00 a.m. meeting, we decided to change course from the tentative conclusion reached the previous night.
In the afternoon, there were three online meetings with many of my faculty colleagues. In each one, we divided the task of explaining the proposed response. While some confusion was inevitable, I feel that by working together, many of our colleagues came to an understanding. And I was struck by my colleagues' strong desire to start their classes. It seems everyone really loves to teach.
I still don't know if we made the best choice. The situation will likely continue to evolve, and we can only proceed with caution. The meeting ended before 8:00 p.m.
I quickly ate dinner, got back online at 8:30 p.m., and exchanged situational awareness with others. Then, at 9:00 p.m., the final online meeting. On the other side of the screen, a former high-ranking U.S. government official in his mid-seventies was speaking energetically. SFC graduate students were presenting their research findings to him, seeking his advice. The discussion continued until 11:00 p.m., but by then my brain could no longer process English; it was as if something was just passing through my ears. However, I was encouraged by the sight of the graduate students desperately trying to answer the questions.
Behind the scenes, my colleagues were continuing their own online meetings, ironing out the details.
This kind of thing doesn't happen often, but an incident overlapping with COVID-19 places a particularly heavy burden on students, instructors, and the staff who support them behind the scenes. However, it is incredibly reassuring to have colleagues who quickly gather in an emergency, set aside their own convenience, and thoroughly discuss how to respond. Although it can sometimes be difficult to align our opinions, there is no difference in our shared commitment to keeping the campus running.
This photo was taken on March 18, 2011, one week after the Great East Japan Earthquake, during a discussion about the response. From left to right are Yuichi Tomiyama, Administrative Director of Shonan Fujisawa Campus (SFC); Mitsuyo Hanada, Assistant to the Dean of the Faculty of Policy Management; Hideyuki Tokuda, Dean of the Graduate School of Media and Governance; Jiro Kokuryo, Dean of the Faculty of Policy Management (back to camera); Jun Murai, Dean of the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies; and Kenji Kumasaka, Assistant to the Dean of the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies (all titles are as of that time). In times of emergency, we come together and move forward. This is the spirit that lives on at SFC.
To all students, I apologize for the delay in starting classes. This semester, the faculty will do their utmost to deliver their courses. Although there may be inconveniences, I hope you will learn a great deal.