President’s Position Paper for 2004
To all members of Nanzan University:
The academic year 2004 sees the final year of my fourth term in office as President of the University.
We have taken on numerous challenges together over the past eleven years and, I believe, have achieveda degree of stability since the launch of the “new” Nanzan in April 2000. For me, this represents proof ofthe remarkable growth of the educational community we know as Nanzan and pleases me greatly. In thecourse of the past year, we have been able to send out into the world the first graduates from both the
newly established and the restructured faculties. At the same time, we have received approval toestablish four new graduate schools as well as the School of Law. As such, it has been a year of building
the foundations for the next stage in the University’s development. I feel extremely pleased that the
University’s self-reform has come this far. For this, I offer my heartfelt gratitude to everyone for theirefforts.

I. Planning and Development
1. Plans for the Graduate School
While we have been able to launch the four graduate schools and the School of Law, there remain two
important issues that need to be dealt with vigorously. The first issue concerns plans for a businessschool. Taking the nature of the University’s educational program and our contribution to the local
community into consideration, I believe it is of utmost importance that we look at moving into this area,
which would complement the School of Law and would help establish Nanzan as an institution thatcultivates high-level, vocationally-oriented people. In the future, the importance of a business school
ought to heighten still further as we consolidate our adult education and lifelong learning programs.
Plans for a business school are also linked to the future plans for our satellite campus. With a target of2006 for its establishment, I expect that all loose ends concerning the realization of a business school
will be tied up during the course of this year.
The second issue concerns plans for the doctoral program. I believe we have to approach the matterwith a new concept in mind. Instead of setting up individual doctoral programs for each and every one of
the existing graduate schools and research programs, I would like us to consider moving towards thecreation of a single doctoral program that has a common structure across the University. Last year the
University applied to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology for funding
under the 21st Century COE Program, although unfortunately the application was not successful.
However, I believe that it is necessary to establish a doctoral program that can gain recognition so that
the University can truly become a center of excellence. This would draw universal acclaim domesticallyand internationally for the University, which would serve as a center of research attracting people fromaround the world.
2. Assessing the first stage of the planning and development program
I regard this year as one for reviewing how the University should proceed, by taking stock of theachievements of the reforms undertaken thus far. When something has been carried out with a view tothe future, we are obliged to subject it to a review. We have to look back at the aims andobjectives—which were held up in the name of reform and whose purpose was the creation of auniversity that could stand up to thorough evaluation and, in particular, attract students—and we have to
conduct a critical review concerning the degree to which these have been achieved. I more than realize
the seriousness of the reduction in applicant numbers for the recent University entrance examinations,and I am painfully aware of the need for the University to orient itself towards the “customer”, with1

priority given to the community at large based on a spirit of unceasing self-reform. A further issue is thatof departments that have low student numbers. The matter was put off at the time of the 2000 reforms,
but it is now necessary to review the situation. Other issues, such as the promotion of faculty
development, the development of career education, and new approaches to advertising the entrance
examinations, are further examples of important issues for review. I ask that such issues be subjected tothoroughgoing discussion not only in the respective committees, of course, but also at faculty anddepartment level as well as by the administration.

II. Education and Research
1. Government education and research support programs
For 2004, the University has applied for funding under the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports,
Science and Technology’s 21st Century COE Program, which supports pioneering fields of research.
The University has put forward plans to establish a combined arts and sciences research and education
program straddling two graduate schools. The scheme of the plan is to establish a research and education
program for the construction and implementation of quantative models under the joint direction of the
Graduate School of Business Administration, which has established a good record since its founding in
1972, and the Graduate School of Mathematical Sciences and Information Engineering, which wasestablished this year with both master’s and doctor’s degree programs. Further, an application to the
Ministry’s university education support program is to be made by the Faculty of Policy Studies on thetheme of qualitative improvement in international education in Asia. It is my hope that the University’searnest involvement in research and education will be seen in a positive light if such applications are
successful.
2. Faculty development and self-assessment and self-evaluation activities
As part of the restructuring of the administration, the Office of Education and Research Support was set
up at the beginning of this year, bringing together the administrative functions of the research institutes
and research centers. It also has the brief to bolster educational and research support in an integrative
way through the strategic encouragement of, for example, faculty development, links with schools andindustry, and the University’s intellectual resources. The University already has a system in place related
to faculty development that includes the publishing of a self-assessment and self-evaluation report, asummary of student class evaluation, and a report on teaching and research activities in addition to an
open class scheme that facilitates peer observation and a faculty development seminar program. I do feel,
however, that we still need to make more progress in our self-assessment and self-evaluation activities.
Further, while Agora (the electronic feedback system provided on the University Web site) alreadyappears to have gained broad acceptance among the students, allowing their views to be reflected in
improvements made around the University, there still remains an experimental element to the system,
which really needs to be developed in order that we can respond more appropriately to feedback given.
3. External evaluation and links with outside institutions
Currently universities are coming under severe public scrutiny, and ultimately a time will come when thesurvival or demise of a university is dependent on such scrutiny. With this in mind, we at Nanzan also
have to consider ways of examining how to combine our own efforts for self-reform with external,
objective evaluation, such as the attainment of officially recognized standards. The attainment ofcertification for compliance with the “BS 7799 : PART 2 : 2002” standard and with the Information
Security Management Systems (ISMS) conformity assessment scheme, which relate to the information
security management system we set up in 2002, and our application to the Japan Accreditation Board forEngineering Education (JABEE) for accreditation for both the graduate school and the faculty ofMathematical Sciences and Information Engineering bear testimony to our commitment. I would like us
to be totally committed at the organizational level to activities that can hold up to outside evaluation,2

including third-party evaluation by the Japan University Accreditation Association. I would also like us
to be more involved in developing our external educational and research activities, deepening our links
with Toyota Technological Institute, furthering our links with high schools, and participating in the
University Consortium Seto and the Aichi/Nagoya Special Research and Development Zone for
Manufacturing schemes. Finally, we will set up a research center for mathematical sciences andinformation engineering at the Takaoka Satellite Campus (TSC) and make this a base for collaborative
activities between the University and industry.
4. Improvement in quality among faculty members
Public expectations continue to increase with regard to quality assurance, which at Nanzan is addressed
through our faculty development program. I would like the University to undergo a revolution in terms of
our attitudes, leading to the spontaneous raising of quality on the part of each and every member offaculty under the banner of faculty development. At many universities in Europe and North America,
post-tenure review—the qualitative evaluation of members of faculty who are already in tenured
positions—is carried out for quality assurance purposes. In Japan, too, I believe that major changes in theform of appointments and promotions are inevitable as the need for regular evaluation of faculty
members increases with the passage of time.
5. Foreign-language education
The curriculum that accompanied the application for the faculties that were newly established or that
underwent reorganization in 2000 have been subjected to review, and 2004 sees the fruits of this review
in the form of a new curriculum. The general education program has seen some revamping, and from thisyear Korean will be offered as a second foreign language for the first time. While on the one hand there
are such improvements, the thorough review of the foreign-language education curriculum that was
requested last year did not apparently see any significant debate. Subject to careful scrutiny of the data
relating to student requirements, I once again ask that this issue be taken up this year—partly to meet the
expectation and reputation of Nanzan’s perceived strength in foreign languages among the public. In
order to provide a suitable environment for students with clear motives to acquire a foreign language thatthey can actually “use”, I expect serious discussion to be undertaken concerning necessary improvements
and the feasibility of their implementation, in addition to other issues starting with a review of thenecessity of second foreign languages.
6. Career education
Today it has become necessary for universities to put more emphasis on treating student recruitment andcareer support together. While education about employment and career education about working life
have to be considered separately, it is certainly necessary to consider the employment of students fromthe standpoint of education, while providing a thorough program of career education for students is evendemanded by the public. Of course, it is not only important merely to place students in employment. It is
important while students are at the University that they discover their own aptitudes and develop an
outlook that allows them to plan their future paths. While there is a need for the University as a whole totake up this issue, first of all I believe that it is necessary for each individual member of faculty toassume an attitude of responsibility towards students’ career education even more so than before. We
really must impress upon students the need to think about employment and careers from an early stage.
7. Employment issues
Although recent trends in the nation’s economic fortunes may indicate that the time for economic
recovery has finally arrived, as far as we can see from the employment situation for university graduatesand from employment figures, a climate of uncertainty remains. Moreover, it is not just a small numberof students who change or give up their jobs, having gone through the trouble of finding employment.
Although the data is indeed somewhat dated, according to a survey of Nanzan graduates carried out in
1999, some 28.5% of the 550 respondents who had graduated in 1996 had either changed or given up

3their jobs within three years of graduation. The national average for graduates for that year was 32.5%,
so it is not unreasonable to suggest that the retention rate for Nanzan graduates is perhaps better than thenational average. There are also reports that some companies are taking the hardline view whenrecruiting and are avoiding universities with rates of over 30%. It should be treated as a serious matterfor concern that over one in four of graduates who find employment are quitting their jobs within three
years of being recruited. We need to carry out regular follow-up surveys of our graduates and takemeasures to respond to the changes in circumstances.
8. Research centers, research institutes, and the museum
During this year we will set about integrating the area studies research centers, while plans for the launchof a research center for mathematical sciences and information engineering are also in place. With thisaccomplished, we will for the time being have laid the foundations for our research activities. One issue
that does remain concerns the position of the research institutes. Our three research institutes, which may
be regarded as Nanzan’s flagships, should be reaching out even further, and I would like us to look attheir overall status in terms of their role in cultivating researchers both from within the University andfrom outside institutions as well as at the same time taking into account the possibility of creating links
with the doctoral program. The Anthropological Museum is another important educational and researchfacility within the University and has made an important contribution to the University’s education andresearch, not least through the museum curatorship program. While we should make the very most of its
merits as one of only a few university museums in the country, I would very much like us to look into thepossibility of a new kind of involvement for the museum that meets the demands of the times andcontributes to public education in the region.

III. Entrance Examinations and the Admissions Campaign
1. Policy review for attracting applicants
Including the main University entrance examinations, the national entrance examinations, and those who
applied for entry through the center examinations system, the number of applicants for the 2004 entrance
examinations was 17,034, representing a considerable decrease compared with the record-breaking
figures for last year. While most private universities across the country also experienced decreases inapplicant numbers, the fact that our numbers have increased each year since 2000 meant that this year’s
figures came as quite a shock. I would suggest that there are perhaps two main factors in the decline inapplicant numbers. Firstly, there is the general decline in the youth population in Japan, which has seen adecline of 4% in the eighteen-year-old population over the past year for the country as a whole (withsimilar declines experienced in the local Tōkai region). Secondly, it could be that prospective students
are applying more selectively to fewer universities. I would like us to re-examine our policy for attracting
applicants after analyzing what impact the above factors may have had on the University.
2. New admissions campaign strategy
The very nature of the current severe situation surrounding university admissions means that we must
give absolute priority to reviewing our admissions campaign and formulating a strategy that responds tothe needs of prospective students. It is absolutely necessary to put our energy into increasing the number
of applicants from across the country, with priority given to certain regions, while maintaining applicant
numbers in the University’s main constituency here in the Tōkai region. I believe we should consider
ways of raising the image of Aichi and Nagoya as a means of increasing the number of examinees fromoutside the Tōkai region while avoiding the draining away of examinees from the Tōkai region itself. As
such, I would like to see discussion concerning specific strategy including, for example, a review ofuniversity admissions fairs targeting priority areas around the country, open campus programs for highschool students, and the consolidation of our one-day university experience program.

4IV. Campus Life
1. Campus facilities
The completion ceremonies held in March 2004 for the law school building at NNC and the new G andH buildings at NSC passed by without incident. At TSC, meanwhile, teaching within the Graduate
School of Policy Studies and the Graduate School of Mathematical Sciences and Information
Engineering for our adult students is underway. This year the main campus maintenance work will be at
NNC. Last November the working group composed of administrative staff members that had been set up
to consider the construction of a new teaching building submitted its report with proposals regarding thefacilities, including classroom plans and proposed designs of the building structure. During this year it
will be necessary to examine the matter further, taking the education and research facilities at NNC as awhole into account, with the aim of realizing the plan for the new teaching building for the 2006
academic year. And, as part of this process, we will proceed with discussions regarding the constructionof a school gate facing Yamate-dōri road and the building of an approach road to the campus from
Yamate-dōri.
2. Earthquake-proof construction work
During the summer vacation, earthquake-proofing construction work will be carried out on all buildings
at NNC as part of countermeasures related to the earthquakes forecast to hit the surrounding Tōkai andTōnankai areas. In order to limit the damage resulting from any such earthquake, absolute priority should
be given to implementing disaster prevention measures in terms of campus maintenance. This has led tovery tight constraints on budget administration and will cause some degree of disruption for everyone
during the construction period, but we nevertheless ask for your understanding and cooperation.
3. Construction of student housing
From the point of view of the University’s efforts to develop on a nationwide basis, the provision of
student accommodation becomes a matter of crucial importance. To date, the University has built two
student halls of residence, Yotsuya no Sato and Mezon Yawaragi Nanzan, both of which are rated mosthighly. In my opinion, it is up to the University to make the utmost effort to provide a comfortable living
environment for students who hail from areas that are beyond commuting distance. This year a newstudent hall of residence will be built on the site of the former Yohane-kan (St. John’s Dormitory), which
was run by the Divine Word Missionaries, and is scheduled to accept its first intake in April 2005.
4. Improvements to the class schedule systems at NNC and NSC
During the course of this year, construction work will continue related to the holding of the 2005 Aichi
Expo and will affect the University, irrespective of whatever changes to the University’s environment
there may or may not be. Last year we already experienced problems with traffic congestion, resulting in
NSC students sometimes being unable to reach their lessons at NNC on time. So far, the University has
dealt with the matter on an individual basis by asking the relevant course instructors for their cooperation,
but since the curriculum from this year allows for greater freedom to take courses at either campus, thereis the likelihood of having to look at possibilities for further improvement concerning this issue. I would
like to continue to look at the matter, with the aim of coming to some suitable arrangement, which may
involve changes to the class schedules.

Hans-Jürgen Marx,
President, Nanzan University5