Memorandum on Orientation Conductor Activities

January 30, 2019

Preamble

The origins of Orientation Conductor activities can be traced back to the support activities for new students, including guidance on finding housing and hints for student life, initiated autonomously by the Student Union (Student Council) in the 1960s, and followed by self-directed class activity support provided before and after basic seminar classes. With a view to offering further support for the self-directed initiatives of the Student Union (Student Council), the AY 1991 Plenary Council confirmed that the university would establish and provide assistance for Orientation Conductor activities as a formal system of support for new students. These activities were to offer support across three areas: student life, learning, and self-government. Orientation Conductor activities could be said to form the basis of the peer support activities which today involve around 10% of all Ritsumeikan University undergraduate students and are one of the university’s distinguishing features.

As society changes, academic activity becomes more sophisticated (including the establishment of new undergraduate colleges), and the student body becomes more diverse, Orientation Conductor activities have diversified in line with the characteristics of each college. At the same time a range of problems have emerged, both major and minor. In response to these recent developments, the Student Union and university authorities decided to hold discussions on approaches to first-year education support and Orientation Conductor activities as part of the Plenary Council of the University held in the 2018 academic year. In the course of these discussions, it was confirmed that first-year education is a “comprehensive educational program across curricular and extracurricular realms, cultivating study skills, study motivation, and self-awareness as a university student, with the aim of achieving a smooth transition to university education and student life prior to specialist education” (Japanese Association of First-Year Experience at Universities and Colleges, 2018), and that the university is expected to provide a variety of learning and other experiences to first-year students, spanning both curricular and extracurricular realms and including adjustment to university student life.

Based on these discussions, the Student Union and university hereby confirm the following basic principles as preconditions to the conduct of first-year education support and Orientation Conductor activities.

Confirmation of Basic Principles of Orientation Conductor Activities

(1)Orientation Conductor activities are a form of peer support activity contributing to first-year education support at Ritsumeikan University and designed to aid first-year students’ transition to university student life and self-governing activities, as well as to support their adjustment to learning at university in line with the conditions of their college of enrollment.

(2)Orientation Conductor activities are conducted autonomously by organizations positioned under college-level Student Councils, but as they contribute to first-year students’ learning and growth, colleges afford them benefits such as provision of time and venues. It is therefore essential for the university/colleges to discuss and confirm the objectives and content of Orientation Conductor activities with the Student Union and Orientation Conductor organizations periodically in forums such as fiveway discussion meetings. Moreover, these discussions are to include confirmation of the scope of Orientation Conductor activities, including whether or not they are to be involved in curricular education, and activities are to be undertaken in line with this confirmation.

(3)Orientation Conductor organizations in each college are expected to establish their own rules as self-governing activity groups, formulate activity policies and plans each academic year, and be managed to enable proper pursuit of activities in line with objectives. Moreover, the students participating in these organizations are expected to develop knowledge and attitudes appropriate to peer supporters.

(4)The university is expected to place importance not only on the learning and growth of first-year students, but also on the learning and growth of Orientation Conductors themselves, who are current students of the colleges in which they pursue their activities, and to support their self-directed learning and growth. For this purpose the university shall provide training and assistance for Orientation Conductors.

(5)In order for Orientation Conductor organizations to achieve their goal of supporting first-year students and to pursue their activities appropriately, such organizations shall conduct themselves in an autonomous and self-directed manner, pursuant to the framework in the Addendum to this document. This framework is not intended as a manual designed to standardize Orientation Conductor activities, but rather as a basis for Orientation Conductor organizations to autonomously improve the quality of their activities, and as a fundamental framework for support, evaluation and verification by the university and its colleges.

Framework for Orientation Conductor Activities and Support

January 30, 2019

(1)Establishment and review of rules

Orientation Conductor organizations in each college shall, as self-governing activity bodies, establish and review their own rules as required.

Rules shall set forth matters including: (i) organization name; (ii) purposes; (iii) organization structure; (iv) joining, withdrawing, and suspending membership; (v) executive officers; (vi) decision-making organs (meetings); (vii) management (activity policies/plans).

(2)Production of activity policies/plans

Orientation Conductor organizations in each college shall prescribe the goals and objectives of their own activities. In order to share these with members and college authorities, they shall also produce activity policies and activity plans.

Activity policies/plans shall include the following content, taking into account the Memorandum on Orientation Conductor Activities and the organization’s own rules.

(i) Activity goals

  • Goals
  • Issues relating to first-year students (student profile)

(ii) Activity content and specific objectives

  • Content of activities and objectives for each one
  • Objectives for Orientation Conductors themselves

(iii) Activity plans

  • Recruitment plan
  • Training plan
  • Firstyear student support plan

(iv) Activity rules

(v) Reflection and self-assessment

(3)Discussion between Orientation Conductor organizations and colleges

Colleges and Orientation Conductor organizations (organization heads and other members of the executive) shall hold meetings periodically to discuss and confirm activity policies and plans, share progress and challenges in relation to activities, engage in reflection and self-assessment, and improve and enhance activities.

(4)Discussion between the Division of Student Affairs and Orientation Conductor organizations

The Division of Student Affairs and Orientation Conductor organizations (organization heads and other members of the executive) shall hold meetings around once a month on each campus to discuss activity policies and plans, share progress and challenges in relation to activities, provide an opportunity for reflection and self-assessment, and mutually improve and enhance the activities of Orientation Conductor groups.

(5)Information provision by the Divisions of Student Affairs and Academic Affairs

Each academic year the Division of Student Affairs and Division of Academic Affairs shall provide colleges and college Orientation Conductor organizations with reference materials on the status of first-year educational support and orientation conductor activities, and the results of questionnaire surveys of Orientation Conductors and first-year students.

Information on activities of high quality shall also be shared as examples of good practice.

(6)Support for Orientation Conductor activities by the Student Union

The Student Union shall support Orientation Conductor activities including those set out in (1), (2), and (9), and attend the meetings in (4).

(7)Support for Orientation Conductor activities by the university/colleges

The university and its colleges shall, in line with the individual conditions of each college, determine whether or not to furnish support for Orientation Conductor activities in forms such as provision of time (class discussion meetings, sub-seminars, etc.), venues (classrooms, Seminar House, etc.), and activity subsidies (Learning Community Subsidy for First-year Education Support Activities).

The Division of Student Affairs and the Division of Academic Affairs shall furnish training programs for the acquisition of knowledge, abilities, and attitudes required of peer supporters, as well as training on issues such as providing support for student life and managing an organization, at appropriate times pursuant to requests from college Orientation Conductor organizations.

Colleges shall conduct training and guidance on course registration methods and other topics within the scope of the activities that each college supports, pursuant to requests from Orientation Conductor organizations and taking into account Orientation Conductor plans and activity details.

(8)Activity cycle

The activity cycle shown below shall be followed with the aim of securing adequate preparation and training time. The activity cycle for Orientation Conductor activities for fall enrollees shall be coordinated separately.

  • Up to October:Formation of Orientation Conductor organizations (executives)
  • From October:Recruitment of Orientation Conductors (organization members)
  • From February:Preparation for first-year student support
  • From April:Provision of first-year student support
  • From July:Reflection and self-assessment of activities (also fall semester activities in some colleges)

(9)Reflection and self-assessment

On the basis that self-directed and autonomous reflection on activities contributes to learning and growth of both organizations and individuals, Orientation Conductor organizations in each college shall at the end of their activities conduct reflection and self-assessment, and compile the results thereof in reports.

(10)Information-sharing

Orientation Conductor organizations, colleges, and the Division of Student Affairs, shall engage in close mutual communication, reporting, and consultation on Orientation Conductor activities. Especially in the event of trouble, they shall report and share information promptly and discuss approaches to achieving a solution.

(11)Amendment

Amendments to this framework shall be made on the basis of agreement between the university and the Student Union, following discussion by the Student Affairs Conference.