Jukukan-kyoku (Keio Corporate Administration) | Motohiro Tsuchiya, Vice-President / Professor, Graduate School of Media and Governance
2022.03.22
Lately, I find it a hassle to explain my title when asked. Almost no one immediately understands what a "Vice-President of Keio University" is. Even Keio students and Keio University alumni probably have very little contact with them. For people with no connection to Keio University at all, I get asked things like, "Doesn't 'University' go with the title?" or "Is a Vice-President just a sinecure where you occasionally attend meetings?" "Dean" was a much easier title to understand.
The biggest change after becoming a Vice-President is the overwhelming increase in opportunities to work with administrative staff. Faculty members inevitably interact with faculty in charge of academic or general affairs, and deans consult more frequently with administrative staff. Even so, they still have more meetings with faculty members. However, once you become a Vice-President, this ratio reverses, and the majority of meetings are with administrative staff.
When I became a Vice-President, one of the first things I was told was the phrase, "At a school, the faculty and staff are the two wheels of a cart. It goes without saying that neither can be lacking, and there must be no distinction in importance between them." These are the words of President Shinzo Koizumi, written in the preface to "A Brief History of the Jukukan-kyoku" (1960).
Incidentally, "A Brief History of the Jukukan-kyoku II" was published in 1987, and "A Brief History of the Jukukan-kyoku III" in 2018. Each is thick and difficult to read through, but just looking at the table of contents is interesting. It is not until "A Brief History of the Jukukan-kyoku III" that SFC, which opened in 1990, is mentioned. A journal called "Jukukan-kyoku Bulletin: Research, Surveys, and Information" has also been published since 1974, in which administrative staff members write articles on interesting topics.
The current Secretary General is Mr. Hitoshi Takano , who has deep ties to SFC. After being at SFC in his younger days, he returned to serve as the General Affairs Manager and Campus Administrative Director of SFC. Around that time, he also wrote this "Okashira Nikki" (Chief's Diary). Since I came to the Jukukan-kyoku (Keio Corporate Administration) last May, I have been fortunate to receive advice from Mr. Takano, whom I know well. Mr. Takano will be retiring from his position as Secretary General at the end of this March. I am filled with gratitude. Thank you, Mr. Takano, for your many years of service!
And succeeding Mr. Takano as Secretary General from April will be Ms. Toshiko Hirota, the current Administrative Director of the SFC campus. This marks the birth of Keio University's first female Secretary General. However, Ms. Hirota was not chosen because she is a woman. I personally surmise it is due to her deep understanding of Keio, her well-balanced nature, and her inner strength. Ms. Hirota, we have high expectations for you!
P.S. Mr. Takano will continue to contribute to Keio as a Sanyo (Advisor). He is not retiring from the university.