Minutes from the Fourth Management Council Meeting of Fiscal Year 2008
1. Date and Time: Tuesday, February 24, 2009
1:00 p.m. – 2:20 p.m.
2.

Location: The 1st Conference Room, 2nd floor of South Building at the Junior College Division

3.

Attendance:
Present: 6 Members:(From the University) Chairperson Tsunoyama of the Board of
Executives, Regent Kuroda, Regent Makita, Regent Saito(External members)

Council Member Sakai, Council Member

Seya
2 Auditors:

Auditor Arima, Auditor Kuriki

Administrative staff
4.

Signatories to the Minutes:

Council Member Kuroda, Council Member Saito5. Proceedings<New Business>

1. The FY 2009 Budget Proposal
Regent Saito provided an explanation regarding The FY 2009 Budget Proposal. Afterexchanging of opinions, etc. as summarized below, the Management Council approved thatthe proposal would be reported to the Board of Executives as on the draft.
(Opinions, etc.)○ The total amount of the budget for the University Corporation will be approximately 4.3
billion yen. I wonder whether the allocation of 84 % of the budget to the University of
Aizu and 16% of the budget to the Junior College Division is appropriate. How many
students are enrolled at the University of Aizu and the Junior College Divisionrespectively?
・The number of students at the University of Aizu, including graduate school students, isapproximately 1200, and that of the Junior College Division, 350. Budget allocation tothe University of Aizu and the Junior College Division was determined based on budget
sizes for the two institutions before the incorporation, though there might have been anobjection from the Junior College Division. We have to admit that budget for the JuniorCollege Division has considerably decreased due to financial difficulties of thePrefectural Government.
○Does this mean that nothing can be done regarding budget allocation within thecorporation, which is based on a history before the incorporation, in case that the amountis not appropriate?

・Budgets will be allocated to each institution hereafter, according to policies of theUniversity Corporation as a whole.
○Was there any impact of the second supplementary budget from the national government
regarding the budget for the University Corporation?
・ At the end of December of 2008, I had heard that due to the financial situation of thePrefectural Government, it would be considerably difficult to meet requests made inbudget proposals for FY 2009. However, it turned out that the situation involving theprefectural budget was not as tight as had been expected, and the situation seemed tohave a favorable impact on the budget for the University Corporation. As the amountof local allocation of tax grants was increased and the limit of issuance of prefecturalbonds was expanded, the necessary amount of reserve funds to be taken fromrelevant foundation was reduced upon preparation of the budget proposal by thePrefectural Government.

○Does that mean that University’s requests regarding its budget for FY 2009 will beaccommodated? That’ wonderful.

・ We have one issue regarding the All-Japan High School Computing Contest, "PCKoshien” for which a significant budget cut will be made, as it is recognized as an event
project. This event has been carried out with financial support from municipal
governments, etc. at the request of the University to make up for the lack of funding inthe budget.
○As this project was initiated by the Prefectural Government, the Government shouldallocate considerable budgets for the event if it asks the University to continue the event.

・ Although a certain progress regarding this issue has been made, ideally, the project
should be implemented by the University of Aizu. The budget allocated for the projectis enough to ensure its implementation.
・ It is assumed that this event has been good publicity for the University, as over a
thousand high school students have participated in recent years. In terms ofprogramming skills, which is one of fundamental elements of education at theUniversity of Aizu, a team from the University was selected as one of the representive
Japanese teams, as well as a team from the University of Tokyo, for participation in theACM world competition to be held in Stockholm, Sweden, in April of 2009. This goodnews may also help publicize the University.
○It may be effective for publicity of the University if some students who do well in theAll-Japan High School Computing Contest, "PC Koshien”, are admitted to the University.

・ Some high school students who had received high-ranked awards have been admittedto the University.

・ An admission category for students who have received high-ranked awards in theAll-Japan High School Computing Contest, "PC Koshien” for selection of students byrecommendation was established. The number of applicants for the admission
category has increased recently, which has attracted attention from high school
students.
○What are the assignments for the "PC Koshien”?
・There are three divisions in all, creation of digital content, for which participants create
something like a cartoon film, creation of a simple piece of art, and programming, bysolving problems presented on site.

2.

Reassessment of the Mid-term Plans of the Public University Corporation, the University ofAizu
Regent Saito provided an explanation regarding this subject. After exchanging ofopinions, etc. as summarized below, the Management Council approved that the subject
would be reported to the Board of Executives as drafted.
(Opinions, etc.)○ As for intellectual property, specifically patents, have discussions been conducted
regarding attribution of patent rights pertaining to inventions developed through research
conducted within the University and benefits gained by use of the patent rights?
・ We have a center called UBIC (University Business Innovation Center) within theUniversity, where assistance for university-industry cooperation has been provided
and matters related to patents have been comprehensively handled. Faculty members
shall apply to the University regarding duty-related inventions for which a patent may
be obtained. In cases where the University has made a decision to make applications
for patents, patent applications will be filed by the University nd with relevant faculty
members as inventors. Rights to one patent for which the University had filed anapplication were obtained this fiscal year.
○What kind of patent was it?

・ The patent was obtained for technology regarding measurement of electrocardiograms.
A patent regarding IP addresses was obtained by the University last fiscal year.
・ This technology will be useful when there will not be enough IP addresses in the nearfuture. This is, so to speak, a look-ahead patent.
○Does the University received the income related to these inventions?

・ Relevant rules have been provided for, and inventors and the University shall have

equal shares to high-income patents, so that researchers will have incentive to makeinventions.
・ As employment–related inventions, researchers shall apply to the University first andthe University shall file an application for a patent regarding the invention.
○Issues regarding housing for students are very serious, but provision of housing forstudents by the University could have an impact on operation of providers ofaccommodations in the private sector in the local community. It may be necessary todiscuss creation of a mechanism where university students can be provided with housingwith inexpensive rent through cooperation between the University and the private sector
in the local community.

・ Based on results of a survey, rent in the local community is relatively high, as you cansee on the attached document. With high rent for student housing in the Aizu area,
the University would not be able to compete with universities in other areas inside andoutside of Fukushima Prefecture. The University should present relevant data for
consultation regarding this issue with relevant companies, etc. in the local community
at this juncture, in my opinion.
・ In reality, housing rent in the Aizu area has been high for years, though the occupancy
rate regarding apartments, etc. is only between 70 and 80 %.
○What is the capacity for the dormitory proposed by the University?

・ We can only afford to build a dormitory with a capacity of about 80 persons, based on
our financial strength. The dormitory is one attractive factor with which universities
recruit applicants for admission, in my opinion. The dormitory proposed by theUniversity should be used for activities for exchange programs with international
students, provision of assistance by residing advisors in students’ learning and lifestyle,etc., and use this for promotion and publicity of its attractiveness. As some measures
to be taken for provision of financial support for students, housing with reasonable rentin the local community should be secured, and dormitories, etc, possessed by privatecompanies should be rented by the University to provide reasonable housing forstudents, for example.
○Promotion of cooperation between the Student Affairs Division and private companies in
the local community, and between the Chamber of Commerce and the University seems
to be necessary.

・ The University has recognized this necessity.
○

What is the percentage of University students living in rentedhouses and/or apartments?

・ Approximately 80%.

○The capacity of the proposed dormitory is only 80, which is less than 10% of University’s
student population. It is necessary that Japanese students have opportunities forcultural exchange with international students. I would like for the University tocooperate with the local community.

・ There are many citizens who would be very interested in taking care of international
students in the Aizu-Wakamatsu area. Cooperation should be promoted with suchcitizens. As for Aizu Gakuho Junior and Senior High School, they should have adormitory to attract students to the junior-high school from other areas in Fukushima
Prefecture as well as from the Aizu area. It would be good to have a dormitory forjunior-high school students where students from the University of Aizu could teachand/or provide some advice regarding their daily lives with junior-high students residing
there.
○The University should build a dormitory for 200 students, not for 80 students.

・ The national government has revealed a proposal regarding acceptance of 300
thousand international students at universities in Japan and will start a relevant
program next fiscal year starting with selection of 12 universities in Japan to act as
central figures in accepting the international students. The University of Aizu has
made efforts to be selected as one of the universities supported by the program. Theuniversity dormitory would be an essential factor in being selected as a university forthe program. When I visited the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Education andTraining (MOET) in Vietnam and gave an explanation regarding minimum living costsin the Aizu area, he seemed to be attracted to the very reasonable costs of living in thisarea. I would like to develop a student housing environment for the purpose ofpromotion of exchange programs with universities in other countries, including
Vietnam.
○How many international students are presently enrolled at the University?

・ 47 students.

Minutes from the Fifth Management Council Meeting of Fiscal Year 2008
1. Date and Time: Wednesday, March 25, 2009
3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
2.

Location:

3.

Attendance:

Large Conference Room, Third Floor, Administration Complex

Present: 6 Members:(From the University) Chairperson Tsunoyama of the Board ofExecutives, Vice Chairperson Mirenkov of the Board of Executives,
Regent Kuroda, Regent Makita, Regent Saito(External members)

2 Auditors:

Council Member Sugihara

Auditor Arima, Auditor Kuriki

Administrative staff
4.

Signatories to the Minutes:

Regent Kuroda, Regent Makita

5. Proceedings<New Business>

1. The FY 2009 Proposed Plan
Regent Saito provided an explanation regarding The FY 2009 Proposed Plan. During thisexplanation, Regent Saito also proposed a change in attached martial No. 1: “COMPARISONBETWEEM THE MID-TERM PLANS AND ANNUAL PLANS FOR FY 2008”, page 1, item
1.1.(1).A.(a).c in the FY 2009 ANNUAL PLANS (Draft), from “curriculum advisors shall play acentral role in encouraging students to earn academic credits systematically,” to “curriculumadvisors shall play a central role in encouraging students to take courses systematically.”(This reflects an opinion from the Education and Research Council of the University.)
After exchanging of opinions, etc. as summarized below, the Management Council approvedthat the proposal would be reported to the Board of Executives as on the draft.
(Opinions, etc.)○Regarding the statement on page 9, “investigations and discussions shall be
made, focusing on possible areas of education and research for joint graduate programs
which can be realized in cooperation with other graduate schools.”, I hear that MEXT has
recently started to regulate establishment of universities and undergraduate schools, etc.
although establishment of universities was encouraged and expanded in the past. Also,
there has been a tendency of consolidation in practical sense among national university
corporations even though physical merger and abolition of national university
corporations would not be possible. I assume the University will be approached byother universities in the future for this issue. What would be the specific standards for
the University of Aizu to collaborate with other universities?
・In last fiscal year, only Fukushima Prefecture within the Hokkaido-Tohoku region
did not make any proposal (on collaboration with other universities). Regarding

collaboration specifically within the prefecture, our University is establishing a researchcenter, and one of its three major missions is to make contribution to medical services,making use of information technologies. Collaboration with Fukushima Medical
University would be feasible from this perspective. Also, involvement of College ofEngineering of Nihon University in this collaboration would be possible in terms ofmaking concrete things. Given these circumstances, we are now making a plan ofcollaboration within the prefecture. Frankly speaking, the issue is collaboration withFukushima University.
Fukushima University is considering collaboration with
Fukushima Medical University in psychological fields. They also approached ourUniversity, but we have not reached any specific plan of collaboration. (by Chairpersonof the Board of Executives)

2.

Partial Revision of the Regulation Concerning the Internal Administrative Organization andOther Aspects of the University of Aizu
Director of the General Affairs Division provided an explanation regarding partial revisionof the Regulation Concerning the Internal Administrative Organization and Other Aspects ofthe University of Aizu. There were no particular opinions exchanged on this subject. TheManagement Council approved that the proposal would be reported to the Board ofExecutives as proposed on the draft.

3.

Partial Revision of the Regulation Concerning the Salaries for Executives
Director of the General Affairs Division provided an explanation regarding partial revisionof the Regulation Concerning the Salaries for Executives. There were no particular
opinions exchanged on this subject. The Management Council approved that the proposal
would be reported to the Board of Executives as proposed on the draft.

4

Partial Revision of the Ruling Concerning Office Regulations for Personnel of the Public
University Corporation, the University of AizuDirector of the General Affairs Division provided an explanation regarding partial revisionof the Ruling Concerning Office Regulations for Personnel of the Public University
Corporation, the University of Aizu. There were no particular opinions exchanged on thissubject. The Management Council approved that the proposal would be reported to theBoard of Executives as proposed on the draft.