Message from the President.
Ritsumeikan University has been continuing its mission to
develop creativity in its education. It opened the Biwako
Kusatsu Campus (BKC) for the College of Science and
Engineering, and subsequently expanded its departments.
Ritsumeikan established the College of Policy Science at the
Kinugasa Campus in Kyoto, and has been providing unique
opportunities to students, including study abroad programs
and "extension courses." These and other endeavors have
been innovative steps at the heart of Ritsumeikan's Fifth Long
Term Plan.
The Colleges of Economics and Business Administration
are also to be transferred to BKC in 1998. Interlinked by the
aspirations and creativity of both staff and students,
undergraduate and graduate, the two campuses, BKC and
Kinugasa, will provide ideal environment for study and
research. It will strengthen further the opportunity and
association of three elements, i.e., education, research and
student activities, in higher education at Ritsumeikan
University.
In its latest endeavor and in commemoration of the one
hundredth anniversary of its founding, Ritsumeikan plans to
open the "Ritsumeikan Asia-Pacific University" (tentative
name) in 1999 in Beppu City, Oita Prefecture, as a leading
model for Japanese higher education, offering the best and
highest level of education and research.
Furthermore, a system of continuing education for citizens
and members of the work force has been introduced to both
the Day and Evening Divisions of the University in 1996.
Keisho High School in Hokkaido underwent a new start in a
Ritsumeikan's move towards leading and comprehensive
academy, integrating the diverse elements of education in
junior-high, high schools and university.
Ritsumeikan University is in this manner striving to create a
"world university" that will be the leader in higher education
and academic research in the Twenty-first Century. At the
same time, it will contribute to the creation of human values,
while still maintaining a strong emphasis on regional ties.
Through these efforts, Ritsumeikan is striving to be a "best
university" of comprehensive education established on the
highest standard of education, academic research, culture and
sport.
Dr. Masateru OHNAMI
President
Ritsumeikan University
