Explanation of Shizuoka University: Instructors and Staff Members Credo
Comprehensive Strategy Conference (March 25, 2009), Approved
Planning and Coordination Conference (April 1, 2009), Reported
Education and Research Council, Executives Board(January 17, 2018), Approved

The Shizuoka University holds as its goal the creation of a peaceful and joyful
future based on the philosophy of Freedom and Enlightenment & Creation of theFuture.
The instructors and staff members of Shizuoka University shall strive for thefulfillment of this common goal; maintain an awareness of their professional
obligations; spare no effort to fulfill those obligations through cooperative action
and a division of responsibilities; cooperate with all who are associated with
Shizuoka University while respecting the diversity of backgrounds and values;
engage in education, research, social cooperation, and the operation of theuniversity with energy and passion; and work for the advancement of Shizuoka
University and the local community.
As defined in the vision of Shizuoka University, the University aims to promote
high-quality education and creative research, cooperate with the community, and bevisible as a partner of society, based on the principle of Freedom and Enlightenment& Creation of the Future. The Instructors and Staff Members Credo of Shizuoka
University constitutes a specific guideline for sharing this vision on the way toachieving its realization.
This purpose has been reflected in the wording of this document, placing Shizuoka
University itself as the sentence subject of title. Furthermore, from the same
perspective, this document is concluded by emphasizing, in line with the consistenttheme of the vision statement, the vital role that instructors and staff members playin creating Shizuoka University into what it is.
In order to create one united Shizuoka University, it is of necessity that all
instructors and staff members of the University share the same goal. In this regard,
no distinction is made between students and instructors and staff members,
educational and administrative staff, or men and women. On the contrary, byrespecting and embracing the diversity of duties, functions, backgrounds, and value
preferences, Shizuoka University will emerge as a creation in which we can takepride.

Nevertheless, toward realizing the vision, the Instructors and Staff Members Credo
presents issues particularly relevant to this circle of the University’s constituents. In
this regard, the main subject differs from the draft vision, which is meant to carry amessage also for the students, and consequently is kept in a concise style.
The following section presents the Instructors and Staff Members Credo, common toinstructors and staff members as equal partners, which is comprised of the sevenpoints of 1. Mindset, 2. Education, 3. Research, 4. Community cooperation, 5. Ethics
6. University operations, and 7. Conclusion.
1. Based on the philosophy of Freedom and Enlightenment & Creation of theFuture, instructors, staff members and students shall strive to create a sharedclimate of mutual trust and scholarship in which each participant serves toenlighten others.
At the foundation of the vision is the mindset of Freedom and Enlightenment inlearning. As stated also in the vision, this refers to the progressive accession to theeducation principles of the predecessor schools* that emphasize student initiativeand espouse freedom, enlightenment and broadmindedness.
We are not looking at Freedom and Enlightenment in learning as an issue thatconcerns only the individual student, but have adjusted our understanding to theeffect that this topic concerns everyone at the University, including instructors andstaff members. Nor is the topic limited to the individual level in areas such as
personality, academic ability, and capabilities, but should be understood as an issue
that comes to bear in relations among students, between students and instructors andstaff members, and among instructors and staff members, in the sense of forming
relationships of mutual learning.
Open-mindedness and activity in the realms of education, research, cooperation withthe community, and university operations, etc., begin in all cases with relationships
of mutual trust and mutual learning. In this respect, the Freedom and Enlightenment
can be regarded as the mindset that should be positioned as the starting point of theInstructors and Staff Members Credo.
(*Under the old system, this refers to the former Shizuoka High School, Shizuoka
Normal School, Shizuoka 2nd Normal School, Shizuoka Normal School for Youth,
Hamamatsu College of Technology, (formerly, Hamamatsu Technical High School),and the Shizuoka Prefectural College of Agriculture).

2. While inheriting humanity’s accumulated knowledge and culture, instructors
and staff shall cultivate their students as educated individuals, equipped with aninternational outlook, highly specialized knowledge and abundant humanity.
Our world today is built on a heritage accumulated by humankind over the course ofa long history. Education is the business of adding new information to the knowledge
and culture that form the core of this heritage, and conveying these to students, aswell as developing students’ capabilities and mentoring the formation of theirindividuality. The 21st century will likely see relationships based on exchange andcooperation develop on a global scale in many diverse fields, and without a doubt anarray of important functions will be fulfilled by people of learning who are equippedwith an international world view, specialist knowledge, and well-developed humanqualities. It is an important mission of Shizuoka University to provide the highquality education for achieving this.
Aware of this mission, instructors and staff members will perform their respective
duties as equal partners in close cooperation. This must be so because staff members,
through their daily activities, play an essential role in the endeavor of education,even though the direct involvement in teaching and research guidance is the realm ofinstructors.
3. Instructors and staff members shall respect academic freedom, engage in a
passionate pursuit of fundamental, innovative research that will enrich the futureof humanity and the Earth, and strive to produce research results that willcontribute to the advancement of their respective fields.
The freedom of learning constitutes a right guaranteed in Article 23 of theConstitution of Japan. It is because of this freedom that creative research for aprosperous future becomes possible. In order to protect Earth and pass on its wealthinto the hands of coming generations, progress in both fundamental and appliedresearch fields are important. Based on this understanding, instructors of Shizuoka
University are called upon to persevere in their studies in order to increase their
specialist capabilities and produce research results that contribute to the progress of
their respective fields. The responsibility of the University is to produce meaningful
results in the various fields of research and mentor successors for the next generationby providing research guidance. To this end, for creating a fully developed research
environment including the required financial basis, it is necessary for instructors andstaff members to create university-level cooperative frameworks and attain setobjectives.
4. Instructors and staff members shall learn from the university’s natural andcultural environment, engage with the various problems facing society, andrespond in a wide variety of ways to earn the trust and meet the expectations of thelocal community and society as a whole through active dissemination of culture
and information.
It is an important mission of the University to return research results to thecommunity and to contribute to the community’s sustainable development. This is by
no-means a one-directional relationship. Accountability to the community is a true
treasure trove in the sense that research will be stimulated by the formulation of new
kinds of research topics and new types of workforce will be raised.
In cooperation with regional communities, there is no room for the University toexercise high-handed guidance. As a member of the regional community, we arecalled upon to learn with humility about the region’s environment and culture,engage with sincerity in issues faced by the community, and ask ourselves what
functions we can fulfill for the community. Required is an attitude for us, together
with the regional community, to raise a valuable workforce able to contribute to thedevelopment of society and to work with the community on problem solving.
5. Instructors and staff members shall maintain high ethical standards and strive
to maximize their specialist capacities through diligent study.
Instructors and staff members must be aware of the University’s social mission andhighly public nature, take pride in their status as instructors and staff members of
Shizuoka University, and apply themselves to their work with diligence and based onhigh ethical standards. Instructors and staff members of Shizuoka University mustcomply with laws and regulations and, among others, the Teaching Staff Code ofConduct*.
The demanding mission stated in the Vision of Shizuoka University can be realized
only if all instructors and staff members fulfill their roles to the utmost of theircapabilities. Instructors and staff members are required to work constantly on selfimprovement in order to acquire highly developed expert capabilities and skills thatare backed by a broad-based education.
(*This includes the National University Corporation Shizuoka University Ethics

Rules for Instructors and Staff Members and the Shizuoka University Code ofConduct for Researchers.)
6. Instructors and staff members shall respond flexibly to social changes andengage in the operations of the university with a commitment to innovation andcooperative action.
In today’s times of change, stable university operations count among theindispensable requirements for the further development of Shizuoka University as auniversity with a strong profile and roots in its regional locale.
Instructors and staff members, who embody the future of Shizuoka University, needto respond flexibly to changes in the arrangements for university operations andchanges in society overall, while raising the workforce for the next generation.
Moreover, toward a common goal, instructors and staff members must exercise theircreative ingenuity, use their skills to the full, cooperate with everyone involved with
Shizuoka University, and proactively engage in the University’s operations.
7. Instructors and staff members shall act with resolution to create a peaceful andjoyful future.
As set out in the foregoing, we will engage in education, research, cooperation withthe community, and the running of the University’s operations, predicated on
Freedom and Enlightenment in learning as a mindset and committed to the highest
ethical standards. All of this is meant to contribute to the Creation of the Future – afuture of peace and well-being.
Society today is faced with big changes, and the circumstances and the environmentof the University are changing in turn alongside them. In these times of dramatictransitions, if we were to confine ourselves to preset ideas and conventions, anunending string of difficulties would await our University.
With the mindset of Freedom and Enlightenment and a commitment to the Creationof the Future, we will enjoy tackling issues as they come up, never fearing failure
and always inspired by hope and expectation. Taking crisis as a chance for growth,
we will draw on our creative ingenuity in dealing with day-to-day issues.
As stated in our vision, at Shizuoka University we will nurture rich human qualities
endowed with a high-minded sense of mission and inquiry, promote knowledge
creation, accession, and practical application, and will make progress together withthe regional community for the peace and well-being of humankind and the future ofEarth. To the extent that we engage with sincerity in education, research, cooperation
with the community, and university operations, a future of peace and well-being will
become reality.