Jun 26, 2020
To the current and future student body
OBJECTIVE.
To the current and future student body
SARS COVID 19 has, and is still having, an enormous impact on many aspects of our lives - both here in Japan and throughout most of the world. We here at the graduate school of business in the College of business at Rikkyo University have also felt the disruptive effect of this new virus and we are still trying to cope with it as the extent and shape of its impact becomes more evident as time passes.
The graduate school of business, just like every other place of learning, has been severely impacted by the need to adopt measures to prevent the spread of infection. As a school we have always prided ourselves on our willingness and ability to innovate. The efforts required to respond and hopefully overcome this pandemic have proved to be a severe test of our capacity to plan and implement innovation.
We are currently nearing the end of our first academic semester (April to July) since the pandemic was declared. We feel therefore that it is appropriate at this time to reflect on what we have done, what we can do better, and how we intend to move forward given the various scenarios that we may face during the rest of the year. Since our academic year starts in September (September to January) our plans for the next semester are of particular importance because at this time we will be welcoming students from around the world who will be joining our program and commencing their residence in Tokyo for the first time.
Our plans for the semester commencing in September will be based upon what we have learned through our experiences during this first semester and the resources we already and are currently planning to deploy.
While most universities in Japan delayed the commencement of semester one 2020 by a month in order to give them time to plan their response to the pandemic, the college of business and graduate school decided to commence first semester as scheduled. A decade ago we delayed the commencement of the first semester in the wake of the East Japan great earthquake. Although the decision at the time was made with all due consideration the years following brought with them the realization that we could probably have made a more positive response other than simply sacrificing the opportunity for our students to learn. Our current Dean - who was also the Dean at that time - felt that a more appropriate response would have been to adapt to the situation and assure our students the opportunity to study and research.
Starting this April - under the strong leadership of our Dean - we set out to either maintain or exceed our existing levels of quality in instruction and research, preserve the personal experience of study within our small and close community, and promote the active learning and interaction the members of the student body that differentiates us from other colleges here in Japan as we respond to this situation.
As a result, all scheduled courses for semester one 2020 were shifted to an online format. This includes visiting faculty from overseas who have taught their courses are scheduled remotely from their home countries. Research supervision and mentoring has continued also been shifted online, continued as scheduled and has allowed even more interaction between faculty and students.
Administratively the business of the school including entrance exams, scholarships and applications for certificates and documentation have also been reorganized so that they can be conducted online without the need to visit campus. All our students are currently working from home or their dormitories. All students have been given accounts on online meeting systems and online learning systems. Rikkyo University has two separate and independent online learning systems and these have proved invaluable as the intensity of usage increased. Rikkyo University was one of the very few schools here in Tokyo but did not experience system crashes at the commencement of online classes. Our redundancy strategy as a result of these dual systems combined with our usage of several different online meeting systems has given us a particularly resilient infrastructure and enabled a relatively smooth transition to online instruction and supervision.
We intend to use the skills we have learned and the resources we have developed during this semester to further improve our learning and research environment for next semester. Although Rikkyo University has not yet officially determined the extent to which our on-campus facilities may be used during the next semester, we are currently preparing for a range of scenarios including (1) continued online program implementation (2) combined online supervision and mentoring with on-demand instruction, and (3) a hybrid of on-campus face-to-face instruction and team exercises combined with on-demand and online instruction. Of course, all on-campus activities will be implemented within a framework of social distancing, environmental controls and facility management in accordance with strict infection prevention measures.
We will relay information as it becomes available and details of plans as they are finalized for how we will proceed with second semester here as soon as they become available. In the meantime, we encourage all current and prospective students to contact us freely should they have questions regarding the program as we move forward during these very difficult times.
Please be assured however, that we will continue to use this crisis as an opportunity to reflect on who we are as a school, what we stand for and must therefore accomplish, and how we are best able to serve our students and community.
From the Faculty and Staff of the Graduate School of Business,
College of Business, Rikkyo University
The graduate school of business, just like every other place of learning, has been severely impacted by the need to adopt measures to prevent the spread of infection. As a school we have always prided ourselves on our willingness and ability to innovate. The efforts required to respond and hopefully overcome this pandemic have proved to be a severe test of our capacity to plan and implement innovation.
We are currently nearing the end of our first academic semester (April to July) since the pandemic was declared. We feel therefore that it is appropriate at this time to reflect on what we have done, what we can do better, and how we intend to move forward given the various scenarios that we may face during the rest of the year. Since our academic year starts in September (September to January) our plans for the next semester are of particular importance because at this time we will be welcoming students from around the world who will be joining our program and commencing their residence in Tokyo for the first time.
Our plans for the semester commencing in September will be based upon what we have learned through our experiences during this first semester and the resources we already and are currently planning to deploy.
While most universities in Japan delayed the commencement of semester one 2020 by a month in order to give them time to plan their response to the pandemic, the college of business and graduate school decided to commence first semester as scheduled. A decade ago we delayed the commencement of the first semester in the wake of the East Japan great earthquake. Although the decision at the time was made with all due consideration the years following brought with them the realization that we could probably have made a more positive response other than simply sacrificing the opportunity for our students to learn. Our current Dean - who was also the Dean at that time - felt that a more appropriate response would have been to adapt to the situation and assure our students the opportunity to study and research.
Starting this April - under the strong leadership of our Dean - we set out to either maintain or exceed our existing levels of quality in instruction and research, preserve the personal experience of study within our small and close community, and promote the active learning and interaction the members of the student body that differentiates us from other colleges here in Japan as we respond to this situation.
As a result, all scheduled courses for semester one 2020 were shifted to an online format. This includes visiting faculty from overseas who have taught their courses are scheduled remotely from their home countries. Research supervision and mentoring has continued also been shifted online, continued as scheduled and has allowed even more interaction between faculty and students.
Administratively the business of the school including entrance exams, scholarships and applications for certificates and documentation have also been reorganized so that they can be conducted online without the need to visit campus. All our students are currently working from home or their dormitories. All students have been given accounts on online meeting systems and online learning systems. Rikkyo University has two separate and independent online learning systems and these have proved invaluable as the intensity of usage increased. Rikkyo University was one of the very few schools here in Tokyo but did not experience system crashes at the commencement of online classes. Our redundancy strategy as a result of these dual systems combined with our usage of several different online meeting systems has given us a particularly resilient infrastructure and enabled a relatively smooth transition to online instruction and supervision.
We intend to use the skills we have learned and the resources we have developed during this semester to further improve our learning and research environment for next semester. Although Rikkyo University has not yet officially determined the extent to which our on-campus facilities may be used during the next semester, we are currently preparing for a range of scenarios including (1) continued online program implementation (2) combined online supervision and mentoring with on-demand instruction, and (3) a hybrid of on-campus face-to-face instruction and team exercises combined with on-demand and online instruction. Of course, all on-campus activities will be implemented within a framework of social distancing, environmental controls and facility management in accordance with strict infection prevention measures.
We will relay information as it becomes available and details of plans as they are finalized for how we will proceed with second semester here as soon as they become available. In the meantime, we encourage all current and prospective students to contact us freely should they have questions regarding the program as we move forward during these very difficult times.
Please be assured however, that we will continue to use this crisis as an opportunity to reflect on who we are as a school, what we stand for and must therefore accomplish, and how we are best able to serve our students and community.
From the Faculty and Staff of the Graduate School of Business,
College of Business, Rikkyo University
