Fostering wisdom and an adventurous spirit in our students by developing
a diverse education and research environment that provides practical opportunities to explore uncharted academic terrain.
"W" stands for Wild and Wise, as these are qualities that we hope to foster in our students. Students today are said to be wrapped up in their own world, carrying information technology devices with them at all times to maintain constant connections with a small group of peers. As a result, they are increasingly prone to making self-serving judgments based on a limited perspective. To make reasoned, quality choices and actions, you need to be firmly committed to interpreting information correctly and making decisions on your own by mobilizing all available knowledge and experience—both your own and that of others. I aim to provide students with numerous opportunities to engage in such dialogue and practices, both on campus and elsewhere. Through those opportunities, I seek to train our students to be both smart and resilient.
Strategic Priority 1-1
In order to deliver enhanced education programs that maximize learner-driven, self-directed creativity and original thinking, and to enable a qualitative shift towards education that puts students first, we will pursue educational quality assurance by making class and program content more transparent, as well as providing flexible options for undergraduate and graduate programs.
- Flexible options for undergraduate and graduate programs
- 1.In order to foster human resources with rich general knowledge and advanced specialist skills, we will introduce flexible options for undergraduate and graduate programs, such as the introduction of unified curricula from bachelor’s through to master’s degree level, and systems for re-enrollment in undergraduate courses. We will also provide flexible options for transition from master’s to doctoral programs, including five-year single-course doctoral programs. We will provide internationally-oriented academic career paths and enhance our systems for early admission and early graduation.
- Qualitative shift in education
- 2.In order to internationalize our education, promote self-directed learning, and enhance the provision of learning support for students, we will introduce course trees, course numbering,* and GPA systems.* We will develop joint and double degree* programs, implement a revised academic calendar that facilitates internationalization, and further expand our Open Course Ware (OCW),* Small Private Online Courses (SPOCs),* and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs).*
- Enrichment of educational content guided by social awareness
- 3.In order to develop the human resources needed by society in the face of changing global circumstances, we will endeavor to endow our students with skills which will enable them to play vital roles in society. We will enhance and expand our Common and Interdisciplinary Learnings* to foster essential fundamental knowledge, research abilities, logical thinking, and problem-solving skills, we will train data scientists at the Center for Innovative Research and Education in Data Science of our Institute for Liberal Arts and Science (ILAS), and we will enhance our education and research internship programs in Japan and abroad.
- Promotion of lifelong learning
- 4.In response to the increasing complexity and diversity of society’s human resource needs, we will develop our transfer admission system and system for extending the period of registration to facilitate enrollment by working adults, and promote graduate school enrollment by people from diverse backgrounds. We will also provide certificate-bearing programs that promote continuing education by working adults.
Strategic Priority 1-2
We will reinforce our efforts and infrastructure for cultivating the next generation of global human resources, to produce strong, bold leaders capable of showing others the way forward.
- Global human resources with intercultural understanding and international capability
- 1.Through initiatives such as the Kyoto University Japan Gateway Project,* the Program for Leading Graduate Schools,* the Kyoto University International Undergraduate Program (Kyoto iUP),* and short-term international student exchange programs, we will seek to develop global human resources with superior knowledge, a broad outlook, creativity, and the ability to play active roles in the international arena, and who are informed by an understanding of the cultures of their own country and others. In the International Academic Research and Resource Center for Language Education (i-ARRC), we will implement a ground-breaking approach to language education attuned to the needs of global society, recruit talented and motivated international students to create opportunities for intellectual and cross-cultural exchange, and foster students’ understanding of their own and other cultures.
- Development of globally-capable entrepreneurs
- 2.In order to cultivate ambitious graduates with world-class creativity and entrepreneurship, we will develop education programs to teach practical innovation, which connect fundamental education with the real world. We will provide motivated students and faculty members with hands-on entrepreneurship education and guidance based on industry-government-academia collaboration projects that foster innovation.
Strategic Priority 1-3
In order to promote interactive and independent learning, we will develop an academic environment which supports diverse forms of student-centered learning, and provide assistance for extracurricular activities that contribute to students’ personal development.
- Enhancement of educational infrastructure
- 1.In order to promote self-directed learning wherein students reflect on their own learning experiences, we will pursue the development of an academic infrastructure that supports a variety of student-centered learning activities, including the use of information and communications technology (ICT). This will include the implementation of "bring your own device" (BYOD) initiatives and the development of e-Portfolio systems.*
- Enhancement of infrastructure for extracurricular activities
- 2.In order to support students’ self-directed, independent extracurricular activities, we will make improvements to the infrastructure for extracurricular activities, including the development of facilities.
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The Learning Commons: an open space for group-work and discussion in the university library -
Students participating in the Wild & Wise Collaborative Learning Program