Japan's education ministry asks University of Tokyo to review president selection
In short
On 20 October Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology asked the University of Tokyo to verify how it selected its next president, after a candidate who came second in a staff vote was chosen. Minister Yoshihiro Seki (関芳弘) said at a press conference that explanations of the process and reasons were still unclear and called it regrettable. The ministry says it is the first time it has asked a university to verify a presidential selection.
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Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology on 20 October asked the University of Tokyo to verify how it selected its next president. The ministry said many questions had been raised inside and outside the university. In the selection, a candidate who placed second in the internal vote was chosen. [ 3 , 4 , 6 , 7 ]
Minister Yoshihiro Seki said at a press conference after the cabinet meeting: "There are still many voices saying that no clear explanation has been given of the selection process and reasons, and that is regrettable. We want the university to fulfil its accountability." According to Yahoo! News Japan and Mainichi, he also described verifying the process and fulfilling accountability as the first step in the university's governance reform. [ 3 , 4 , 6 , 7 ]
According to the ministry, Tetsuo Goda, head of its Higher Education Bureau, visited the university in the morning of 20 October and handed over the document in person. The ministry says it is the first time it has asked a university to verify a presidential selection. Yahoo! News Japan called the request unusual. [ 3 , 4 , 6 ]
Yahoo! News Japan reported that the request was sent in writing in Goda's name to University of Tokyo President Teruo Fujii and two auditors. It asks bodies including the university's steering council, made up of Fujii and members from inside and outside the university, to verify how the selection was made. Mainichi reported that the document said presidential selection at national university corporations must be conducted fairly and impartially after careful deliberation based on objective facts, and that the selection committee needed to explain to the university why it made its decision. [ 6 , 7 ]
Kyodo reported that Yuko Fujigaki, 64, a professor at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, was selected on 28 September, and that she came second in the internal vote with half the votes of the first-placed candidate. Mainichi reported that two staff votes were held, and that in the second, among the top three, the first-placed engineering professor received 1,107 votes. [ 4 , 7 ]
On 13 October a group of staff members submitted a request to the selection committee for an explanation. Yahoo! News Japan said the university's reply, published on 16 October, gave no detailed explanation. Mainichi said the reply was dated 13 October. It said how far the vote results were reflected in judging candidates differed by committee member, that the most members supported Fujigaki after lengthy discussion, and that specifics were withheld as confidential. [ 6 , 7 ]
Why it matters
The documents present the request as an unusual ministry step on the governance of a national university. Whether the university carries out the verification and publishes more detail is not yet stated.
Key facts
- The ministry asked the University of Tokyo on 20 October to verify the process by which its next president was selected. [ 3 , 4 , 6 , 7 ]
- Yuko Fujigaki (藤垣裕子), a professor at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, was selected on 28 September; she was second in the internal vote. [ 4 , 6 , 7 ]
- Mainichi reported that the first-placed candidate, an engineering professor, received 1,107 votes in the second vote among the top three, and Fujigaki received about half of that. [ 7 ]
- Tetsuo Goda (合田哲雄), head of the ministry's Higher Education Bureau, went to the university in the morning and handed over the document in person, the ministry said. [ 3 , 4 ]
- The ministry says this is the first time it has asked a university to verify a presidential selection. [ 3 , 4 , 7 ]
- Seki said at a press conference after the cabinet meeting that he regretted that clear explanations had still not been given and wanted the university to fulfil its accountability. [ 3 , 4 , 6 , 7 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- The ministry formally asked the University of Tokyo on 20 October to verify how its next president was selected, citing many questions from inside and outside the university. [ 3 , 4 , 6 , 7 ]
- The candidate selected as next president had come second in the staff vote. [ 3 , 4 , 6 , 7 ]
- Minister Seki said he found it regrettable that many people said the selection process and reasons had still not been clearly explained. [ 3 , 4 , 6 , 7 ]
- The ministry says it is the first time it has asked a university to verify a presidential selection. [ 3 , 4 , 7 ]
Still unclear
- Why the selection committee chose the second-placed candidate. Mainichi reported that the university said the most committee members supported Fujigaki after lengthy discussion but did not disclose the specifics, which it called confidential.
- How much weight the committee gave the staff vote. According to Mainichi, the university's reply said this differs by committee member.
- When the university replied to the staff group's request. Yahoo! News Japan said the university published its reply on 16 October; Mainichi described the reply as dated 13 October.
- Whether and when the university will carry out the verification. The documents describe the request but give no response from the university to it.