(ii) Initiatives outside the formal curriculum

a) Initiatives to enable diverse students to realize their own styles of learning and campus life

Comprehensive student support

The concept of providing comprehensive support for learners has informed the development of a unified arrangement of advisory services, including the establishment of the Special Needs Support Office in AY 2011 (to support students with mental disorders and developmental disabilities) and the transfer of the Medical Service Center from the Personnel Division to the Student Affairs Division in AY 2015, as well as the AY 2016 transfer of the Disability Resource Center (DRC) from the Academic Affairs Division to the Student Affairs Division and its merging with the Special Needs Support Office, the establishment of the SSP in AY 2017, and the establishment of a website providing a comprehensive guide to student support services in AY 2019. Based on these improvements we are now promoting collaboration across different professional services, divisions and departments in order to deliver appropriate support to address students’ individual problems. In the area of support for gender diverse students, we have established an Office of Diversity and Inclusion, which works with associated divisions and departments to formulate guidelines for student support in this area, which have now been formalized as the Guidelines on Support for Students regarding Sexual Diversity, which are being publicized on the website and through other channels.

Enrichment of support for inbound international students

The AY 2018 Plenary Council confirmed the need to develop systems to enhance the provision of support for international students. Since AY 2019, as part of the Co-Creation Policy, one international student support coordinator has been appointed on each campus—KIC, BKC, and OIC—as a point of initial consultation regarding the diverse support needs of international students. The role of these coordinators is to connect and collaborate with related divisions and departments within the university, as well as local authorities and other parties in order to facilitate the resolution of problems. In the area of graduate employment support for international students, we are providing employment matching opportunities by inviting companies interested in employing international students to visit the university as well as offering support for students to improve their Japanese language proficiency, which is essential for graduate job-hunting activities in Japan. Moreover, we have been using Zendesk to deliver online support to international students unable to travel to Japan owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. We will continue to advance international student support through proactive utilization of both face-to-face and online platforms, in order to respond to the diverse concerns and challenges faced by international students.

b) Initiatives to promote student-to-student exchange

Promotion of activities in diverse learning communities

Ritsumeikan University is home to many different “learning communities.” Within the formal curriculum there are communities in small-group (seminar) subjects such as Advanced Seminar and first-year small-group classes. A wide variety of communities also exist outside the formal curriculum: these include clubs and circles affiliated with the Student Union, groups whose activities are supported by learning support scholarships such as the Alumni Association Future Human Resources Development Scholarship, college project groups and self-motivated seminars whose activities are supported at the college level, peer support groups whose activities are supported at the college and divisional levels, and the Students’ Network in which current undergraduate students and alumni work together to develop career paths. In recognition of the importance of students having opportunities to learn together in such communities, and we are pursuing initiatives to support and expand the range of activities available in light of students’ needs, unrestricted by conventional activity structures.

For example, in line with discussions at the AY 2011 Plenary Council, in AY 2012 we began operating the growth support scholarship system on the basis of three approaches: (1) comprehensive student support beyond the distinction between curricular and extracurricular realms; (2) support for both individuals and groups; and (3) support not only for outcomes but also for the process of taking up new challenges and striving to achieve objectives and goals for the future. This scholarship system was reorganized in AY 2017, and work continues to make the system more accessible to students.

Inter-campus shuttle bus services are designed to enable students to pursue extra-curricular activities across campus borders. We have been operating services linking all three campuses since the AY 2015 opening of OIC, and since AY 2018 these services have been run in line with flexible operating plans (timetables, shuttle stops, etc.) tailored to student needs.

Furthermore, in AY 2019 we began trialing the use of a single platform (RIMIX) to give greater visibility to initiatives supporting students taking up a wide range of “challenges,” such as the entrepreneur development support programs operated across the Ritsumeikan Academy, and university venture support programs that make use of research seeds developed at the university. This platform provides opportunities for students at university, junior and senior high school, and elementary school, as well as researchers, to take up new challenges, and offers them support at all stages from the discovery of new problems to the establishment of commercial ventures.

Promotion of exchange between Japanese and international students

Ritsumeikan University promotes “peer learning” among a diverse variety of students. In the formal curriculum, the number of international liberal arts (Liberal Arts Group B) subjects taught in an English-language medium has increased from 40 classes in AY 2017 to 55 classes in AY 2021 (student numbers have also increased over this time from 819 to 1,300). Outside the formal curriculum we have implemented a variety of international exchange events under BBP. In AY 2021 a total of around 2,000 students participated in events, and there were around 60,000 instances of participation in and access to online content; in the same year 226 students participated in online international exchange activities with partner institutions (during 2021), and 138 students worked as BBP staff. These results evidence the expansion in opportunities for diverse students to learn together.

c) Initiatives toward enhancement of extracurricular activities

We have been working to enhance assistance for extracurricular activities and create systems to support and extend students’ “learning and growth,” toward the R2020 goal of giving concrete form to the Ritsumeikan Model of Learning. As part of this work, in AY 2012 we introduced a system for designating and providing support to student clubs on a priority basis.

The designation process focuses on clubs’ capacity to (1) gain the understanding and support of many members of the university and wider Academy; (2) contribute to the development of the community and society; (3) build on their achievements thus far to contribute to students’ learning and growth; and (4) exert a positive and beneficial influence on other students. With regard to extracurricular activities in the area of sports in particular, in April 2014 we established the Ritsumeikan Declaration on Sports, which declared that sports embody the Ritsumeikan Academy ethos (to believe in the future, to live for the future) and positioned sports as a driving force for the Academy’s development.

These initiatives have resulted not only in improvements in performance in various fields of activity, but also enabled students to share the individual growth and knowledge they have gained through extracurricular activities with their peers in a variety of settings, helping to cultivate the Academy’s identity and culture. Through this process we have also sought to emphasize learning and growth through extracurricular activities and to give concrete form to the ideal types of graduates Ritsumeikan seeks to produce.

A number of systems also function to support the initiatives outlined above: these include the Special Entrance Examination for Persons with Outstanding Talent in Art and Culture, Special Entrance Examination for Persons with Outstanding Talent in Sports, Special Scholarship Students, and the Ritsumeikan University Athlete and Creator Development Scholarship.

Furthermore, in the area of sports-related extracurricular activities, we are advancing several initiatives for the enhancement of Ritsumeikan Sports, such as: (1) a comprehensive partnership agreement signed with Asics Japan in AY 2017, which involves collaborative projects under the three pillars of human resource development/exchange, promotion of community service activities, and enhancement of research and development; (2) the 2017 establishment of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics Activity Expense Subsidy Regulations and initiation of financial assistance for undergraduate and graduate students to undertake travel for training camps and competitions; (3) establishment of the Reserved Scholarship Program for Affiliated School Students with Outstanding Talent in Sports in AY 2017 and its reorganization in AY 2020 as the Reserved Scholarship Program for Affiliated School Students with Outstanding Talent in Extracurricular Activities; and (4) selection under the Japan Sports Agency’s program for the creation of a Japan Association for University Athletics and Sports (UNIVAS) styled on the NCAA in the United States, with the operation of the University Sports Consortium Kansai as the core project.

d) Initiatives in learning through fieldwork overseas

In the context of the SGU initiatives, Ritsumeikan University has promoted learning abroad initiatives in parallel with the abovementioned support for international students. With the aim of “Human development to collaborate across cultures and contribute globally to Asian communities,” we have pursued reforms in education, research, and student activities to address the three ideals of “international viability, transparency, and exchanges.” In order to implement these reforms we have built a structure than involves all arms of the university, under the Ritsumeikan Global Initiative Promotion Headquarters led by the President and Chair of the Board of Trustees.

Specific initiatives in this area include the short-term introductory study abroad program known as Global Fieldwork Project (GFP), launched in AY 2018; provision of attentive study abroad guidance and advice at the International Centers on each campus; use of the BBP as a unified hub for international exchange and language learning, dissemination of the latest study abroad-related information through the study abroad programs website and Zendesk, and the enhancement of internal and external scholarship programs. These and other initiatives enabled us to provide opportunities for learning abroad to a total of 1,941 students (1,623 Japanese students and 318 international students) in AY 2019, against a target of 2,300 students (no outbound programs could be operated in February and March owing to the COVID-19 pandemic).

The COVID-19 pandemic is having an impact, but in AY 2021 we confirmed changes to the outbound mobility plan and responses and are now providing opportunities for even more students to study abroad, with targets of 2,780 and 3,220 students for the AY 2022 and 2023 years respectively.

e) Scholarships to support learning

Ritsumeikan University supports learning and growth with two categories of scholarships: financial aid and growth support. Financial aid scholarships help students continue to pursue their dreams under their own volition and responsibility, rather than abandoning their studies for financial reasons. Growth support scholarships, as mentioned earlier, provide assistance to individuals, groups, and organizations that are engaging enthusiastically with curricular learning and extracurricular activities.

Following a decision to expand the financial aid scholarship category in AY 2012, we now offer one of highest levels of support in this category in the whole of Japan. The proportion of financial aid scholarships among all scholarships offered at Ritsumeikan University has increased significantly: the ratio of financial aid scholarships to growth support scholarships was formerly 20:80, but is now 50:50. Notably, for the Academic Incentive Scholarship, we adopted a policy of prioritizing those applicants within the “household salary income of 4 million yen or under” category who have household incomes of 3.29 million yen or under, and providing them with 50% reduction or full exemption from first semester tuition (valid for one academic year only). We also established new scholarships that are awarded conditionally prior to students taking the entrance exam.

In AY 2017, this pre-entrance exam scholarship award system was reorganized as the Scholarship for Entrants from outside the Kinki Region. Moreover, the Academic Incentive Scholarship, the Scholarship for Internally Recommended Entrants, and the Academic Incentive Grant for Working Adults were combined to create the Financial Support Grant Scholarship. This scholarship provides a 50% reduction of first semester tuition valid from the time of award right through to completion of the standard number of years of enrollment. Around 400 students are selected for the scholarship each year, and while maintaining eligibility for students from households with annual income of 4 million yen or less, we have set upper limits for award of the scholarship at 6 million yen for salary income households, and 1.97 yen for self-employed income households.

Furthermore, in AY 2020 we established the Ritsumeikan Tuition Reduction program that incorporates the national government’s new support (grant and loan) system for students in higher education, and reorganized the Financial Support Grant Scholarship. In addition to households with annual incomes of 3.8 million yen or less, which are covered by the national government scheme, Ritsumeikan University has extended eligibility for this scholarship to households with annual incomes of up to 4 million yen.

We have also established a new Tuition Reduction for Household Emergencies in order to assist prospective and current students who are facing hardship in their studies owing to sudden change in household finances, natural disasters, and other unforeseen events. At the same time we have been re-organizing and merging programs including Ritsumeikan University Tuition Reduction for Students in Hardship due to Natural Disasters and the Emergency Enrollment Grant Scholarship.

Through these financial aid scholarships, we have been developing systems that provide students in a wide variety of circumstances the security to continue their studies.

We also continue to operate and improve student growth support scholarship programs, as mentioned above under “Initiatives to promote student-to-student exchange” and “Initiatives in learning through fieldwork overseas,” in order to support individuals, groups, and organizations engaging enthusiastically with curricular learning and extracurricular activities (including study abroad, obtaining qualifications, and club activities).