On August 7, NIAD-QE held the University Quality Assurance Forum 2017 “Faculty and Staff: Creating Universities for Students” at Hitotsubashi Hall in Tokyo, Japan, with the support of the Asia-Pacific Quality Network (APQN), the Japan Network of Certified Evaluation and Accreditation Agencies (JNCEAA), and relevant institutions in Japan. Over 300 people, mainly persons involved in higher education, participated in the forum.

Participants learned about a variety of practices from the experiences of experts in academe and quality assurance in the US, the UK, Australia, and Japan at this year’s forum. They also deepened the discussions on how to improve the quality of faculty and staff, how the two should share roles, and how we can create student-oriented universities.

The program consisted of two parts. The first part started with an opening address by Dr. Hideki Fukuda, President of NIAD-QE. Dr. Masato Takeichi, Dean of the Research Department at NIAD-QE, made an introduction presentation, followed by keynote speeches by Mr. Anthony McClaran, CEO of the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) in Australia, and Dr. Richard Saller, Dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences and Professor of European Studies at Stanford University in the US. Mr. McClaran introduced his experiences through the organizational reforms of universities carried out due to a policy of financial retrenchment implemented by the UK government since the 1980s as well as quality assurance initiatives in the UK and Australia. He also emphasized the importance of focus on the centrality of the student voice. Dr. Saller provided references and issues regarding university governance and role sharing between faculty and staff at Stanford University, considering the differences in the types of universities in the US. He pointed out the importance of mutual trust within a university’s organization.

 Dr. Syun Tutiya, Professor of the NIAD-QE’s Research Department, moderated the panel discussion in the second part of the program. Three Japanese experts, Dr. Chizuko Kohri, Executive Director (Research) and Vice-President at Hirosaki University, Mr. Seishi Ono, Director and Member of the Board at Musashi Academy of the Nezu Foundation and Dr. Jun Oba, Associate Professor and Deputy Director of Research Institute for Higher Education at Hiroshima University, joined as panelists alongside the two keynote speakers from overseas. The Japanese panelists each gave a presentation, based on their own experience and knowledge, on the current situation and issues to achieve cooperation between faculty and staff in university governance. Then, a lively discussion among all the panelists followed, based on questions from the participants. The topics focused on how universities can make efforts for the advancement of the professional abilities of staff and should reflect opinions of their students.

 Finally, Dr. Kazuo Okamoto, Vice-President of NIAD-QE, gave the closing remarks, bringing the forum to a successful end.

 On August 8, NIAD-QE held a study seminar with Mr. McClaran and Dr. Saller to deepen understanding of overseas practices with respect to issues including the roles of faculty in university governance and quality assurance.

 Materials from the forum and the study seminar are available at the following web page:
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Mr. Anthony McClaran

Dr. Richard Saller

Panel Discussion

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