1. R2020 Initiatives

　Launched in AY 2010 under the theme of “Creating a Future Beyond Borders: Go Beyond Yourself and Create Your Own Future,” R2020 involved a variety of programs in education, research, student support, and other areas with a view to the type of academy Ritsumeikan aimed to be in 2020. Underpinning these programs was the Ritsumeikan Academy Vision 2020, which comprised three pillars: (1) developing self-motivated learning within the Academy’s diverse communities, (2) striving to become a unique research university that contributes to humankind, nature, and society, and (3) developing an Academy where everyone can experience the joy of learning autonomous learning in diverse communities. This vision was given concrete form through two phases—the first from AY 2010 to 2015, and the second from 2016 to 2020—but throughout this entire period initiatives were advanced in the areas of qualitative shift in teaching and learning, globalization-focused advancements in individual colleges, graduate schools, and educational institutions, and enhancement of research and graduate school policies.

Firstly, in the area of Creation of a Ritsumeikan Model for Learning: Promoting a Qualitative Shift in Teaching and Learning, the university worked on student-centered learning, the formation of learning communities, and qualitative enhancement of education to cultivate students who can continue learning autonomously throughout their lives. Through a wide range of initiatives in learning support, course guidance, diverse commons and other opportunities for peer learning, and distinctive approaches to teaching that promote autonomous learning by students, we have made progress on the themes of transition to learning at university level and quality assurance in university education, which have also been topics of discussion in the Plenary Council recently. The Ritsumeikan Model of Learning is positioned as a key pillar of Ritsumeikan University’s education under R2030 as well, but under the revised national school curriculum, flexible, exploratory learning will gain even more importance as a means to cultivate the kinds of skills that society requires, such as problem solving and logical thinking. We have already been implementing exploratory learning in both integrated school education and at university level, but we are now expected to foster students’ exploratory capabilities, such as the capacity to solve problems and to think for themselves, at an even higher level than before. In order to achieve this, we will need to use educational DX to ensure our educational efforts are aligned with students’ individual needs and characteristics and optimized to their active learning activities, as well as achieving further qualitative shifts in comprehensive study support and the educational system as a whole.

In the area of Promotion of the Global Initiative: Becoming an open academy that contributes to global society and the region, flagship initiatives include the realization of the Top Global University (SGU) concept and the promotion of inbound and outbound student mobility, as well as the establishment of the Global Studies (GS) Major in the College of International Relations, the CRPS Major in the College of Policy Science, and the ISSE Course in the College of Information Science and Technology. Currently Ritsumeikan University operates four English-medium programs in four different undergraduate colleges, and a total of 19 English-medium programs at graduate school level, all of which have flow-on effects for the globalization of the university as a whole. Our initiatives in partnership with universities and other institutions outside Japan have also received significant recognition and positive evaluation: these include programs under the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) Inter-University Exchange Project (in the Colleges of Humanities, Policy Science, International Relations, Economics, Business Administration, Science and Engineering, Information Science and Engineering, and Life Sciences), the College of Information Science and Engineering’s Dalian University of Technology-Ritsumeikan University International School of Information Science and Engineering, the College of International Relations’ American University Ritsumeikan University Joint Degree Program, and the College of Letters’ Campus Asia Program. Furthermore, the College of Global Liberal Arts established in partnership with the Australian National University, one of the world’s leading research universities, is a creative academic endeavor that will dramatically enhance the domestic and international presence of Ritsumeikan University’s global education and advance our profile as a global university that contributes to the formation of multicultural communities.

We have also worked to enhance research with the aim of becoming a Distinctive Global Research University. Initiatives in this area include R-GIRO, the creation of research hubs at Kinugasa Campus (KIC), Biwako Kusatsu Campus (BKC), and Osaka Ibaraki Campus (OIC) that leverage the distinctive features of each campus, advancement of basic research through increase in both number and value of KAKENHI Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research, and further promotion of university-industry collaboration. Notably, the number of Ritsumeikan University research projects receiving KAKENHI funding at the end of the R2020 period was approximately 1.8 times the number when R2020 was launched. Related to these initiatives in research enhancement are graduate school policies. We have pursued both qualitative and quantitative expansion of the graduate schools, and are close to attaining the objective of 100 coursework doctoral completions each academic year, with 97 in AY 2018. We have also strengthened collaborations between graduate schools and research organizations with the involvement of industry partners as well, pursued initiatives to foster young talent as the next generation of research leaders, to support women in research, and to contribute to the realization of career paths for young researchers. This work has steadily yielded improvements, as demonstrated by our selection under MEXT’s Initiative for Realizing Diversity in the Research Environment, and our becoming the only institution in Japan to receive an “S” grade (highest) in the mid-term evaluations for this Initiative.

These new academic developments and advancements in research have generated synergies within our organization, while also enhancing the brand value of the Ritsumeikan Academy externally, and raising the overall capacity of the Academy as an institution of education and research that contributes to a better future.

With these overall achievements of R2020 in mind, the section below sets out specific matters that will inform discussions in the 2022 Plenary Council, with a focus on construction of the Ritsumeikan Model of Learning, Qualitative Shift in Teaching and Learning, and Advancement of Graduate School Reforms.